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Land Application of Sewage Sludge: V. Carbon Dioxide Production as Influenced by Sewage Sludge and Wood Waste Mixtures
Author(s) -
Agbim N. N.,
Sabey B. R.,
Markstrom Donald C.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1977.00472425000600040025x
Subject(s) - sewage sludge , carbon dioxide , pulp and paper industry , environmental science , loam , chemistry , tonne , sewage treatment , environmental chemistry , agronomy , zoology , environmental engineering , soil water , biology , soil science , organic chemistry , engineering
Carbon dioxide production during a 367‐day period was used in assessing the rate of carbon oxidation when wood (W), bark (B), and wood‐bark (WB) mixture from Engelmann spruce ( Picea Engelmannii Parry) were each mixed in different proportions with anaerobically digested sewage sludge and each mixture applied to a Nunn clay loam at rates of 22.4 to 224 metric tons/ha. Generally, as the application rate of organic material increased the CO 2 production increased, but nonadditively for most time intervals. At the 22.4‐metric tons/ha rate, there were no consistent differences in CO 2 production with variations in the proportion of wood materials to sludge. At the higher application rates, as the percentage of wood materials increased and sludge decreased, the CO 2 accumulation increased up to 75% wood material — 25% sludge, then dropped with 100% wood material. The 22.4‐metric tons/ha application of 100% sludge also resulted in lower CO 2 production rates than the mixtures of wood materials and sludge. The percentage decomposition of the added residues increased with decrease in application rate of the treatments, with values ranging from 11 to 55%. In concurrent studies, attempts were made to correlate CO 2 production with N mineralized in laboratory incubation studies and with wheat growth in a greenhouse pot experiment. The appropriate regression equations were derived to describe the relationships obtained. It was concluded that microbial respiration was a good index of plant‐available N in soil, except where plant nutrients were deficient due to microbial immobilization, or where toxic factors were limiting to microbial activity.