Chemical Speciation, Mobility and Phyto-availability of Heavy Metals in Soil Amended with Fly Ash

Ray Sarkar, Sneha (2016) Chemical Speciation, Mobility and Phyto-availability of Heavy Metals in Soil Amended with Fly Ash. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

PDF (MS dissertation of Sneha Ray Sarkar (11MS009)) Sneha_Ray_Sarkar-11MS009.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (5MB)

Abstract

Industrialization took place in the mid 19th century after which many industries and factories came into being and most of them used coal. With the ever increasing demand for coal, the drawbacks associated with it also increased. At present, accelerating accumulation of fly ash, a byproduct in coal combustion processes, is of major environmental concern. Fly ash finds its maximum utilization in concrete and cement factory due to its pozzolanic property. However, fly ash is also used in the agricultural sector as a "fertilizer", especially in West Bengal. However, there is no upper limit to how much fly ash should be added to agricultural soil. In this study, fly ash has been mixed with soil in four proportions, namely, 0 percent (FA0), 25 percent (FA25), 50 percent (FA50) and 75 percent (FA75). A wetland plant - Typha latofolia - has also been incorporated in the system. Mobility and biological availability of heavy metals, however, depend not only on their total concentration in soil but also on the physicochemical form in which they occur. Sequential extraction methods are therefore employed to examine the element speciation. Application of 25 percent fly ash was found to enhance the nutrient availability in soil and also resulted in better plant growth. From the microbial population estimation also, it was observed that FA25 had the highest CFU per gram value in comparison to other fly ash amended soils.

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