Modern Farming: Fertilizing Plants with Synthetic Gypsum
/Gypsum based fertilizer has top levels of calcium and sulfur, and is the world’s oldest and commonly used non-nitrogen-based fertilizers.
The nutrients that plants need in order to grow are the same nutrients that industry experts assert can be derived from the gypsum byproduct produced from coal-fired power stations. Gypsum has proven to have a wide variety of uses including being used to make drywall, cement filler, plaster of Paris, and even as a means of thickening tofu.
Gypsum can be found naturally all over the world in massive deposits, in places like the U.S., China and Iran. However, mining isn’t always practical, or economically viable. Densely populated countries like India, Vietnam, and China have been using the method of flue-gas desulfurization for years to remove sulfur dioxide and create what is commonly known as FGD gypsum. This gypsum is considered synthetic, but is almost identical to the material being mined throughout the world.
Mined Gypsum and FGD Gypsum particles alike are consistent in their small size and ability to react in chemical and non-chemical reactions. Power stations that have not found a use for the byproducts created through the burning of coal such as fly ash, bottom ash, gypsum and more, are regrettably land-filled, costing companies money, time and energy to maintain these sites, and wasting land that could be put to better use.
FGD Gypsum has been determined safe for agricultural use through many studies, confirmed worldwide. The next step in this process is adaptation. Join us at Coal Ash Asia 2019, August 22-24, in Youyu County, Shanxi Province, China, to discuss utilization and applications for FGD Gypsum and other highly useful byproducts from coal-fired power stations.
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