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Investigation on the utilization of coal fly ash as amendment to compost for vegetation in acid soil

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5337904· OSTI ID:5337904

Application of fly ash-amended composts as manure enhances the crop yield of certain plants like corn, sorghum, collard and mustard greens. Organic compost made out of grass and leaves (home-made) is better than the commercial composts for amendment with fly ash. A 20--40% fly ash in the amended compost and a soil to ash-amended compost ratio of 3:1 are recommended for making bed for plantation. Organic compost mixed with fly ash, due to reduced porosity, will help the bed to retain water and conserve water supply to plants. Organic compost will release to the manure additional quantities of N, P, and S that are not substantially available in fly ash. It appears that chemical reaction and/or mineralization occurs during composting of fly ash with organic manure to release more N, P, K and S to the system. Potassium is more elevated in all plants grown in potted soil treated with fly ash-amended compost than in those grown in soil or soil treated with organic manure. Contrary to expectation Ca in fly ash is not effectively used by plants as the latter treated with ash- amended compost is not rich in Ca. This suggests that Ca may be tied up as insoluble CaSO{sub 4} in the manure so that it may not be bioavailable to the plant. Uptake of boron by bean, bell pepper and egg plant is considerably higher than that absorbed by corn, sorghum and greens resulting in poor yield for the former.

Research Organization:
Savannah State Coll., GA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
FG09-88SR18047
OSTI ID:
5337904
Report Number(s):
DOE/SR/18047-3; ON: DE92013685
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English