Abstract
Biodegradation rates of oily waste in soil can be limited by mineral nutrients, particularly N and P. A laboratory incubation experiment was carried out to investigate the influence of N forms, nitrate (NO− 3-N) vs ammonium nitrogen (NH+ 4-N), and sources, i.e., the conjugate cations/anions, on C mineralization rate (CMR) was determined daily by measuring the CO2 evolved using gas chromatography. The CMR and the cumulative C mineralized (CCM) varied with the form and/or the source of N applied. The greatest enhancement in CMR occurred in the NO− 3-treatments in which the source conjugate cation was Ca+2. The addition of P fertilizer further enhanced C mineralization rates irrespective of the form and/or the source of N added. The results show that up to 45% of the added oily waste mineralized as CO2-C in 28 d. The residual P and N (NO− 3-N plus NH+ 4-N) data showed that approximately 90% of the added P and N were utilized for oil decomposition. The amount of residual NO− 3-N appeared to have an inverse relationship with CCM. The NO− 3-N utilization occurred at the expense of NH+ 4-N and this was particularly high in the treatments which received P.
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Rasiah, V., Voroney, R.P. & Kachanoski, R.G. Biodegradation of an oily waste as influenced by nitrogen forms and sources. Water Air Soil Pollut 65, 143–151 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00482755
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00482755