Valorisation of agricultural biomass-ash with CO2

Abstract

This work is part of a study of different types of plant-based biomass to elucidate their capacity for valorisation via a managed carbonation step involving gaseous carbon dioxide (CO₂). The perspectives for broader biomass waste valorisation was reviewed, followed by a proposed closed-loop process for the valorisation of wood in earlier works. The present work newly focusses on combining agricultural biomass with mineralised CO₂. Here, the reactivity of selected agricultural biomass ashes with CO₂ and their ability to be bound by mineralised carbonate in a hardened product is examined. Three categories of agricultural biomass residues, including shell, fibre and soft peel, were incinerated at 900 ± 25 °C. The biomass ashes were moistened (10% w/w) and moulded into cylindrical samples and exposed to 100% CO₂ gas at 50% RH for 24 h, during which they cemented into hardened monolithic products. The calcia in ashes formed a negative relationship with ash yield and the microstructure of the carbonate-cementing phase was distinct and related to the particular biomass feedstock. This work shows that in common with woody biomass residues, carbonated agricultural biomass ash-based monoliths have potential as novel low-carbon construction products.