Soil additives calcium hydroxide

Titration of soil pH is an old method that is not widely used today. Basically, an acid soil suspension is prepared and titrated with a standardized base, often sodium hydroxide, although various basic calcium compounds such as calcium oxide (CaO) and calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] can also be used. Because of the dark color of many soils, they are often titrated using a pH meter as the indicator of the end point. A setup for the titration of soil is shown in Figure 10.1. Titration is slow in that it takes some time after the addition of titrant for some semblance of equilibrium to be reached. Once this happens, a reading can be made or simply another addition of titrant made. 

Calverly and Denny [199] have described a rapid and sensitive procedure for the determination of residue levels of three uracil herbicides in soils. After addition of calcium hydroxide and Celite to the soil the herbicides are eluted from columns with water. After acidification of the eluate and partition into chloroform these herbicides are determined by gas chromatography using a nitrogen-selective detector. Recoveries from a range of soil types are better than 80%, with a sensitivity limit of 20pg kgy1. 

Calcium hydroxide [Ca (OH) ] is known as slaked or hydrated lime and is formed by exposing calcium oxide to water. Slaked lime is less caustic than quick lime. Therefore, it is used to line football fields. (Unslaked lime, CaO, is very caustic when wet, and if it is used on playing fields, players may receive caustic burns.) Calcium hydroxide has many uses, including as an ingredient for stonemasons mortar, cements, whitewash, and soil conditioner (high pH), as a food additive, and as a human depilatory. 

Two additional sources of lime are noteworthy, especially when a rapid change in soil pH is desired. Calcium oxide (CaO), called quicklime or burned lime, and calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2], called hydrated lime, are more irritating to handle, and more expensive, than is limestone, but are sometimes favored by gardeners who desire to adjust soil pH quickly. 

Soil pH is a measure of the soil acidity or soil alkahnity. Because pH can affect the availability of nutrients, it is an important consideration for soil quality. Most crops prefer a neutral or slightly acidic soil. The pH is controlled by the addition of amendments to the soil the addition of minerals such as hme (calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)j) can increase the soil pH, whereas nitrogen-containing amendments lead to increased acidification. Fertilizer can also be added to the soil to ensure the availability of nutrients, specifically the macronutiients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. 

HPT Research, Inc., has developed the ionic state modification (ISM) process for the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD). ISM is an ex situ treatment technology that uses magnets, electricity, and proprietary chemical to precipitate heavy metals, remove sulfate ions, and neutralize acidity from AMD and industrial wastewaters. The end products of the process are a metal hydroxide sludge, a calcium sulfate sludge, and treated liquid effluent. The vendor claims that the metal hydroxide sludge may have some value as an ore, the calcium sulfate may be used as an agricultural additive to soils, and the liquid effluent is free of metal contamination and has low sulfate concentrations. 

After an extensive study of the adsorption of arsenious oxide by metallic hydroxides,3 Sen concluded that this type of adsorption resembles that of cations by manganese dioxide, and that the chemical affinity between the adsorbent and the substance adsorbed plays an important part, thus differing from adsorption by charcoal. It has been observed that soils having a high absorption capacity for bases also absorb the arsenite ion from solutions of 0-001 to 0-01X concentration.4 The absorption increases with time, without reaching an end-point, and the process follows the normal adsorption equation C1=kC1Jn. The addition of ferric oxide or calcium carbonate to the soil considerably increases the capacity for absorption, but such salts as calcium sulphate or copper sulphate have no effect. 

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