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Oxidation of Liquid Animal Wastes in Soil
Author(s) -
Kowalik P.,
Barnes C. J.,
Smiles D. E.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1979.03615995004300020001x
Subject(s) - slurry , soil water , oxygen , manure , environmental science , sink (geography) , diffusion , soil horizon , environmental chemistry , soil science , chemistry , environmental engineering , agronomy , physics , cartography , organic chemistry , biology , geography , thermodynamics
A theory of oxygen diffusion in soil in which the oxygen consumption rates varies with time was applied to describe the oxidation of liquid animal wastes in a soil irrigated by a slurry of pig manure. Soil column experiments with a pig slurry of known biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) showed that the aerobic return of the soil atmosphere composition to that approaching air is described by analytical solutions of the diffusion equation with a time‐dependent sink term. The aerobic and anaerobic zones can be determined in the soil profile according to the solutions given for the transient state in two cases: (i) when uptake of oxygen is uniformly distributed over the soil profile; and (ii) when uptake of oxygen is limited to the upper part of the soil profile. These solutions may be used to determine maximum BOD loads for soils irrigated by waste water with relatively high organic content.