Study on use of fly ash mixed with Cyanobacteria as Biofertilizer in Wheat

Abstract

Fly ash is a fine coal dust which is generated as byproduct from the boilers of the coal fired thermal power plants. The particle size of fly ash varies from one sub-micron to several micrometers. The physico-chemical properties of fly ash depends on the nature of the coal burnt (Rout, 2004). newlineAccording to Page et al. (1979) coal fly ash is a powdery material made up of tiny glass spheres and consists primarily of Silicon, Aluminium, Iron and Calcium Oxides. They stated that coal fly ash consists of practically all the elements present in the soil except nitrogen. It can act as soil ameliorating material (Sheoranet al., 2014) because of its physical condition and presence of macro and micro nutrients. newlineThe American Society for Testing and Materials C618 (www.theconstructor.org) specified two categories of fly ash, Class C and Class F depending on the type of coal and the resultant chemical analysis.The burning of anthracite and bituminous coal typically produces F fly ash which is pozzolanic in nature and contains less than 7% lime (Calcium oxide).Class C fly ash is made-up from the burning of lignite or sub-bituminous coal. In addition to having pozzolanic properties this class also have some self-cementing properties. The Thermal Power Plants generate both type of fly ash. newlineThe pH of fly ash varies from 4.5-12.0 units depending largely on the sulphur content of the parent coal (Plank and Martens, 1974). Many researchers have done the newlineaddition of fly ash in the soil to evaluate the long term consequence of fly ash on soil ecology and crop productivity (Singh and Singh, 1986; Keshet al., 2003). newlineThe physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of most of the common soil are more or less similar in many respects. Fly ash has been found more effective in raising soil pH to levels conductive to maximum plant growth than that of weathered ash in a given soil (Phunget al., 1979). The effect of fly ash on chemical properties of soil is influenced by original pH of both fly ash and soil. newlineFly ash is a useful soil-amending