Application of Spent Ion Exchange Sorbents for the Reclamation of Degraded Soils

Abstract

The paper presents the possibility of applying spent synthetic ion exchangers and sorbents based on natural zeolites for the reclamation of degraded soils. The obtained research results confirmed the improvement of the soil sorption capacity (cation exchange capacity) caused by the addition of spent ion exchange sorbents. They also enabled to determine the magnitude of changes of the analyzed parameters depending on the amount of wastes introduced to the soil. The addition of 1% (w/w) spent cation exchanger enables to increase the cation exchange capacity twice, whereas in the case of zeolite, the observed increase reaches about 20%. Simultaneously, introduction of waste ion exchange sorbents increases the content of exchangeable calcium and magnesium while doubling in the content of these macroelements is observed for 5% (w/w) and 2% (w/w) of spent ion exchanger, respectively. In the case of the exchangeable potassium content, a satisfactory increase is observed with 1% (w/w) addition of spent zeolite.