Modelling the Balance of Metals in the Amended Soil for the Case of ‘Atmosphere–Plant–Soil’ System

Abstract

Changing the concepts of economic development and introducing new amendments can hardly decrease the accumulation in the soil of such pollutants as metals, remaining there for a long time. The predictive models for describing the balance of metals in the soil, which are based on the 'atmosphere-plant-soil' system and reflect the complicated physical-chemical nature of the metals' migration, expressed by coefficients obtained in long-term observations in natural conditions, allow for evaluating long-term concentration of metals in the soil. The model BALANS evaluates selfpurification of soil, taking into account the uptake of metals of aerogenic origin by the soil together with amendments, their physical-chemical migration and the type of microrelief determining its intensity as well as the absorbed biomass of plants and the removal of metals with crops. In this model, the half-period of metals' washing out from the soil, found for the microrelief characteristic of low places, exceeds 200 years for Ni, Cr and Pb and makes 90 and 150 years for Zn and Cu, respectively.

A review of lignocellulosic biochar modification towards enhanced biochar selectivity and adsorption capacity of potentially toxic elements

“…Even though most studies focus on investigating biochar properties and designing biochar for specific purposes (Novak et al, 2009(Novak et al, , 2014, it is still difficult to establish specific process conditions to produce biochars with the desired characteristics because the relationship between the physical and chemical properties of biochar and its applicability in different fields need to be further investigated. There is a need for adsorption technologies using biochar for metal sorption in soil (Zheng et al, 2015;Baltrėnaitė et al, 2016b) and surface water run-off (Mancinelli et al, 2015).…”

A biochar-based medium in the biofiltration system: Removal efficiency, microorganism propagation, and the medium penetration modeling

“…Biochar seems to be a promising medium for a biofiltration system based on the following practical considerations: (i) a relatively low cost due to local availability and the ease of preparation (e.g., avoiding activation of the adsorbent); (ii) a high potential of regeneration because of the prevalence of physical adsorption; (iii) low probability that the adsorbent will cause chemical reactions (Komkienė and Baltrėnaitė, 2015); (iv) the convenience of filling large-volume biofiltration systems; (v) thermal and chemical stability; (vi) durability (5-8 yr) (Schmidt, 2012); and (vii) a possibility of producing an adsorbent from biodegradable (wood) waste (Zheng et al, 2015). This helps to implement the requirements for the endof-waste status following the Directive 2008/98/EC, as well as promoting innovative environmental protection technologies and anticipating an opportunity for utilizing biochar as soil amendment (Schmidt, 2012;Baltrėnaitė et al, 2016b). The paper is aimed at investigating the efficiency of a biofilter in removing volatile compounds (acetone, xylene, and ammonia) from the air, when a biofiltration system contains the biocharbased bed medium inoculated with microorganisms.…”