Retention and Transport of Nitrate and Ammonium in Loamy Sand Amended with Clinoptilolite Zeolite
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 9
Abstract
Agricultural soils of southern New Mexico, especially sand and sandy loams receiving numerous nitrogen (N) fertilizations, are prone to leaching large amounts of N to shallow groundwater. Adsorption and leaching experiments were conducted to investigate the use of clinoptilolite zeolite (CZ) as an amendment to sandy soils to increase N retention and reduce nitrate () leaching. Urea-ammonium-nitrate (UAN 32) fertilizer was applied to four soil treatments to simulate crop irrigation. The treatments were composed of 100% CZ, 100% loamy sand (LS), a mixture of (LS:CZ), and a mixture (LS:CZ) by mass, respectively. Results from the experiments showed an inverse relationship between nitrate-nitrogen () adsorption and the amount of CZ added to soil caused by anion exclusion and a direct relationship between ammonium-nitrogen () adsorption and the amount of CZ mixed with LS due to entrapment by the CZ molecules. It is therefore recommended to use other types of fertilizers that do not include to LS soils amended with CZ in order to reduce the risk of leaching. Otherwise, it is suggested to apply fertilizers containing ammonium nitrate in LS soils amended with CZ at reduced rates but at higher frequencies to meet plant demands.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) for providing partial financial support of this study; the St. Cloud Mining Company at Winston, NM, especially John Bokich and Joseph McEnaney for providing us with the clinoptilolite zeolite (CZ); the Harris AgSource Laboratory at Lincoln, NE, especially Kevin Klink for analyzing the properties of CZ and sand used in the study; Brent Tanzy from the U.S. Bureau of reclamation, Elephant Butte Field Division, for his encouragement and support of this research project, and the New Mexico State University Agricultural Experimental Station. Our appreciation goes to the following persons for their contribution to this study: Maria Schrock-Piñón, Julie Moore, Amir Gonzalez, Christina Delgadillo, Parmodh Sharma, Jessica Bush, Aquiles Saz, and Santosh Devkota.
References
Aghaalikhani, M., Gholamhoseini, M., Dolatabadian, A., Khodaei-Joghan, A., and Asilan, K. S. (2012). “Zeolite influences on nitrate leaching, nitrogen-use efficiency, yield and yield components of canola in sandy soil.” Arch. Agron. Soil Sci., 58(10), 1149–1169.
Ahmed, O. H., Braine Yap, C. H., and Nik Muhammad, A. M. (2010). “Minimizing ammonia loss from urea through mixing with zeolite and acid sulphate soil.” Int. J. Phys. Sci., 5(14), 2198–2202.
Ahmed, O. H., Husin, A., and Hanif, A. H. M. (2008). “Ammonia volatilization and ammonium accumulation from urea mixed with zeolite and triple superphosphate.” Acta Agric. Scand. Sect. B Soil Plant. Sci., 58(2), 182–186.
Böhlke, J. K., Smith, R. L., and Miller, D. N. (2006). “Ammonium transport and reaction in contaminated groundwater: Application of isotope tracers and isotope fractionation studies.” Water Resour. Res., 42(5), W05411.
Booker, N. A., Cooney, E. L., and Priestley, A. J. (1996). “Ammonia removal from sewage using natural Australian zeolite.” Water Sci. Technol., 34(9), 17–24.
Breck, D. W. (1974). Zeolite molecular sieves: Structure, chemistry and use, Wiley, New York.
Cameron, D. R., and Klute, A. (1977). “Convective-dispersive solute transport with a combined equilibrium and kinetic adsorption model.” Water Resour. Res., 13(1), 183–188.
Demir, A., Günay, A., and Debik, E. (2002). “Ammonium removal from aqueous solution by ion-exchange using packed bed natural zeolite.” Water SA, 28(3), 329–335.
Dowdy, S., and Wearden, S. (1991). Statistics for research, 2nd Ed., Wiley, New York, 324–328.
Dung, T. T., Bawazir, A. S., Shukla, M. K., and Bandini, P. (2011). “Some hydraulic and wicking properties of St. Cloud zeolite and zeolite-soil mixtures.” Appl. Eng. Agric., 27(6), 955–967.
Ferguson, G. A., Pepper, I. L., and Kneebone, W. R. (1986). “Growth of creeping bentgrass on a new medium for turfgrass growth: Clinoptilolite zeolite-amended sand.” Agron. J., 78(6), 1095–1098.
González-Delgado, A. M., and Shukla, M. K. (2011). “Coupled transport of nitrate and chloride in soil columns.” Soil Sci., 176(7), 346–355.
HACH. (2000). DR/2010 spectrophotometer procedures manual, Loveland, CO.
He, Z. L., Calvert, D. V., Alva, A. K., Li, Y. C., and Banks, D. J. (2002). “Clinoptilolite zeolite and cellulose amendments to reduce ammonia volatilization in a calcareous sandy soil.” Plant and Soil, 247(2), 253–260.
Herrera, E. A. (2005). Pecan orchard fertilization, Guide H-602, New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service, Las Cruces, NM.
Holmes, D. A. (1994). “Zeolites.” Industrial minerals and rocks, 6th Ed., D. D. Carr, ed., Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Littleton, CO, 1129–1158.
Huang, Z. T., and Petrovic, A. M. (1994). “Clinoptilolite zeolite influence on nitrate leaching and nitrogen use efficiency in simulated sand based golf greens.” J. Environ. Qual., 23(6), 1190–1194.
Ippolito, J. A., Tarkalson, D. D., and Lehrsch, G. A. (2011). “Zeolite soil application method affects inorganic nitrogen, moisture, and corn growth.” Soil Sci., 176(3), 136–142.
Jellali, S., Diamantopoulos, E., Kallali, H., Bennaceur, S., Anane, M., and Jedidi, N. (2010). “Dynamic sorption of ammonium by sandy soil in fixed bed columns: Evaluation of equilibrium and non-equilibrium transport processes.” J. Environ. Manage., 91(4), 897–905.
Kithome, M., Paul, J. W., Lavkulich, L. M., and Boomke, A. A. (1998). “Kinetics of ammonium adsorption and desorption by the natural zeolite clinoptilolite.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 62(3), 622–629.
Lal, R., and Shukla, M. K. (2004). Principles of soil physics, Marcel Dekker, New York.
Lapidus, L., and Amundson, N. R. (1952). “Mathematics of adsorption in beds. VI. The effect of longitudinal diffusion in ion exchange and chromatographic columns.” J. Phys. Chem., 56(8), 984–988.
Leij, F. J., and van Genuchten, M. T. (2002). “Solute transport.” Soil physics companion, A. W. Warrick, ed., CRC Press, New York, 189–248.
Li, Z. (2003). “Use of surfactant-modified zeolite as fertilizer carriers to control nitrate release.” Micropor. Mesopor. Mat., 61(1–3), 181–188.
MacKown, C. T., and Tucker, T. C. (1985). “Ammonium nitrogen movement in coarse-textured soil amended with zeolite.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 49(1), 235–238.
Malekian, R., Abedi-Koupai, J., and Eslamian, S. S. (2011). “Influences of clinoptilolite and surfactant-modified clinoptilolite zeolite on nitrate leaching and plant growth.” J. Hazard. Mat., 185(2–3), 970–976.
Meisinger, J. J., and Jokela, W. E. (2000). “Ammonia volatilization from dairy and poultry manure.” Proc., Conf. Managing Nutrients and Pathogens from Animal Agriculture, NRAES-130, NRAES, Ithaca, NY, 334–354.
Mikołajków, J. (2003). “Laboratory methods of estimating the retardation factor of migrating mineral nitrogen compounds in shallow groundwater.” Geol. Quart., 47(1), 91–96.
Mumpton, F. A. (1999). “La roca mágica: Uses of natural zeolites in agriculture and industry.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 96(7), 3463–3470.
Nkedi-Kizza, P., Biggar, J. W., Selim, H. M., and van Genuchten, M. T. (1984). “On the equivalence of two conceptual models for describing ion exchange during transport through an aggregated oxisol.” Water Resour. Res., 20(8), 1123–1130.
Nguyen, M., and Tanner, C. (1998). “Ammonium removal from wastewaters using natural New Zealand zeolites.” N.Z. Agric. Res., 41(3), 427–446.
Parker, J. C., and van Genuchten, M. T. (1984). “Determining transport parameters from laboratory and field tracer experiments.” Virginia agricultural experiment station bulletin 84-3, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.
Perrin, T. S., Boettinger, J. L., Drost, D. T., and Norton, J. M. (1998). “Decreasing nitrogen leaching from sandy soil with ammonium-loaded clinoptilolite.” J. Environ. Qual., 27(3), 656–663.
Polat, E., Karaca, M., Demir, H., and Onus, A. N. (2004). “Use of natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) in agriculture.” J. Fruit Ornam. Plant Res., 12(Special ed.), 183–189.
Rezaei, M., and Movahedi Naeini, S. A. R. (2009). “Kinetics of potassium desorption from the loess soil, soil mixed with zeolite and the clinoptilolite zeolite as influenced by calcium and ammonium.” J. Appl. Sci., 9(18), 3335–3342.
Selim, H. M., and Amacher, M. C. (1997). Reactivity and transport of heavy metals in soils, CRC Press/Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, 5–12.
Selim, H. M., Davidson, J. M., and Mansell, R. S. (1976). “Evaluation of a two site adsorption-desorption model for describing solute transport in soils.” Proc. of the 1976 Summer Computer Simulation Conference, D.C. Simulation Councils, La Jolla, CA, 444–448.
Sepaskhah, A. R., and Yousefi, F. (2007). “Effects of zeolite application on nitrate and ammonium retention of a loamy soil under saturated conditions.” Aust. J. Soil Res., 45(5), 368–373.
Shukla, M. K., and Cepuder, P. (2000). “Anion exclusion during transport of chloride through soil columns.” Trans. ASAE, 43(6), 1425–1430.
Sprynskyy, M., Lebedynets, M., Terzyk, A. P., Kowalczyk, P., Namieśnik, J., and Buszewski, B. (2005). “Ammonium sorption from aqueous solutions by the natural zeolite, Transcarpathian clinoptilolite, studied under dynamic conditions.” J. Colloid. Interface Sci., 284(2), 408–415.
St. Cloud Mining Company. (2007). “St. Cloud natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) product information sheet.” St. Cloud Zeolite, 〈www.stcloudmining.com〉 (Jun. 3, 2012).
Sutherland, A., Daroub, S. H., and Ognevich, I. (2004). “The addition of clinoptilolite zeolite to a simulated sandy medium to reduce nitrogen leaching.” Soil Crop Sci. Soc. Florida Proc., 63, 88–91.
Toride, N., Leij, F. J., and van Genuchten, M. T. (1995). The CXTFIT code for estimating transport parameters from laboratory or field tracer experiments. Version 2.0, Res. Rep. 137, U. S. Salinity Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Riverside, CA.
van Genuchten, M. T., and Parker, P. J. (1984). “Boundary conditions for displacement experiments using short laboratory soil columns.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 48(4), 703–708.
van Genuchten, M. T., and Wierenga, P. J. (1976). “Mass transfer studies in sorbing porous media I: Analytical solutions.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 40(4), 473–480.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 9 • September 2013
Pages: 755 - 765
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 9, 2012
Accepted: Apr 1, 2013
Published online: Apr 3, 2013
Published in print: Sep 1, 2013
Discussion open until: Sep 3, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.