Innovative methods are currently being sought to safely utilize and reduce the amount of sluiced fly ash stored in on-site facilities at thermal electric power facilities in Ontario, Canada. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of utilizing sluiced fly ash as a liming material on acidic soils. A greenhouse experiment was established to examine the influence of the ash on soil pH values and the yield and chemical composition of corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa grown on amended soil.
The sluiced ash had an initial pH value of 9.1 (1:1 H2O) and contained an equivalent CACO3 content of 11.5% (+0.2%) based on total content of Ca and Mg in the ash. Fly ash was applied at rates of up to 167 tonnes ha-1 to samples of the surface horizon (0-15 cm) of an acidic clay textured soil found local to the power plant. Application of fly ash increased soil pH values but a high concentration of boron in the added ash limited plant growth. Results indicated that the sluiced ash could be used as a liming material at application rates of up to 110 tonnes ha-1, on acidic, clay textured soils provided boron tolerant crops such as alfalfa were grown. Further research is required to establish the potential for leaching of boron to ground water and to determine the potential for plant uptake of other trace elements such as As and Se.
Bowen, H.J.M. (1979) Environmental chemistry of the elements. London, U.K.: Academic Press.
2.
Carithers, C., Spooner, A.E. & West, C.P. (1986) Arkansas fly ash: an examination of its calcium carbonate equivalence and its effects upon plant elemental concentrations. Report for Arkansas Power & Light Company. Arkansas, U.S.A.: University of Arkansas, Little Rock.
3.
Davidson, R.L., Natusch, D.F.S., Wallace, J.R. & Evans, C.A. (1974) Trace elements in fly ash: Dependence of concentration on particle size. Environmental Science & Technology8, 1107-1112.
4.
Dayal, R. & Zhou, Z. (1989) Chemical characterization of the Nanticoke lagoon ash. Report No. 89-40-K. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Hydro.
5.
Dudas, M.J. & Warren, C.J. (1987) Submicroscopic model of fly ash particles. Geoderma40, 101-114.
6.
Eary, L.E., Rai, D., Mattigod, S.V. & Ainsworth, C.C. (1990) Geochemical factors controlling the mobilization of inorganic constituents from fossil fuel combustion residues: II. Review of minor elements. Journal of Environmental Quality19, 202-214.
7.
Elseewi, A.A., Straughan, I.R. & Page, A.L. (1980) Sequential cropping of fly ash-amended soils: Effects on soil chemical properties and yield and elemental composition of plants . Science of the Total Environment15, 247-259.
8.
Evans, L.J. (1987) Retention of boron by agricultural soils from Ontario. CanadianJournal of Soil Science67, 33-43.
9.
Gutenmann, W.H., Pakkala, I.S., Churey, D.J., Kelly, W.C. & Lisk, D.J. (1979) Arsenic, boron, molybdenum, and selenium in successive cuttings of forage crops field grown on fly ash amended soil. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry27, 1393-1395.
10.
Haynes, B.S., Neville, M., Quann, R.J. & Sarofim, A.F. (1982) Factors governing the surface enrichment of fly ash in volatile trace species. Journal of Colloid and InterfaceScience87, 266-278.
11.
Katyal, J.C. & Randhawa, N.S. (1983) Micronutrients. FAO fertilizer and plant nutrition bulletin no. 7. pp. 57-68.
12.
Keren, R. & Bingham, F.T. (1985) Boron in water, soils, and plants. Advances in Soil Science1, 229-276.
13.
King, K.M., Sheard, R.W. & Miller, M.H. (1962) Note on providing a diurnal, sinusoidal cycle in greenhouse temperature. Canadian Journal of PlantScience43, 428-432.
14.
Kronberg, B.I., Brown, J.R., Fyfe, W.S., Pierce, M. & Wider, C.G. (1981) Distribution of trace elements in western Canadian coal ashes. Fuel60, 59-63.
15.
Linton, R.W., Loh, A., Natusch, D.F.S., Evans, C.A. & Williams, P. (1976) Surface predominance of trace elements in airborne particles. Science191, 852-854.
16.
McKeague, J. A., (Ed.) (1978) Manual on soil sampling and methods of analysis (2nd edn). Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Society ofSoil Science.
17.
McKeague, J.A.Desjardins, J.G. & Wolynetz, M.S. (1979) Minor elements in Canadian soils. Land Resource Research Inst. No. LRRI 27 Agriculture Canada, Ottawa.
18.
Mishra, L.C. & Shukla, K.N. (1986) Elemental composition of corn and soybean grown on fly ash amended soil. Environmental Pollution12B, 313-321.
19.
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) ( 1988) 1989-1990Field Crop Recommendations . Publication 296. Toronto, Canada: Queens Printer of Ontario.
20.
Pawluk, S. (1967) Soil analysis by atomic absorption spectrophotometry . Atomic Absorption Newsletter6, 224-227.
21.
Phung, H.T., Lund, L.J. & Page, A.L. (1978) Potential use of fly ash as a liming material. In Environmental cycling and cycling processes. (D. C. Adriano & I. L. Brisbin, eds). Mineral cycling symposium, U. S. Dept Energy Conf-760427, Washington, U.S.A.
22.
Phung, H.T., Lam, H.V., Page, A.L. & Lund, L.J. (1979) The practice of leaching boron and soluble salts from fly ash-amended soils. Water Air and Soil Pollution12, 247-254.
23.
Presant, E.W. & Acton, C.J. (1984) The soils of the regional municipality of Haidimand-Norfolk . Report no. 57, Ontario Institute of Pedology. Land Resource Research Institute no. 84-13, Ottawa.
24.
Roy, R.W. & Griffin, R.A. (1982) A proposed classification system for coal fly ash in multidisciplinary research. Journal of Environmental Quality11, 563-568.
25.
Shane, B.S., Littman, C.B., Essick, L.A., Gutenmann, W.H., Doss, G.J. & Lisk, D.J. (1988) Uptake of selenium and mutagens by vegetables grown in fly ash containing greenhouse media. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry36, 328-333.
26.
Sheard, R.W. & Winch, J.E. (1988) An evaluation of the potential for the utilization of fly ash on Ontario soils. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Hydro.
27.
Shoemaker, H.E., McLean, E.O. & Pratt, P.F. (1961) Buffer methods for determining lime requirement of soils with appreciable amounts of exchangeable aluminium. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings25, 274-277.
28.
Spiers, G.A., Evans, L.J., McGeorge, S.W., Moak, H.W. & Su, C. (1990) Boron analysis of soil solutions and plant digests using a photodiode-array equipped ICP spectrometer. Communications inSoil Science and Plant Analysis21, 1645-1661.
29.
Warren, C.J. & Dudas, M.J. (1984) Weathering processes in relation to leachate properties of alkaline fly ash. Journal of Environmental Quality13, 530-538.
30.
Warren, C.J. & Dudas, M.J. (1988) Leaching behavior of selected trace elements in chemically weathered alkaline fly ash. Science of the Total Environment76, 229-246.
31.
Warren, C.J. & Sheard, R.W. (1990) An evaluation of the potential for utilization of Nanticoke fly ash as a liming material on acidic soils fo the Haldimand-Norfolk region. In Fly ash utilization program: II. Greenhouse project . Toronto, Canada: Ontario Hydro .
32.
Zarcinas, B.A., Cartwright, B. & Spouncer, L.R. (1987) Nitric acid digestion and multi-element analysis of plant material by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. Communications in Soil Science and PlantAnalysis18, 131-146.
