Impact of Fly Ash on Wood Quality of Eucalyptus Tereticornis

Abstract

Eucalyptus wood grown in the soil amended with (ESP) fly ash @ 0%, 6%, 12%, 18% and 24% v/v basis, involving different treatments was harvested from six year old plantation and studied for various structural polysaccharides cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and heavy metals Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb. Among various structural polysaccharides, cellulose in pulpable wood was in the range of 32.6-47.7%, hemicellulose was in the range of 8.5-10.2%, lignin was in the range of 29.7-40.6% and ash was in the range of 2.9-4.5%. Fly ash at 12% (v/v) addition in soil had no detrimental effect on any of these polysaccharide components of wood, rather caused an increase in cellulose content, whereas lignin content remained almost normal which was at par with wood grown in soils without fly ash. The ash and hemicellulose content in wood did not vary significantly. Heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni, and Pb) varied significantly in Eucalyptus wood grown in soil with different fly ash concentrations. Overall Cu ranged from 1.6-3.8 mg/Kg, Cr ranged from 5.6-17.6 mg/Kg, Fe ranged from 112.8-248.3 mg/Kg, Ni ranged from 1.3-15.3 mg/Kg and Pb ranged from 3.7-21.1 mg/Kg. With increased addition of fly ash at 18- 24% level the uptake of metal by wood was increased, however at 12% fly ash these metals were more or less in the range at par with wood grown in soil without fly ash. No correlation could be established between structural polysaccharides and heavy metal content of wood. 12% fly ash from ESP appears to be an optimum dose, which can be judiciously added to soil in order to improve yield and cellulose content of wood.