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TECHNICAL REPORT
WASTE MANAGEMENT

Chemical Characterization of Synthetic Soil from Composting Coal Combustion and Pharmaceutical By-Products

^a Dep. of Agronomy, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907
^b Dep. of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907
^c Eli Lilly and Company Tippecanoe Laboratories, Lafayette, IN 47902
^d National Soil Erosion Lab., USDA-ARS, West Lafayette, IN 47907

Corresponding author (clays{at}purdue.edu)

Received for publication February 7, 2000. Land application of coal combustion by-products (CCBs) mixed with solid organic wastes (SOWs), such as municipal sewage sludge, has become increasingly popular as a means of productively using what were once considered waste products. Although bulk chemical and physical properties of several of these CCB–SOW materials have been reported, detailed information about their synthesis and mineralogy of the CCB–SOW materials has not been reported. In this paper, chemical and mineralogical properties of a soil-like material obtained from composting a mixture of CCBs with a pharmaceutical fermentation by-product (FB) were investigated at the laboratory and field scale. All starting materials and products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and elemental analyses. The results showed that the FB was strongly bound to the CCBs and could not be removed by washing. Within 2 wk of the start of a composting study, there was a rapid drop in pH from 12 to 8, an increase in temperature to 70°C, and a reduction in the dissolved oxygen content, attributed to the rapid establishment of a highly active microbial population. Composting produced a soil-like material with high levels of plant nutrients, a high nutrient retention capacity, and metal contents similar to median levels of those metals reported for soils. The levels of boron and soluble salts are such that sensitive plants may initially show toxicity symptoms. However, with adequate rainfall, leaching should rapidly remove most of the B and soluble salts. With care, the material produced is safe for use as a synthetic topsoil.

Abbreviations: CCB, coal combustion by-product • FB, fermentation by-product • FBC, fluidized bed combustion • FTIR, fourier transform infrared • SOW, solid organic waste • XRD, X-ray diffraction