| dc.description.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%. | en_US |
