Abstract
A greenhouse and laboratory study was undertaken to quantify the P-sorption capacity of high pH, high calcium, coal-combustion, waste materials and determine the amount of P fertilization necessary to overcome that P-sorption ability. Three different waste materials (bottom ash, bottom ash/fly ash mixture, and bottom ash/scrubber sludge mixture) were selected based upon their handling properties and their ability to support plant growth. A steady state was apparently established within 18 hr after adding P. Phosphorus sorption behavior was typical of precipitation rather than surface adsorption for all ash materials. The combination of high pH and readily available Ca in the bottom ash and bottom/fly ash mixture favored rapid precipitation of calcium phosphates. The β-tricalcium phosphate that apparently formed in these materials would not provide adequate P for plant growth, and fertilizing with more than 1000 kg P ha−1 would be necessary to provide the needed concentrations. The calcareous bottom ash/sludge mixture would maintain a sufficient P concentration to support plant growth because of its relatively low pH. As leaching and exposure to CO2(g) proceed in the other two ash materials, equilibrium with calcite would be established and P fixing would be a smaller hindrance to plant growth.
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Gray, C.A., Schwab, A.P. Phosphorus-fixing ability of high ph, high calcium, coal-combustion, waste materials. Water Air Soil Pollut 69, 309–320 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00478167
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00478167