Similarly, the gases produced from pyrolysis of vomitoxin corn were mainly H2, CO, CO2, CH4, and C2H4. – a mixture with an energy value with potential as a renewable energy source. Berruti adds that there is “an interesting opportunity” to utilize the vapours and the gases to generate sufficient energy to make the entire process fully autothermal, resulting in biochar as the unique value-added product of the conversion process of DON-contaminated corn. BIOCHAR USE Waste corn converted to activated bio-char can also be used for the treatment of wastewater, which Berruti, Karami and Papari outlined in another recent paper. “Increased water pollution due to population and industrial growth is becoming one of the main global issues,” says Berruti. “Water contaminates are generally categorized into organic and inorganic pollutants, and there’s a wide range of them, from dyes, phenolic compounds, surfactants and metals (arsenic, cadmium, mercury) to nitrates, nitrites and pharmaceuticals. Most of these pollutants are persistent in nature and cause both environmental and health problems.” And while there are many wastewater decontamination techniques such as reverse osmosis, advanced oxidation, membrane filtration, biodegradation, solvent extraction and chlorination, adsorption has been considered as an easy, efficient, and cost-effective method. Berruti and his colleagues found that the activated bio-char produced from vomitoxin corn significantly improved the adsorption capacity of pollutants compared to unactivated (raw) bio-char. This is because activation increases biochar pore size. In addition, running the activation process for three hours increased the surface area of the biochar by seven times. Pollutants such as methylene blue, methyl orange, and ibuprofen were completely adsorbed by activated biochar after five, eight, and 12 minutes respectively, which is similar to what occurs with commercial activated charcoal. “We have confirmed that a toxic waste can be converted into a value-added product that, with its adsorption properties, can effectively compete with commercial activated carbon,” says Berruti. “It’s a very exciting result.” This project was supported by Grain Farmers of Ontario’s sponsorship of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair Program, of which Dr. Franco Berruti is the principal investigator and chair. l ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 29 OCTOBER 2022 This article features a Grain Farmers of Ontario Market Development Fund project. For more on next steps, visit us online: For Your Field, Your Farm. PERFORMANCE True maizex.com Maizex_OntGrainFarmer_Grain_3.46x8.865.indd 1 8/22/22 3:22 PM
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