Pengaruh Air Pada Karakteristik Mikrostruktur Biochar Tandan Kosong Kelapa Sawit

Abstract

Biochar, which is the result of the pyrolysis of biomass waste, in this case palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB) waste, has different characteristics before and after being immersed in water. Soaking changes the hydrophobic (waterrepellent) properties of biochar into hydrophilic (water-retaining) properties, and it is not only that many other characteristics change with biochar soaking, which will be discussed in this thesis. To examine the physical characteristics of biochar, it was analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX) to observe morphology, organic carbon content, and nutrient types in biochar. Brunauer Emmet Teller (BET) was used to measure the surface area of biochar. The objective of this study was to determine the differences in the physical characteristics of EFB biochar produced using the dry kiln method and immersed in distilled water. The analysis was conducted at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the Soil Biology Laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of North Sumatra. The results showed that immersion treatment reduced the pH of biochar from 10.09 to 9.54. Based on the analysis of organic carbon content, the immersion treatment reduced the total carbon content of EFB biochar by 0.97%, as well as the surface area from 79.446 m²/g in dry EFB biochar to 38.783 m²/g in immersed EFB biochar. In the analysis of bulk density, water-holding capacity, and moisture content, immersion showed an increase in values compared to dry EFB biochar, with values of 0.34 g/cm³, 10.51%, and 66.6%.