Search results for "Soil conditioner"
showing 10 items of 21 documents
Hydration and water holding properties of cross-linked lignite humic acids
2014
Abstract Lignite and lignite humic acids, which are used as soil amendments sometimes, are supposed to improve soil properties such as water holding capacity. The structure of those materials is composed of various organic molecules stabilized mostly by weak interactions. Therefore, excess of water causes only partial swelling, but most of the physical structure is destabilized. This accelerates the desiccation and hampers their application as natural hydrogel-like substances. In order to stabilize the structure of lignite humic acids and improve the water holding capacity, we applied formaldehyde cross-linking procedure based on covalent coupling of aromatic humic acids moieties. By combin…
The combined effect of phytostabilization and different amendments on remediation of soils from post-military areas
2019
Army bases and battle fields are areas of high pollution due to the chemicals released there. Soils in these areas suffer from these uses of the land, and ecosystem services are affected. Although, in the 20th century, the production of bombs and the locations of battle fields and army bases were widespread, there is little research on the impact of war on nature. Moreover, there is a need to rehabilitate the disturbed soils. The contents and ecological risks of Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cr in the topsoil from a post-military area (north-eastern Poland) were investigated. In addition, a vegetation experiment was performed with the technique of aided phytostabilization on soils from the study …
Evaluation of the surface affinity of water in three biochars using fast field cycling NMR relaxometry
2016
Many soil functions depend on the interaction of water with soil. The affinity of water for soils can be altered by applying soil amendments like stone meal, manure, or biochar (a carbonaceous material obtained by pyrolysis of biomasses). In fact, the addition of hydrophobic biochar to soil may increase soil repellency, reduce water-adsorbing capacity, inhibit microbial activity, alter soil filter, buffer, storage, and transformation functions. For this reason, it is of paramount importance to monitor water affinity for biochar surface (also referred to as ‘wettability’) in order to better address its applications in soil systems. In this study, we propose the use of fast field cycling NMR …
Structure alteration of a sandy-clay soil by biochar amendments
2014
The aim of the present study was to investigate structure alterations of a sandy-clay soil upon addition of different amounts of biochar (f bc ). All the f bc samples were analyzed by high energy moisture characteristic (HEMC) technique and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry. HEMC was applied in order to evaluate aggregate stability of biochar-amended soil samples. 1H NMR relaxometry experiments were conducted for the evaluation of the pore distributions through the investigation of water dynamics of the same samples. The HEMC technique revealed improvement in aggregate stability through measurements of the amount of drainable pores and the stability ratio. The latter increased…
Granulation of fly ash and biochar with organic lake sediments – A way to sustainable utilization of waste from bioenergy production
2019
Abstract The main waste generated during the thermochemical processes of biomass burning used for bioenergy production in cogeneration plants are ash and biochar which can be used as fertilizers in forestry and agriculture. However, several difficulties are attributed to possibilities of practical exploitation of ash and biochar due to the transporting, handling and mode of application. Granulation of energy generation waste has been shown in some circumstances as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method. Production of granules (pellets) from wood ash and biochar leads to improved recycling and logistics of waste as well as helps to control and avoid undesirable environmental ef…
Different Type Clay Amendments for Lead Immobilization in Contaminated Soils
2014
Contamination with lead in soil is a crucial problem in industrial and military sites. Immobilization of lead by natural and modified clay as soil amendment can be an effective solution to this problem. Quaternary and Devonian clays were chosen for modification with NaCl, CaCl2, FeOOH and Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 in different proportions of Ca/P equimolar ratio to test and compare immobilization efficiency of lead (II) on raw and modified clays by using a batch leaching test. The aim of the study is to compare different types of raw and modified clays as soil amendments by lead immobilization properties.
Devonian Clay Modification for the Improvement of Heavy Metal Sorption Properties
2013
Contamination with heavy metals is an important problem as bioaccumulation effects of those are creating direct and indirect hazards to environment and human health. Contaminated soil remediation can be done by various technologies and using of soil amendments is the one. Clay modification experiments were done to study heavy metal sorption from spiked solutions and leaching from contaminated soils. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of Devonian clay modification possibilities in order to improve heavy metal sorption capacity and immobilization options. Modification was done by using Ca, Na salts, HNO 3 (protonated forms), Fe-oxyhydroxide. Research has shown better sorption due to…
Long-term effects of soil management on ecosystem services and soil loss estimation in olive grove top soils
2016
Soil management has important effects on soil properties, runoff, soil losses and soil quality. Traditional olive grove (OG) management is based on reduced tree density, canopy size shaped by pruning and weed control by ploughing. In addition, over the last several decades, herbicide use has been introduced into conventional OG management. These management strategies cause the soil surface to be almost bare and subsequently high erosion rates take place. To avoid these high erosion rates several soil management strategies can be applied. In this study, three strategies were assessed in OG with conventional tillage in three plots of 1. ha each. Soil properties were measured and soil erosion …
Soil chemical and biochemical properties of a salt-marsh alluvial Spanish area after long-term reclamation
2009
Marisma, one of the largest salt-marsh alluvial areas in SW Spain, has been reclaimed since 1970 by artificial drainage and amendment with phosphogypsum (PG) so as to reduce Na+ saturation. Within the reclaimed area, two 250- × 20-m plots were treated as follows: (1) amendment with 25 Mg/ha of PG every 2 to 3 years between 1979 and 2003 (plot PY); (2) like PY but PG treatment stopped after 1997 (plot DR). A contiguous virgin Marisma salt-marsh plot (MV), neither drained nor amended, was the control. In MV, soil microbial biomass C, most enzyme activities and total organic C content were much greater than in PY and DR soils, despite the salinity stress. The decrease in soil organic matter co…
Differential Responses of Nitrate Reducer Community Size, Structure, and Activity to Tillage Systems
2009
ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to determine how the size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community were affected by adoption of a conservative tillage system as an alternative to conventional tillage. The experimental field, established in Madagascar in 1991, consists of plots subjected to conventional tillage or direct-seeding mulch-based cropping systems (DM), both amended with three different fertilization regimes. Comparisons of size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community in samples collected from the top layer in 2005 and 2006 revealed that all characteristics of this functional community were affected by the tillage system, with increa…