Examination of an alternative way to prevent nitrate leaching in soil by using glycerol as a biodiesel by-product

László Tolner1, Gabriella Rétháti1, Attila Kovács1

1Department for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Szent István University, Páter Károly Street, H-2103 Gödöllő, Hungary,

Abstract: Using nitrogen fertilizer can be a potential contamination to underground water. In general, disposal of an industrial by-product is a potential pollution. There are such cases, when two potential pollutants can extinguish each other harmful effect. Contaminated glycerol as a by-product from biodiesel production is available in increasing amounts. The conventional utilization of glycerol can not be substantially increased, therefore investigation of alternative ways of usage should be searched for. The contamination content of the glycerol by-product mainly consist of useful materials from plant seeds and potassium hydroxide catalyst. Glycerol such as sugars represents an easily accessible source of energy for microorganisms in soil. It is well known that if nitrogen poor organic matter (e.g. straw) added into the soil, it can cause, through assistance of microbes, temporary reduction of the nitrogen supply. Our experiment was performed in small scaled soil columns. Different treatments were applied on a sandy soil. Nitrate leaching can be significantly decreased by using glycerol treatment.