HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tester, C. F. Articles by Parr, J. F. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Tester, C. F. Articles by Parr, J. F. Agricola Articles by Tester, C. F. Articles by Parr, J. F.

Decomposition of Sewage Sludge Compost in Soil: I. Carbon and Nitrogen Transformation¹

ABSTRACT

Laboratory incubation studies were conducted to determine the rate and extent of decomposition of sewage sludge compost in soil. Freeze-dried compost made from undigested sewage sludge was mixed with three soils (a loamy sand, a silt loam, and a silty clay) and a sand at rates of 0, 2, 4, and 6% of the dry weight. The mixtures were incubated at 22C in a constant atmosphere of CO₂- and NH₃-free air. Rates of mineralization and decomposition were determined by monitoring CO₂ and NH₃ evolution and changes in the organic and inorganic fractions of C and N with time. Cumulative CO₂ evolution was linearly related to the rate of sludge compost applied. Approximately 16% of the compost C evolved in 54 days of incubation. Nitrogen mineralization was lowest in the silt loam-compost treatment. In the sand-compost mixture, mineral N was immobilized during incubation. Ammonia volatilization from all of the treatments was minimal. Approximately 6% of the compost N in the loamy sand-compost treatment had mineralized after 54 days incubation. Interlattice fixation of NH₄⁺ may have occurred in the silt loam and silty clay soils.

Key Words: mineralization • nitrification • immobilization • fixation

¹ Contribution from the Biol. Waste Manage. and Soil Nitrogen Lab., Beltsville Agric. Res. Center, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705. This research was supported in part by the Maryland Environ. Serv., Annapolis, Md., and by a grant from U. S. Environ. Prot. Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio.

² Research Chemists, Plant Physiologist, and Research Microbiologist, respectively.

Received for publication March 21, 1977.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. F. Jaynes, R. E. Zartman, R. E. Sosebee, and D. B. Wester Biosolids Decomposition after Surface Applications in West Texas J. Environ. Qual., September 1, 2003; 32(5): 1773 - 1781. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]