• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.853-860
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• 2012

To estimate potential use of fly ash in reducing $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ emission from soil, $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ fluxes from a paddy soil mixed with fly ash at different rate (w/w; 0, 5, and 10%) in the presence and absence of fertilizer N ($(NH_4)_2SO_4$) addition were investigated in a laboratory incubation for 60 days under changing water regime from wetting to drying via transition. The mean $CH_4$ flux during the entire incubation period ranged from 0.59 to $1.68mg\;CH_4\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$ with a lower rate in the soil treated with N fertilizer due to suppression of $CH_4$ production by $SO_4^{2-}$ that acts as an electron acceptor, leading to decreases in electron availability for methanogen. Fly ash application reduced $CH_4$ flux by 37.5 and 33.0% in soils without and with N addition, respectively, probably due to retardation of $CH_4$ diffusion through soil pores by addition of fine-textured fly ash. In addition, as fly ash has a potential for $CO_2$ removal via carbonation (formation of carbonate precipitates) that decreases $CO_2$ availability that is a substrate for $CO_2$ reduction reaction (one of $CH_4$ generation pathways) is likely to be another mechanisms of $CH_4$ flux reduction by fly ash. Meanwhile, the mean $CO_2$ flux during the entire incubation period was between 0.64 and $0.90g\;CO_2\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$, and that of N treated soil was lower than that without N addition. Because N addition is likely to increase soil respiration, it is not straightforward to explain the results. However, it may be possible that our experiment did not account for the substantial amount of $CO_2$ produced by heterotrophs that were activated by N addition in earlier period than the measurement was initiated. Fly ash application also lowered $CO_2$ flux by up to 20% in the soil mixed with fly ash at 10% through $CO_2$ removal by the carbonation. At the whole picture, fly ash application at 10% decreased global warming potential of emitted $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ by about 20%. Therefore, our results suggest that fly ash application can be a soil management practice to reduce green house gas emission from paddy soils. Further studies under field conditions with rice cultivation are necessary to verify our findings.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.278-283
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• 2003

This study was carried out to examine the nitrogen removal rate of a subsurface-flow treatment wetland system which was constructed on floodplain of the Kwangju River from May to June 2001. Its dimensions were 29m in length, 9m in width and 0.65m in depth. A bottom layer of 45cm in depth was filled with crushed granite with about $15{\sim}30\;mm$ in diameter and a middle layer of 10cm in depth had pea pebbles with about 10 mm in diameter. An upper layer of 5 cm in depth contained course sand. Reeds (Phragmites australis) were transplanted on the surface of the system. They were dug out of natural wetlands and stems were cut at about 40 cm height from their bottom ends. Water of the Kwangju River flowed into it via a pipe by gravity flow and its effluent was funneled back into the river. The height of reed stems was 44.2 cm in July 2001 and 75.3cm in September 2001. The number of stems was increased from $80\;stems/m^2$ in July 2001 to $136\;stems/m^2$ in September 2001. Volume and water quality of inflow and outflow were analyzed from July 2001 through December 2001. Inflow and outflow averaged 40.0 and $39.2\;m^3/day$, respectively. Hydraulic detention time was about 1.5 days. Average nitrogen uptake by reeds was $69.31\;N\;mg/m^2/day$. Removal rate of $NO_3-N$, $NH_3-N$, T-N averaged 195.58, 53.65, and $628.44\;mg/m^2/day$, respectively. Changes of $NO_3-N$ and $NH_3-N$ abatement rates were closely related to those of wetland temperatures. The lower removal rate of nitrogen species compared with that of subsurface-flow wetlands operating in North America could be attributed to the initial stage of the system and inclusion of two cold months into the six-month monitoring period. Increase of standing density of reeds within a few years will develop both root zones suitable for the nitrification of ammonia and surface layer substrates beneficial to the denitrification of nitrates into nitrogen gases, which may lead to increment in the nitrogen retention rate.