Vegetation of mono-layer landfill cover made of coal bottom ash and soil by compost application

Seul Bi Lee, Sang Yoon Kim, Chan Yu, Soon-Oh Kim, Pil Joo Kim

Department of Agricultural Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea.
Department of Agricultural Environment, National Academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS), Rural Development Administration (RDA), Suwon, South Korea.
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea.
Division of Applied Life Science (BK 21 Program), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea.
Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea.

DOI: 10.4236/jacen.2013.23008                

Abstract

Monolayer barriers called evapotranspiration (ET) covers were developed as alternative final cover systems in waste landfills but high-quality soil remains a limiting factor in these cover systems. Coal bottom ash was evaluated to be a very good alternative to soil in previous tests and a combination of soil (65% wt^.wt^-1) and coal bottom ash (35% wt^.wt^-1) was evaluated to be the most feasible materials for ET cover systems. In our pot test, selected manure compost as soil amendment for the composite ET cover system, which was made of soil and bottom ash at ca. 40 Mg^.ha^-1 application level was very effective to promote vegetation growth of three plants; namely, garden cosmos (Cosmosbipinnatus), Chinese bushclover (Lespedezacuneata), and leafy lespedeza (Lespedeza cyrtobotrya). To evaluate the effect of compost application on plant growth in an ET vegetative cover system, two couples of lysimeters, packed with soil and a mixture of soil and bottom ash, were installed in a pilot landfill cover system in 2007. Manure composts were applied at the rates of 0 and  40 Mg^.ha^-11before sowing the five plant species, i.e.indigo-bush (Amorphafruticosa), Japanese mugwort (Artemisia princeps, Arundinella hirta, Lespedezacuneata, and Lespedezacyrtobotrya). Unseeded native plant (green foxtail,Setaria viridis) was dominant in all treatments in the 1st year after installation while the growth of the sown plants significantly improved over the years. Total biomass productivity significantly increased with manure compost application, and more significantly increased in the composite ET cover made of soil and bottom ash treatment compared to the single soil ET cover, mainly due to more improved soil nutrient levels promoting vegetation growth and maintaining the vegetation system. The use of bottom ash as a mixing material in ET cover systems has a strong potential as an alternative to fine-grained soils, and manure compost addition can effectively enhance vegetative propagation in ET cover systems.

Keywords

Bottom Ash; Coal Ash; Compost Application; Evapotranspiration (ET) Cover; Mono-layer Barrier

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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