I know it would be better to use a bomb calorimeter, but we have a differential scanning calorimeter and I would like to know if it's possible to calculate the specific energy (in J/kg) of any material (specificly the soil organic matter) from the results given by the differential scanning calorimeter.
Thank you.
As soil organic matter is derived mainly from plant residues, it contains all of the essential plant nutrients. The content of soil organic matter varies according to the type of the soil. The soil organic matter content in soils is given as a result of determination of soil organic carbon (Corg.), On average it forms 58% of its composition.
In fact, the two types of the energy accumulated in the soil organic matter are equivalent. This energy can be perceived as:
1. Energy of the accumulated organic material forming the soil organic matter,
2. Metabolic energy, which drives the biological processes and originating from the organic material decomposed in the soil.
in the solar energy and the process of photosynthesis, and the energy accumulated in the organic matter forms a resource comprising nutrients and energy needed for the functions of the soil organisms.
In the humus layer of the forested areas, it is equal to 5.04 kcal/gram, , whereas in marshy soils – 4.87 kcal/gram.
For the purpose of determination of the energy value of SOM, it was assumed that the content of the organic matter is equal to 4.7 kcal/gra, This was coupled with determination of its energy potential. The resource of the organic matter will establish for the soil depth profile of 0-30 cm, together with the energy value expressed in MJ/ha , and the theoretical energy potential expressed as an equivalent of thermal fuel.
https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2017/07/e3sconf_eems2017_02035.pdf
regards
Hello, Pablo,
what do you call "specific energy"? You mentioned bomb calorimeter. So, do you mean specific combustion energy, and is your intention to obtain soil organic matter-characteristic combustion energies? DSC is typically providing you with heat capacity changes associated with various transitions, e.g., melting, glassy transitions, and outputs of chemical reactions or macromolecular transformations, e.g., protein denaturation. If a full oxidation is your goal, and your DSC allows heating in oxygen atmosphere till high temperatures, I guess, you may get it. But, I would check with the manual and service people, whether your DSC may be used for that goal.
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