Application of biochar coupled with FGD waste for waste management in agriculture improvement

Abstract

Flue gas desulfurization waste (FGD) is one of coal combustion products (CCP) in coal-fired power plants. Mostly, FGD gypsum is applied in cement and wallboard industry. Also, it can be used in agricultural activities for soil amendment but the amount of FGD waste used in this function is still low. Furthermore, biochar has long been used to improve soil fertility. The positive impacts of biochar amendment on soils are that it can increase soil capacity to adsorb plant nutrients, decrease soil bulk density, increase plant available water retention and so on. In Thailand, some areas like Nan province has a problem of soil degradation from deforestation and excess use of chemical fertilizer. With the benefits of these FGD waste and biochar, the study of soil amendment will be performed by using degraded soil. Therefore, this research is aimed to apply FGD waste coupled with biochar to improve soil quality from degraded soil in Nan Province. Also, the objective of this work is to evaluate the effects of FGD waste and biochar on soil properties such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), bulk density and soil texture. The concentrations of FGD waste and biochar are ranged from 5-25% and 5-30% by weight, respectively. The results present that the soil quality has been improved in that pH can increases from 5.664 up to 7.309. The soil texture has changed in the better quality from clay to silty loam or loam. Furthermore, the bulk density of soil is reduced in order to have more space for air and water for all mixture which is conducive to plant growth. Consequently, this research can contribute to the improvement of degraded soil properties to fit well for agriculture and the results can be applied for practice in the real field.