Fluosorbent Injection By-Products (Final Report, January 1997 through December 1999)

Abstract

Few, if any, economical alternatives exist for small coal-fired boilers that require a flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) system which does not generate wastes. A new duct-injection technology, called "Fluesorbent," was developed to help fill this gap. Fluesorbent was intentionally designed so that the saturated S02-sorbent materials can be used as beneficial soil amendments after they were used for FGD. A. Project Objective: The objective of this project was to demonstrate in the field that saturated Fluesorbent materials can be utilized beneficially on agricultural and grass lands. B. Project Results: The results of this project suggest that, indeed, saturated Fluesorbent has excellent potential as a commercial soil amendment for crops, such as alfalfa and soybeans, and for turf. Yields of alfalfa and turf were substantially increased in field testing on acidic soils by one-time applications of Fluesorbent FGD by-products. In the first two years of field testing, alfalfa yields on field plots with the FGD by-products were approximately 40% greater than on plots treated with an equivalent amount of agricultural lime. In a third, drought-influenced year, the gains were smaller. Turf grass growth was fully twice that of untreated plots and more than 10% greater than with ag-lime. A small farm trialmore » with a modified version of the Fluesorbent by-product increased soybean yield by 25%. A small trial with corn, however, indicated no significant improvement. Even though the Fluesorbent contained fly ash, the alfalfa and turf grown in FGD-treated plots contained significantly lower levels of heavy metals than that grown in untreated or lime-treated plots. In a project greenhouse experiment, the fly ashes from five different coal boilers from around Ohio produced equivalent yields when mixed with Fluesorbent, indicating wide potential applicability of the new technology. The Fluesorbent materials were also found to be easy to extrude into pellets for use with mixed fertilizers. The by-product FGD materials also showed good potential as a granular substrate for turning volatile liquid herbicides into a dry, spreadable form. It was also shown that a significant amount of other fertilizer compounds, such as elemental sulfur, could be successfully incorporated into the pelleted products, if desired. « less

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