108(1) str 3

ISSN 1392-3196 / e-ISSN 2335-8947
Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, vol. 108, No. 1 (2021), p. 19–26
DOI 10.13080/z-a.2021.108.003

Biofuel ash granules as a source of soil and plant nutrients

Kristina BUNEVIČIENĖ, Donata DRAPANAUSKAITĖ, Romas MAŽEIKA, Vita TILVIKIENĖ

Abstract

Biofuel production and bioenergy generation play significant role in the energy self-sufficiency of the countries, climate change mitigation, but also increase the accumulation of waste. The main waste of biomass burning process is ash and lime kiln dust. This study hypothesized that those materials could be potential fertilisers for agricultural crops. The aim of the research was to evaluate the uptake of nutrients in spring barley grain and straw when using granulated ash and bulk biofuel ash in an open-air pot experiment. The results obtained in pot experiment showed that using granulated ash an increase of total potassium (Ktot) content (21.5–28.0 g kg-1) in spring barley straw was observed in 2018, while in 2017 the amount of Ktot did not change significantly. Calcium concentration in straw increased significantly in the second year of the experiment. No significant changes in the content of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni and Cr) were observed in the soil. The concentrations of these metals did not exceed the permissible levels. Due to the high Cu and Zn concentration in biofuel ash, the content of these microelements increased in the soil. Overall, the content of major nutrients, microelements and heavy metals increased with increasing biofuel ash content in granules: in spring barley grain, Cd (0.003–0.030 mg kg-1) and Zn (4.58–22.5 mg kg-1) were detected, in straw – Zn and Cu.

Key words: biofuel, ash granules, lime kiln dust, nutrients, heavy metals.

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