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Hydration of biochar prepared by using microwave pyrolysis of municipal sludge
Miklasová, Marta ; Komendová, Renata (referee) ; Kučerík, Jiří (advisor)
Microwave pyrolysis represents a possible solution of municipal sludge disposal. One of the final products of pyrolysis is amorphous porous carbon material called biochar, which can be used in agriculture as a soil amendment. As a rule, biochar is hydrophobic, but its addition can lead to an increase in water holding capacity. However, reasons of this improvement cannot be explained only by its high porosity. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding the interactions between biochar and water under various environmental-relevant conditions such as direct water addition method and water adsorption from ambient air at different relative humidity. The thermo-analytical methods are common for investigation of the relationship between water and organic materials. One of these methods, differential scanning calorimetry, was used in this thesis. The first experiment was focused on measuring of melting enthalpy of freezable water in biochar pores. The results reflect the influence of pore size and properties of ice structure. The extrapolation of concentration dependence to zero enthalpy was used to determine non-freezing water (0,13–0,15 mg·mg-1 biochar), which reflects microporosity of the biochar. The second experiment was focused on the determination of evaporation enthalpy of water from biochar, which is a measure of the strength of water binding in biochar. This value indirectly reflects the mechanisms of the intake and release of water by biochar. Comparing the results for bound and pure water showed that in biochar is water bound weaker about 10–20 %. This led to conclusion that biochar binds water relatively weakly and the water exchange between biochar and soil is fast, despite the biochar hydrophobicity.
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Hydration of biochar prepared by using microwave pyrolysis of municipal sludge
Miklasová, Marta ; Komendová, Renata (referee) ; Kučerík, Jiří (advisor)
Microwave pyrolysis represents a possible solution of municipal sludge disposal. One of the final products of pyrolysis is amorphous porous carbon material called biochar, which can be used in agriculture as a soil amendment. As a rule, biochar is hydrophobic, but its addition can lead to an increase in water holding capacity. However, reasons of this improvement cannot be explained only by its high porosity. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding the interactions between biochar and water under various environmental-relevant conditions such as direct water addition method and water adsorption from ambient air at different relative humidity. The thermo-analytical methods are common for investigation of the relationship between water and organic materials. One of these methods, differential scanning calorimetry, was used in this thesis. The first experiment was focused on measuring of melting enthalpy of freezable water in biochar pores. The results reflect the influence of pore size and properties of ice structure. The extrapolation of concentration dependence to zero enthalpy was used to determine non-freezing water (0,13–0,15 mg·mg-1 biochar), which reflects microporosity of the biochar. The second experiment was focused on the determination of evaporation enthalpy of water from biochar, which is a measure of the strength of water binding in biochar. This value indirectly reflects the mechanisms of the intake and release of water by biochar. Comparing the results for bound and pure water showed that in biochar is water bound weaker about 10–20 %. This led to conclusion that biochar binds water relatively weakly and the water exchange between biochar and soil is fast, despite the biochar hydrophobicity.
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Dynamics of icy satelites with a liquid phase
Kalousová, Klára ; Čadek, Ondřej (advisor) ; Ricard, Yanick (referee) ; Hussmann, Hauke (referee)
Title: Dynamics of icy satellites with a liquid phase Author: Klára Kalousová Department: Department of Geophysics Department: Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes Supervisors: Doc. RNDr. Ondřej Čadek, CSc. upervis ors: Dr. Gaël Choblet Abstract: Jupiter's moon Europa has a young surface with a plethora of unique terrains that indicate recent endogenic activity. Morphological models and spectral observations suggest that it possesses an internal ocean as well as shallow pockets of liquid water within its outer ice shell. Presence of water in a chemically rich environment and a longterm energy source ensured by tidal heating, make Europa one of the best candidates for habitability, for which the material exchange between the surface and the ocean is critical. In this thesis, we investigate internal melting and subsequent meltwater evolution within Europa's ice shell by using a two-phase formalism developed for this context. Results of a parametric study for a temperate ice shell indicate that the time scale of water transport by porous flow is governed by the ice permeability, while the ice viscosity affects the solution wavelength. We then consider a polythermal ice shell with two melting scenarios: (i) In a tidally-heated convecting ice shell, melting occurs mainly in its lower half and...
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