Back to results
US 7,540,916 B1Granted
Biosolids and fly ash composition for use in soil conditioning
AssigneeAmerican Green Corp.
InventorJoseph E Brennan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Biosolids and fly ash are mixed together in stated proportions, spread on soil, and tilled to provide a soil amendment that ameliorates off-gassing of noxious odors.
Claims11
A method of conditioning soil for land reclamation in populated regions with biosolids in a manner ameliorating off-gassing of noxious odors, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining particulate fly ash produced as a reaction by-product of fluidized-bed combustion of anthracite coal in the presence of pulverized limestone, the particulate fly ash having a moisture content of less than about 5% and a pH within a range of about 10.6 to 10.8;
- obtaining biosolids having a solids content of about 25% to 30% by weight and a moisture content of about 70% to 75% by weight;
- preparing a soil amendment composition consisting essentially of about 80 to about 85 percent by weight of said biosolids and about 15 to about 20 percent by weight of said particulate fly ash;
- pre-mixing said soil amendment composition in a front end loader;
- after said pre-mixing step, loading said soil amendment composition in a spreader;
- further mixing and uniformly spreading said soil amendment composition with said spreader on a surface of land unable to support vegetation by centrifugally discharging said soil amendment composition from said spreader to a depth of less than about 2 inches but greater than about 1.5 inches on the land;
- and
- after said discharging step, further mixing said soil amendment composition by tilling said soil amendment composition into the pre-existing soil of the land to a depth of at least about 6 inches;
- whereby said method provides beneficial use of biosolids and fly ash waste products in an ecologically-friendly manner that limits the discharge of noxious odors into the atmosphere enabling land reclamation in populated regions.
6 more elements
A method of mine surface reclamation in a populated region in a manner ameliorating off-gassing of noxious odors, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining particulate fly ash produced as a reaction by-product of fluidized-bed combustion of anthracite coal in the presence of pulverized limestone, the particulate fly ash having a moisture content of less than about 5%, a pH within a range of about 10.6 to 10.8, and a calcium carbonate equivalence of 33 tons of calcium carbonate to 1,000 tons of said fly ash;
- obtaining biosolids having a solids content of about 25% to 30% by weight and a moisture content of about 70% to 75% by weight;
- preparing a soil amendment composition consisting of about 80 to about 85 percent by weight of said biosolids and about 15 to about 20 percent by weight of said particulate fly ash;
- pre-mixing said soil amendment composition in a front end loader;
- after said pre-mixing step, loading said soil amendment composition in a spreader;
- further mixing and uniformly spreading said soil amendment composition with the spreader at a rate in a range of about 285 to about 300 tons per acre on a surface of land unable to support vegetation by centrifugally discharging said soil amendment composition from the spreader to a depth of less than about 2 inches but greater than about 1.5 inches on the land;
- after said discharging step, tilling said soil amendment composition into the pre-existing soil of the land to a depth of about 12 inches with a disc implement having an array of discs that slice the soil and laterally and upwardly displace the soil;
- after said tilling step, said soil amendment composition comprising about 15% to 35% by volume of a surface layer of soil of the land, said surface layer of soil having a pH of over 7, being able to support vigorous growth of grasses, and ameliorating off-gassing of noxious odors;
- and
- after said tilling step, hydro-seeding the surface layer with grasses.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.