Biomass growth potassium

Copper exhibits rhizotoxicity in wheat seedlings [17]. Copper and chromium retard shoot and root growth of barley [18]. The yield of wheat is decreased when soil is contaminated with cadmium oxide or zinc oxide [19]. Copper and nickel smelter-polluted soil retards biomass growth of pine trees and reduces the essential calcium, potassium, and magnesium contents of sapUngs [20]. Cadmium in the soil reduces ryegrass growth with crop yields inversely proportional to cadmium content [21]. 

Aggradation or degradation of biomass or soil reservoirs may also produce effects that appear to be fractionation. This is because the elemental ratios in vegetation or soil reservoirs can be very different from those of bedrock. Sufficiently large and rapid changes in these reservoirs are sometimes evident in river chemistry. For example, the uptake and release of potassium in association with the seasonal growth and loss of leaves can affect the composition of streams that drain temperate deciduous forests (Likens et al, 1977 Vitousek, 1977). 

The cost of the fermentation medium becomes a critical factor upon scale-up. The best growth medium may not always be the most economical and the cheapest not always optimal for production. The constituents of the medium must reflect the composition of the biomass, which mainly comprises carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, sulphur, magnesium, potassium, and trace elements. The raw materials for the... 

Since catalysis is of such current interest, this paper presents a review of some of the literature which deals with the catalytic gasification of biomass. It also summarizes the preliminary results of a bench-scale fluid bed gasification study which employed Canadian hybrid poplar. The effect of such catalysts as potassium carbonate and calcium oxide on wood gasification is reported. Hybrid poplar was selected due to its rapid growth and, therefore, its relevance to the concept of wood energy plantations. 

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