Impacts of Liquid Fractions from Two Solid–Liquid Separation Technologies on the Soil Porosity, Ammonia, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Application of organic manure on farmland is one of the most important tasks in agricultural recycling. However, few studies have investigated the potential impact of different solid–liquid separation (SLS) technologies on soil porosity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a result of the applicati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shanshan Wang, Wenjing Wang, Yingxin Cui, Yichao Bai, Chunjing Liu, Wenhua Liao, Zhiling Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-01-01
Series:Agronomy
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/1/186
Description
Summary:Application of organic manure on farmland is one of the most important tasks in agricultural recycling. However, few studies have investigated the potential impact of different solid–liquid separation (SLS) technologies on soil porosity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a result of the application of liquid fractions (LFs). A microcosm experiment was conducted to track the emissions of ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>), nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O), carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), and methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) from soils (1) without liquid manure application (CK), (2) with a raw dairy slurry (RM), (3) with the liquid fractions of mechanical solid–liquid separation (MS) technologies, and (4) with the LF of an enhanced solid–liquid separation technology including a flocculant (tannic acid, Ta) (MS + Ta). Soil porosities of different treatments were measured using computed tomography (CT). The saturated water conductivities of the RM and MS treatments were 53.38% and 78.63%, respectively, lower than that of the CK. The application of raw slurry and LFs reduced the gas diffusion due to the strong decrease in pore sizes >500 μm and increased gas emissions compared to the CK. Compared with RM, MS had greater N<sub>2</sub>O and lower CH<sub>4</sub> emissions, whereas MS + Ta had lower NH<sub>3</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. MS had the greatest CO<sub>2</sub>-e emissions, mainly owing to high N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, followed by RM and MS + Ta. The implementation of a simple SLS led to an increase in nitrogen (N) loss and GHG emissions when the resultant LFs were applied to farmlands, whereas high emissions were reduced when a simple SLS was combined with a flocculant, such as Ta. Further research is required to elucidate the reduction mechanism and its effectiveness under field conditions.
ISSN:2073-4395