Science
Our Products
Pores of different sizes provide a wide range of benefits, as follows:
Our process
Pure Life Carbon has developed the world’s first carbon based, standalone soilless grow medium from a biocarbon base. This advanced carbon material was co-developed at Lethbridge College and by the founders of Pure Life Carbon. Our patent pending process has resulted in a new range of horticultural substrates that not only increase crop yields, but also reduce the impact of agriculture on global warming and environmental pollution.
Our products are not biochar, they are advanced carbons. Here’s how we differ:
Our Products
Biochar
Safe for plants & animals: Our Advanced Carbons are made from a specific horticultural grade feedstock. This feedstock does not have any phytotoxic compounds and has a perfect chemical and physical makeup that allows our products to be used at any concentration without harming plants or animals.
Can harm plants & animals: Biochar’s can be created from organic matter such as softwoods, hardwoods, or recycled wood products. These products in biochars have phytotoxic compounds, stay present in the biochar, and cause the finished product to harm plants and animals. Mixing more than 15-20% of a biochar into a soil blend will actually cause the plant to slow its growth rate or even die.
Durability: Our products are much harder and more durable than biochar, and can be reused or repurposed multiple times. We expect the service life for indoor hydroponic operations to exceed 25 years and as a soil amendment to exceed 2000 years.
Easily broken down: Biochar is abundant in North America and Europe, and are primarily made from softwood. This makes them structurally weak and causes them to break down to a fine dust rapidly.
Process designed for quality: Our materials are purpose built to be stand alone products, with no phytotoxic compounds or harmful chemicals present. They are cleaned then independently certified safe for plants and animals. Our Advanced Carbons are not a by-product. Pairing our Advanced Carbon production process with our purpose grown feedstock, creates an Advanced Carbon in a league of its own.
Inconsistent production: Biochar’s are typically created as a by-product of energy, wood vinegar or heat creation. Since biochar is the by-product, the process is not optimized for producing biochar, resulting in carbons that are not the best they could be for plant and animal use.
Independently certified: Our feedstock never changes, our process is continuous and our system is optimized to produce advanced carbons. We have enough demand to run continuously without starting and stopping our process. Our Advanced Carbons, are produced in a very consistent manner. Although we fall under the same regulations as the biochar producers, we independently certify every lot and batch of our product. With traceability (ISO 9001) from feedstock to end product, we can produce passing test results for every container we produce. Yes this is expensive, but it is also a requirement for commercial growers who rely on the repeatability of their input products.
Inconsistently certified: Biochar producers start and stop their process for a variety of reasons. Some of their equipment works in batches, they change feedstock based on availability, the main product they are creating requires changes to the operation of the system in different weather conditions or feedstock moisture content, or they don’t have enough demand to run continuously. All of this results in highly inconsistent material. Regulatory bodies only require a biochar producer to certify their product safe once. After that initial certification, there is an “honour” system in place that the producer will not make changes without re-certifying their finished product which rarely happens.
Innovative process: Our process is patented as we designed it to create a very specific type of carbon. Our patented process cleans, adjusts, and enhances the product for various applications, including soil augmentation and growing media. The Carbon industry has spent millions trying to figure out what we have patented. No other carbon manufacturer can produce a material that competes with ours as a stand alone growing medium.
Legacy process: Biochar production uses a process that has been around for thousands of years. You can pile up wood, start it on fire, and cover it with dirt. Dig up the carbon and it’s biochar.
Our Products
Safe for plants & animals: Our Advanced Carbons are made from a specific horticultural grade feedstock. This feedstock does not have any phytotoxic compounds and has a perfect chemical and physical makeup that allows our products to be used at any concentration without harming plants or animals.
Durability: Our products are much harder and more durable than biochar, and can be reused or repurposed multiple times. We expect the service life for indoor hydroponic operations to exceed 25 years and as a soil amendment to exceed 2000 years.
Process designed for quality: Our materials are purpose built to be stand alone products, with no phytotoxic compounds or harmful chemicals present. They are cleaned then independently certified safe for plants and animals. Our Advanced Carbons are not a by-product. Pairing our Advanced Carbon production process with our purpose grown feedstock, creates an Advanced Carbon in a league of it’s own.
Independently certified: Our feedstock never changes, our process is continuous and our system is optimized to produce advanced carbons. We have enough demand to run continuously without starting and stopping our process. Our Advanced Carbons, are produced in a very consistent manner. Although we fall under the same regulations as the biochar producers, we independently certify every lot and batch of our product. With traceability (ISO 9001) from feedstock to end product, we can produce passing test results for every container we produce. Yes this is expensive, but it is also a requirement for commercial growers who rely on the repeatability of their input products.
Innovative process: Our process is patented as we designed it to create a very specific type of carbon. Our patented process cleans, adjusts, and enhances the product for various applications, including soil augmentation and growing media. The Carbon industry has spent millions trying to figure out what we have patented. No other carbon manufacturer can produce a material that competes with ours as a stand alone growing medium.
Biochar
Can harm plants & animals: Biochar’s can be created from organic matter such as softwood’s, hardwood’s, or recycled wood products. These products in biochar’s have phytotoxic compounds stay present in the biochar and cause the finished product to harm plants and animals. Mixing more than 15-20% of a biochar into a soil blend will actually cause the plant to slow its growth rate or even die.
Easily broken down: Biochar is abundant in North America and Europe, and are primarily made from softwood. This makes them structurally weak and causes them to break down to a fine dust rapidly.
Inconsistent production: Biochar’s are typically created as a by-product of energy, wood vinegar or heat creation. Since biochar is the by-product, the process is not optimized for producing biochar, resulting in carbons that are not the best they could be for plant and animal use.
Inconsistently certified: Biochar producers start and stop their process for a variety of reasons. Some of their equipment works in batches, they change feedstock based on availability, the main product they are creating requires changes to the operation of the system in different weather conditions or feedstock moisture content, or they don’t have enough demand to run continuously. All of this results in highly inconsistent material. Regulatory bodies only require a biochar producer to certify their product safe once. After that initial certification, there is an “honour” system in place that the producer will not make changes without re-certifying their finished product which rarely happens.
Legacy process: Biochar production uses a process that has been around for thousands of years. You can pile up wood, start it on fire, and cover it with dirt. Dig up the carbon and it’s biochar.
Use cases
Pure Life Carbon products can radically improve outcomes in a wide variety of industries, including agriculture, turf management, golf courses, aquaculture, cannabis, horticulture, hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics, landscaping, and water treatment.
Hydroponic Greenhouses
pH balanced and inoculated with premium nutrients and probiotics, Charged Carbon leverages the power of nature to bring you the world’s best soilless growing medium.
Soil Augmentation
Pure Life Carbon Products, being eco-friendly, sustainable and reusable, represent an evolution of soil additives. These will enrich and amend soil, in addition to many other benefits.
Filtration
Absolute Carbon is a powerful filtration material, functioning as both a biological filter and a solids filter. Its use in closed-loop growing systems can greatly improve growth rate and yield. Processing waste water or drinking water through Absolute Carbon polishes solids, improves taste, and removes environmental and synthetic contaminants.
- Vigorous rooting, establishes highly efficient fine root structures
- Optimizes growth rate
- Prevents root-borne disease and root rot
- Reduces gnats and algae
- Absorbs common contaminants, purifying the environment surrounding the plant
- Improves crop consistency
- Minimizes handling
- Reduced cultivation risk
- Reusable and Recyclable
- Improve soil health and structure
- Reduce water consumption
- Store nutrients and water
- Develop diverse microbials
- Sequester carbon
- Attract and retain positively charged cations and negatively charged anions (e.g. nutrients)
- Increase soil fertility
- Balances acidic soils
- Increase production
- Protect against foliar- and root-borne diseases
- Reduce soil emission of greenhouse gases
- Reduce irrigation and fertilizer requirements
- Reduce runoff and evaporation of applied fertilizer
- Absorb phytotoxic compounds (e.g., herbicides)
- Remove most pesticides with high affinity for organic chemicals
- Bind readily with organic molecules
As a filtration technology, Absolute Carbon offers these benefits:
- Scientifically proven to provide a 25% increase in growth rate of lettuce when used as a nutrient filter in hydroponics and aquaponics systems
- Improves oxygen supply by preventing accumulation of sludge in the root zone
- Increases buffering capacity
- Exceeds all known commercially available biofiltration industry standards
- Filters 250-300m2 /g of Absolute Carbon
The difference is in the pore network
Pores of different sizes provide a wide range of benefits, as follows:
Filtration
Pore size greater than 75 microns.
The macro-porosity provides filtration of larger particle sizes.
Air
Pore size greater than 40 microns.
The meso-porosity provides high air-holding capacity, preventing anaerobic zones.
Beneficial Microbes
Pore size between 1 and 40 microns.
The micro-porosity encourages the production and colonization of beneficial microbes.
Nutrient & Water
Pore size less than 1 microns.
The macro-porosity provides filtration of larger particle sizes.
