Abstract
Composting could be used in the pulp and paper industry to treat primary sludges as an alternative to landfilling. The objective of this project was to compost and evaluate a pulp and paper sludge for use as a soil amendment/mulch. Primary sludge, tailings, wood ash (0, 5 or 10 percent by volume), and paunch (cattle stomach contents and tissue) from a slaughterhouse were composted in a 91 m windrow that was turned one to two times per week. The pile moisture content and temperature were controlled at 50 percent and 57–63°C during 14 weeks of composting. The compost was then cured for 4 weeks for a total treatment time of 18 weeks. Sludge dry mass decreased by approximately 50 percent, pH increased slightly to 8.2 to 8.5, and carbon-nitrogen ratio decreased from 270:1 to 14–67:1 after composting and curing. Electrical conductivity of all final composts was over 4 dS/m. Shoot biomass of tomato plants grown in a compost-amended medium (50 percent compost, 25 percent sand, 25 percent perlite by volume) improved with composting time but was still only 35–65 percent that of plants grown in a peat moss-amended medium (control). Shoot weight and height of poplar plants grown in soil amended with aged compost were unaffected by compost application rate (incorporated or as a mulch) at less than or equal to 180 Mg/ha. In summary, this study demonstrated that a pulp and paper sludge and wood ash mixture yielded a compost that could be used as a low quality mulch or soil amendment for poplar.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Shoot biomass of tomato grown in compost-amended medium improved with composting time.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume0 - Treatment
- compost-amended mediume0
- Outcome
- Shoot biomasse0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Qualifier
- with composting timee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Shoot biomass of tomato plants grown in a compost-amended medium (50 percent compost, 25 percent sand, 25 percent perlite by volume) improved with composting time but was still only 35–65 percent that of plants grown in a peat moss-amended medium (control)”
Claim · model-written summary
Shoot biomass of tomato grown in compost-amended medium was lower than in peat moss-amended medium, at 35–65 percent of the control.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- compost-amended mediume0
- Outcome
- Shoot biomasse0
- Direction
- lowerinferrede0
- Value
- 35–65 percente0
- Comparator
- peat moss-amended medium (control)e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Shoot biomass of tomato plants grown in a compost-amended medium (50 percent compost, 25 percent sand, 25 percent perlite by volume) improved with composting time but was still only 35–65 percent that of plants grown in a peat moss-amended medium (control)”
Claim · model-written summary
Shoot weight and height of poplar were unaffected by compost application rate up to 180 Mg/ha.
- Treatment
- compost application rate (incorporated or as a mulch)e1
- Outcome
- Shoot weight and heighte1
- Direction
- unaffectede1
- Qualifier
- at less than or equal to 180 Mg/hae1
PopulusNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Shoot weight and height of poplar plants grown in soil amended with aged compost were unaffected by compost application rate (incorporated or as a mulch) at less than or equal to 180 Mg/ha”
Claim · model-written summary
The pulp and paper sludge and wood ash compost can be used as a low quality mulch or soil amendment for poplar.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“In summary, this study demonstrated that a pulp and paper sludge and wood ash mixture yielded a compost that could be used as a low quality mulch or soil amendment for poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
Sludge dry mass decreased by approximately 50 percent during composting and curing.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e3“Sludge dry mass decreased by approximately 50 percent, pH increased slightly to 8.2 to 8.5, and carbon-nitrogen ratio decreased from 270:1 to 14–67:1 after composting and curing”
Claim · model-written summary
The pH of the sludge compost increased slightly to 8.2 to 8.5.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e3“Sludge dry mass decreased by approximately 50 percent, pH increased slightly to 8.2 to 8.5, and carbon-nitrogen ratio decreased from 270:1 to 14–67:1 after composting and curing”
Claim · model-written summary
The carbon-nitrogen ratio of the sludge compost decreased from 270:1 to 14–67:1.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e3“Sludge dry mass decreased by approximately 50 percent, pH increased slightly to 8.2 to 8.5, and carbon-nitrogen ratio decreased from 270:1 to 14–67:1 after composting and curing”
Claim · model-written summary
Electrical conductivity of all final composts was over 4 dS/m.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e4“Electrical conductivity of all final composts was over 4 dS/m”
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See all 668 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.