Nature Environment and Pollution Technology

Subhas Adak ¹, Kalyan Adhikari ², Koushik Brahmachari ³, Soumya Bhattacharyya ⁴

Affiliations
1 Agricultural Training Centre & State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute, Ramakrishna Mission, Narendrapur, Kolkata-700103, West Bengal, IN
2 Deptt. of Earth and Environmental Studies, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, 713209, West Bengal, IN
3 Deptt. of Agronomy, Bidhan Chandra KrishiViswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, 741252, West Bengal, IN
4 Deptt. of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713209, West Bengal, IN

Abstract

The alkaline fly ash (pH 8.3-8.6) emitting from Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant (KTPP), West Bengal, India, effectively renders the soil reaction (pH 7.58-8.01) of the adjacent land. The soil-fly ash mixtures predict the increase in pH influenced by fly ash. At 5% level of significance within 4 km from KTPP, calculated t-values exceed the tabulated ones which ascertain that the fly ash affects the soil reaction. Temporal soil reactions (2011, 2013 and 2015) show the highest change (12.3%) followed by 11.4% and 11.3% in the adjacent areas within 4 km. The probable soil pH of the affected area is estimated by the developed equation, Soil pH_n+r= soil pH_n + 1.09127 x10^-5x r x (d_m - d_i) x c. Here ‘n’ indicates year and ‘r’ represents the addition of year; d_m denotes maximum distance of affected area and d_i, distance within affected area in km; ‘c’ indicates capacity of thermal power plant in mega watt. The functional logic of GIS for estimation of lime requirement is y_1i = 3 +(6.7- x_ij)x10) and for gypsum requirement is y_2i = 0.021x X_ik (x_il - x_im) ton per hectare, where i stands for circle position; j, for pH of soil-buffer suspension of i^th circle, k, for CEC of i^th circle; l, for initial ESP of i^th circle; m, for desirable ESP of ith circle. For soil reaction management, GIS Model recommends application of gypsum (1-2 ton hectare^-1) to abate the additional impact of fly ash shedding yearly and liming of CaCO₃ at the rate of 1.8-3.0 ton hectare^-1 is suggested to the areas outside of the impact zone for environmental and agricultural sustainability.

Keywords

Fly Ash, Thermal Power Plant, Soil Reaction, GIS Model, Agricultural Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability.

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