Chemical Tests for Nutrient and Trace Element Availability in Coal-Cleaning Wastes: Development of Methods Based on Routine Soil Tests

摘要

The objective of the research was to determine whether tests that have been useful for agricultural soils can be just as useful for evaluating the chemical quality of coal-cleaning refuse as a medium for plant growth. If not, then a second objective was to determine what modifications should be made, either in the test or its interpretation, for application to the wastes. It was expected that such information would also be useful for other types of wastes. The approach used to achieve these objectives was a combination of greenhouse and laboratory procedures, where coal wastes were compared to an Illinois agricultural soil in terms of behavior in routine soil tests. The tests selected were those considered here to be the most important for evaluating a material as a plant growth medium, and included both physical and chemical methods. As was expected, some changes to the proposed work were made, as results accumulated.