Evaluating Ion Exchange Capacity of Molten Slag for Hydroponic System

抄録

Hydroponic farming promotes high-efficiency water, fertilizers, and high productivity under a controlled environment. However, the use of this system needs consistent application of fertilizers, increasing the cost of operations. Molten Slag (MS), a waste from the Municipal Solid Waste Incineration has essential nutrients that can be used as fertilizer. The objective of this study was to clarify the releasing process of nutrients by molten slag to be applied as a substrate in hydroponic system. For this, anion and cation contents of three varieties of Molten Slag (MS1, MS2, MS3) were determined in the laboratory by a shaking method. The nutrient content, P₂O₅, K₂O, MgO and CaO were in MS1, MS3 and MS2. The quantification ion released was performed at 1, 6, 12 and 24 hours. It was observed that MS3 had performed the best condition in the releasing process of K⁺, Mg⁺, SO₄^2- and Cl^-. Although MS1 had higher nutrient content, MS3 released higher contents of those minerals among the samples. According to the result of this study, it was confirmed that MS3 has a high potential for hydroponic farming.