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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321663
Title: Leachate water quality from soils amended with swine manure based biochars

Author
item Ro, Kyoung
item LIBRA, JUDY - Leibniz Institute
item BAE, SUNYOUNG - Seoul Women'S University

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/7/2015
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In the face of the rising level of manure production from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), management options are being sought that can provide nutrient recycling for plant growth and improved soil conditions with minimal environmental impacts. Alternatives to direct manure application are composting and thermochemical conversion which can destroy pathogens and improve handling and storage. The effect of four forms of swine manure-based soil amendments (raw, compost, hydrochar, and pyrochar) on soil fertility and leachate water quality characteristics of a sandy soil were investigated in soil incubation experiments. All four amendments significantly increased soil carbon, cation exchange capacity and available nutrient contents of the soil. However, hydrochar amended soil leached lower amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) compared to the other amendments including the control. On the other hand, pyrochar amended soil leached higher concentrations of P and K. Subsequent tests on the hydrochar for K and N adsorption isotherms and surface analysis via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggested that these nutrients were not sorbed directly to the hydrochar surface. Although it is still not clear how these nutrients were retained in the soil amended with hydrochar, it suggests a great potential for hydrochar as an alternative manure management option as the hydrochar can be soil applied while minimizing potential environmental issues from the leaching of high nutrient concentrations to water bodies.