The amendment of acid soil with an ettringitic waste and its effects on plant growth

• Main Author: Tomlinson, Ian Rory
• Other Authors: Fey, Martin V
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2016
• Subjects: Geological Sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21334

Bibliography: pages 63-68. === Associated with ESKOM's ash water beneficiation programme is the precipitation of an ettringitic waste from highly alkaline, saline water. The waste is dominated by ettringite (CauAJ4(OH)24(S04) 6.52H20) with calcite (CaC03) as a minor phase (17.7% for the sample used in this study). Apart from the presence of calcite, the ettringite itself is alkaline due to the presence of OH ions. Following a submission that the waste had potential as an ameliorant of acid soil, research into this possibility was initiated. Following the determination of a calcium carbonate equivalent (HCl-CCE) value of 78% using the HCl back titration method of Horwitz (1980), an incubation experiment was initiated using three acid soils of contrasting characteristics: a so-called Silvermine sand, Kranskop A and Kranskop B soils. The effects on soil acidity of ettringitic waste were compared with analytical grade calcite. Soils (50g samples) were incubated with the two alkaline amendments for two weeks, following which pH(KCl), pH(H20) and KCl-extractable acidity were determined. Ettringitic waste led to apparently lower levels of acidity neutralization for corresponding treatments set on an HCl-CCE basis. This difference was minimized with the highly buffered, sesquioxide and organic-rich Kranskop A soil which could be attributed to the greater reactivity of the ettringitic waste with organically-complexed acidity together with the "self-liming" effect of so4 in sesquioxide-rich soils (sensu Reeve & Sumner, 1972). The waste showed progressively less neutralization with Kranskop B and Silvermine soils apparently in response to a decline in buffering capacity of these soils.