Stabilization of zinc in the soil profile after the application of biochar and amorphous manganese oxide

B.Sc. Cody Rudolph Shepard, BS

Master's thesis

Abstract:

It is well documented that zinc and other metal contaminants pose ecological and human health risks. There is a need for cost-effective in situ remediation of metal contaminants. This study uses soil contaminated by a lead smelting plant near Příbram, Czech Republic with an amendment that combines synthetic amorphous manganese oxide with biochar derived from grape stalk agricultural waste (2:1) as an amendment called AMOchar to stabilize zinc in the soil profile. The biochar was pyrolysed at 600 °C under nitrogen flow and the amorphous manganese oxide was synthesized according to a modified procedure for synthesizing birnessite. The results of the experiment show that a 2% treatment by weight of AMOchar in the soil profile significantly stabilized zinc by lowering soil solution concentrations and leachability of zinc. The presence of AMOchar also significantly raises the pH level of soil solution and leachate. Applying the 2% AMOchar treatment distributed throughout the soil profile rather than in one discrete layer also significantly raised the pH of the soil solution.

Keywords

Biochar, AMOchar, Remediation, Sorption, Zinc

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 17. 4. 2017

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: Mgr. Lukáš Trakal, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Environmental Sciences

Master programme / odbor:
Geology / Environmental Geosciences