Phosphorus Treated Coal Combustion Products (CCP–bottom ash) as an Agricultural Source of Phosphorus

Coal combustion products (CCP or “ash”) have been seen to be beneficial for improving soil quality and increasing vegetative yields. Owing to their structure with more holes, they are also potential carriers of plant nutrients. The bottom ash from the Lambton Generating Station, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada was treated for 66 hours in 0.10 mol/L P solutions prepared from NaH2PO4, which resulted in the ash adsorbing 784 µg/g of phosphorus. The ash was mixed with quartz sand and/or non P-loaded ash from the same source to provide a set of growth media that contained 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the recommended dose of P (50 µg/g) for maize. Biomass yields at 26, 34, and 46 days after planting were compared with control (non-doped ash) and fertilized with 0-20-0 fertilizer. In general, growth media containing between 25% and 100% of the recommended P dose performed as well or better than the fertilized trials. 46 days after planting, the shoot fresh weight for the 50%, 75%, and 100% doped media were 39.46%, 42.73%, and 46.13%, respectively, greater compared to fertilized trials. The shoot dry weight increased by 29.71%, 13.39%, and 28.87%, respectively. Also, root fresh and dry weight increased averagely by 16.62% and 14.03%. These results implied that coal ashes are a better carrier for P uptaking, and P-loaded ash can be a good additive for sand soil improvement.