Agricultural applications waste disposal

This application is very cost-sensitive because of the subsidy structure of the agricultural sector of the EU. The regulations for waste disposal of mulch film require either recycling or adequate treatment (e.g., incineration). If thin mulch films are concerned, the recovery of the film in the field is crop-dependent and difficult. Cleaning of the soil residues is cost-intensive. In this case, it can be more cost-effective to use biodegradable mulch film, which is adapted to the climate and the fruit application. 

Before discussing the practical applications of bentonite, its different properties have to be studied in order to determine how the various bentonite rocks can be used. In the scope of this book, some agricultural and environmental applications are mentioned. In these applications, natural or chemically modified bentonite rocks are in direct contact with the soil or the geological environment. As an example, we can mention the bentonite barriers used for waste disposals. 

As seen earlier, cation exchange of montmorillonite has an important role in agricultural applications. In these cases, cations sorbed previously on bentonite are added to the soil. The opposite process, however, is also important in environmental applications, namely, when polluting cations have to be sorbed on bentonite. Such applications are the clay barriers of waste disposals. The high CEC is desirable. The sorption of cationic species decreases the migration rate of wastes, too (Section 3.2). 

Several firms have developed systems for specialized application such as agricultural residue conversion, wood residue conversion and municipal solid waste disposal. Most of these systems have capacities of less than 50 GJ/h of product gas, i.e., 80-90 oven dried tons per day (ODT/D) of feedstock. Larger systems gasifying more than 100 ODT/D of wood are similar in design to gasifiers developed prior to 1950. 

One of the key benefits of drop-in chemicals is the reduchon of the dependence on fossil fuel energy. Bio-based chemicals have the potential to solve a number of waste management issues. For example, for the plastic sector, this technology offered a solution for disposable packaging that cannot be easily separated from organic waste derived from agricultural applications. 

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