- 1Elementar UK Ltd, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales (calum.preece@elementar.com)
- 2Elementar Analysensysteme GmbH, Langenselbold, Germany
Understanding how different soil types and land management practices can increase the quantity of carbon stored in soil is increasingly important for climate change mitigation efforts. Determining the total organic carbon (TOC) content in soils provides information on the soil health, carbon sequestration potential and soil fertility. This information allows improvements in agricultural applications, environmental monitoring and other land management practices. Another recent application for TOC analysis is assessing the quality and carbon sequestration potential of biochar, a carbon rich material produced via pyrolysis of biomass for the purpose of transforming the biomass carbon into a more stable form. Biochar has emerged as a potentially promising soil amendment as it captures carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and can improve soil fertility and improve water quality.
The Elementar soli TOC® cube has been developed for the measurement of total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic carbon (TIC) but also the residual oxidizable carbon (ROC). The soli TOC cube uses temperature ramped differentiation of the carbon factions with a crucible-based sample feeding system, gas switching and dynamic furnace. Alongside standard applications using a 3-step temperature programmes e.g. EN 17505, the soli TOC® cube also has the option for flexible programmes with up to 5 temperature steps offering new possibilities for differentiating carbon fractions or species and for studying the temperature-dependent decomposition of carbon compounds.
We present results from the new 5 - step temperature ramping method that gives users the ability to run flexible temperature programmes under combustion or pyrolytic conditions with up to five target temperatures between 150 and 900 ℃. Other adjustable parameters include the switching time between combustion and pyrolysis, temperature ramping time and temperature hold times. This enhanced flexibility gives the opportunity to address new scientific questions with an unrestricted analysis of the different carbon fractions.
How to cite: Preece, C., Alt, F., and Loos, A.: Flexible temperature-dependent differentiation of carbon fractions with the Elementar soli TOC® cube , EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-10997, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-10997, 2025.