Publication detail

A review on the impacts of compost on soil nitrogen dynamics

Lim, L.Y. Lee, C.T. Bong, C.P.C. Lim, J.S. Sarmidi, M.R. Klemeš, J.J.

Original Title

A review on the impacts of compost on soil nitrogen dynamics

Type

journal article in Scopus

Language

English

Original Abstract

With the depletion of soil quality, the increased use of inorganic fertiliser is required to cope with the increasing food demand. The increasing use of inorganic fertiliser has become a burden to both the economy and environment. The overuse of nitrogen fertiliser can cause the leaching of NO3- to the surrounding water source and the emissions of N2O and NO to the atmosphere. Besides the environmental issues associated with conventional farming, more attention has been drawn to the rapid population growth and urbanisation that has led to the production of abundant municipal solid waste (MSW). To overcome these problems, composting can be an alternative option to both managing MSW and replacing inorganic fertiliser. As a biological process, composting can utilise the organic fraction of MSW as the raw material to produce compost, a stable form of organic matter that can be used as soil amendment or organic fertiliser. Although the utilisation of compost as an organic fertiliser is quite well studied, less research had focused on the nitrogen dynamic after compost application to soil. It is essential to figure out the correlation between compost application and soil nitrogen dynamic in order to prevent further nitrogen loss as a pollutant after compost application. This paper reviews the soil nitrogen cycle and the potential of nitrogen loss prevention with the application of compost. The application of compost is providing some promising effects in term of soil organic carbon and nutrients replenishment and soil microbial population enhancement. The effects of compost to soil are highly dependent on the characteristics of the raw materials for composting. The presence of high nutrient in compost is not always a good thing since it also increases the risk of nutrient loss through leaching or gas emission. The combination between nutrient rich and nutrient poor compost can be an alternative way to prevent nutrient loss. N2O emission from soil is always associated with high nitrogen content and anaerobic condition in soil. The mitigation of N2O emission can be achieved by compost application, and the addition of biochar during composting process can further enhance the effect.

Keywords

Biological materials; Composting; Leaching; Loss prevention; Municipal solid waste; Nitrogen; Nitrogen fertilizers; Nutrients; Organic carbon; Population statistics; Soils; Waste treatment; Anaerobic conditions; Compost applications; Environmental issues; High nitrogen content; Municipal solid waste (MSW); Rapid population growth; Soil microbial population; Soil nitrogen dynamics; Soil pollution

Authors

Lim, L.Y.; Lee, C.T.; Bong, C.P.C.; Lim, J.S.; Sarmidi, M.R.; Klemeš, J.J.

Released

1. 5. 2018

Publisher

Italian Association of Chemical Engineering - AIDIC

ISBN

2283-9216

Periodical

Chemical Engineering Transactions

Number

63

State

Republic of Italy

Pages from

349

Pages to

354

Pages count

6

BibTex

@article{BUT151702,
  author="Lim, L.Y. and Lee, C.T. and Bong, C.P.C. and Lim, J.S. and Sarmidi, M.R. and Klemeš, J.J.",
  title="A review on the impacts of compost on soil nitrogen dynamics",
  journal="Chemical Engineering Transactions",
  year="2018",
  number="63",
  pages="349--354",
  doi="10.3303/CET1863059",
  issn="2283-9216"
}