Utilization of cotton gin waste biochars for agronomic benefits in soils

Authors: HOWELL, NATHAN - West Texas A & M University; BHATTACHARIA, SANJOY - West Texas A & M University; ARIA, SAMAN - West Texas A & M University; GARCIA, OMAR - West Texas A & M University; BEDNARZ, CRAIG - West Texas A & M University; GUERRERO, BRIDGET - West Texas A & M University

Submitted to: Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/21/2024
Publication Date: 4/9/2024
Citation: Howell, N., Bhattacharia, S., Aria, S., Garcia, O., Bednarz, C., Guerrero, B. 2024. Utilization of cotton gin waste biochars for agronomic benefits in soils. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-024-05545-x.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-024-05545-x

Interpretive Summary: Cotton gins produce millions of tons of waste cleaned from cotton every year in the Texas High Plains, but this waste is underutilized. West Texas A&M University research supported by the USDA ARS Ogallala Aquifer Program studied how to turn this waste into biochar by heating it in the absence of oxygen, much in the way that charcoal is produced. By applying different temperatures for different amounts of time, they found conditions that produce a biochar that can increase soil water holding capacity without changing soil pH. This biochar could be used as a beneficial soil amendment to improve cropping outcomes in the drought prone High Plains. Further research will address scaling up the process to a profitable commercial enterprise.

Technical Abstract: Cotton gin waste (CGW) is produced in large quantities (1–1.5 × 10**6 metric ton/year) in the Texas High Plains (THP), one of the largest cotton-producing regions in the USA. We examined locally supplied CGW for soil amendment as biochar (CGW-BC) with a view toward rainfed cropping systems, which will likely become increasingly necessary due to declines in groundwater availability for irrigation. Sixteen unique biochar samples were produced under varying conditions of time, temperature, and post-processing wash in a muffle furnace. We performed material characterization on the biochar. We then incubated CGW-BC samples that seemed favorable for increasing the water holding capacity increase for 10 days with local, rainfed, clay loam soil. We found that increasing the pyrolysis time and temperature decreased the biochar yield but only up to 40 min. Beyond 40 min, the yield did not decrease further. Additionally, the majority of mass loss occurred during pyrolysis and not during crush-sieving or postproduction washes. CGW-BC produced at higher temperatures and for longer times had greater thermal stability. This interesting aspect of thermal stability, which did not always follow strict time-temperature trends, may be because cotton gin waste is a heterogeneous material. We found that the addition of acid decreases the mineral content while lowering the thermal stability of lower temperature (450 °C) biochars. Regarding the CGW-BC surface area, we found that higher temperatures generally increase the micropore surface area. Using a GAB isotherm, water vapor surface area did not correlate with the highest WHC when water was added to the soil. In fact, biochar, which was pyrolyzed in less time at a lower temperature and with the use of acid washing, better held the water in soil-biochar mixtures. The measurements suggested that CGW-BC could be a valuable soil amendment that could increase the WHC without adversely increasing the pH. Our initial investigation revealed how scaled-up production of CGW-BC for soils might be economically and sustainably pursued for use in rainfed cropping, deficit irrigation, or ranchlands.