ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Long-Term Effects of Hard Coal Fly Ash
on Selected Soil Properties
Zdzisław Ciećko1,2, Andrzej C. Żołnowski1, Monika Madej2,
Grażyna Wasiak2, Janusz Lisowski3
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1Department of Environmental Chemistry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland
2Faculty of Ecology, Higher School of Ecology and Management in Warsaw, Poland
3Higher School of Agribusiness in Łomża, Poland
Submission date: 2014-11-20
Final revision date: 2015-01-09
Acceptance date: 2015-01-11
Publication date: 2015-09-21
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2015;24(5):1949-1957
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ABSTRACT
This research reports and analyzes results of a field experiment started in 1984, when hard coal fly ash
(HCFA) was added to soil at doses of 0 to 800 Mg·ha-1. During the first years of the experiment, traditional
crops were grown in the plots, which in 1992 were converted into permanent grassland. Twenty-nine years
after the application of fly ash, soil samples from the 0-20 cm soil layer were collected to determine chemical
properties of soil. The results showed an elevated soil reaction, and high contents of available forms of P, K,
and Mg, plus mineral forms of nitrogen and high soil organic matter. Under increased ash doses, analysed soils
increased the C:N ratio and shares of N-NO3 and N-NH4 in total nitrogen content. These results justify that fly
ash from combustion of hard coal in a power plant can produce long-term impact on soil, contributing to a certain
improvement of its chemical, physical, and biological properties, which stimulate the sequestration of carbon
in soil.