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Mineralization of Nitrogen in Sewage Sludges¹

ABSTRACT

Mineralization of organic N is one of the principle factors governing the annual amount of sewage sludge applied to agricultural cropland. The mineralization of sludge organic N was studied in a Fincastle silt loam soil treated with 24 sewage sludges obtained from sewage treatment plants in several regions of the United States. The mineralization of sludge organic N was determined during a 16-week incubation by analysis of inorganic N in (i) leachates from soil-sludge-sand mixtures and (ii) subsamples of unleached soil-sludge mixtures. The nonleached procedure gave slightly higher estimates of mineralizable N in most sludges (average of 17 and 16% N mineralized by nonleached and leached procedures, respectively). The approximate amounts of mineralizable N in sludges expressed as a percentage of organic N were: raw and primary, 25%; waste-activated, 40%; anaerobically digested, 15%; and composted, 8%. Inorganic N released from sludges by autoclaving in 0.01M CaCl₂ or extracting with H₂SO₄ + KMnO₄ was not highly correlated with N mineralization. Sludge organic N content was a reasonable predictor of mineralization of sludge N added to soils. The following regression equation was found to describe the mineralization of sludge organic N in soil: % of added sludge N mineralized = 6.37 x % sludge organic N + 4.63 (r = 0.77). To calculate the appropriate sludge application rates for agronomic crops, the percentage of sludge N mineralized during the initial cropping season should be related either to the process used for sludge treatment or to the concentration of organic N in the sludge.

Key Words: decomposition • N immobilization • extractants for mineralizable N • waste disposal • crop production

¹ Contribution from the Purdue Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn., Journal Paper no. 9009. Research was supported in part by the U.S. Dep. of Interior, and Purdue Univ. Water Resources Research Center, Matching Grant OWRT B-084-IND. Contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the U.S. Dep. of Interior, Office of Water Res. and Technol., nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute their endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government.

² Former Graduate Research Assistant and Professor, respectively, Dep. of Agronomy, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907.

Received for publication April 23, 1982.

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