[Gasification] Ash to land? Each case different

[Max Kennedy]

"Any rule of thumb is subject to the specifics of the situation" True however I wasn't speaking solely of Cd but contaminants in general.  As they tend to be inorganic they are in general vastly concentrated in the ash.  Some contaminants, such as silicon, Si, are innocuous others are not.  Because of the concentration effect most ash is toxic one way or another.  Remember that the specific concentration may not in itself be toxic but as these chemicals are often persistant repeated applications will raise concentrations to hazardous materials to dangerous levels.  Appropriate treatment, the 1st stage is TESTING, if good to go, by all means apply to the land.  However do remember to take persistance and bioconcentration into account!

MK


----- Original Message ----
From: "LINVENT at aol.com" <LINVENT at aol.com>
To: gasification at listserv.repp.org
Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2007 1:49:57 PM
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Ash to land? Each case different


Because EU ash may have high Cd in it, doesn't mean that all do. For this 
reason, each situation is different. I have seen citrus trees in Bakersfield area 
have high nickel and trees around Los Alamos New Mexico have high beryllium 
in them due to explosive use in the Manhattan project and accumulations in the 
soil. Any rule of thumb is subject to the specifics of the situation. 

I would hazard to say that most biomass ash is relatively free from heavy 
metal contamination in the US, and that applications of small quantites is not 
per se a problem. An example of this is when a forest burns, the regrowth is 
quite vigorous. Part of this is because the ash concentrates and increases the 
availablilty of nutrients to the plant. When microbe dependency for nutrient 
breakdown in the soil is the pathway, the microbes will keep the nutrients to 
themselves first and then slowly release them to the plant. This is not the case 
when ash is the source. 
The issue arises from long term use and not only potential heavy metal 
accumulations, but imbalances created which are as insidious a problem and can be 
difficult to fix, if you don't know how to do it. I can fix any toxic soil 
condition and make it into highly productive soil. No brag, just fact. 



Sincerely,
Leland T. Taylor
Leland T."Tom" Taylor
President
Thermogenics Inc.
7100-F 2nd St. NW Albuquerque, NM 87107
Phone:505-463-8422 Fax:505-268-9206 (call first)
Web:thermogenics.com



**************************************
See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
_______________________________________________
Gasification mailing list
Gasification at listserv.repp.org
http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_listserv.repp.org
http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org


      Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail at http://mrd.mail.yahoo.com/try_beta?.intl=ca