Development of Artificial Soil Using Sewage Sludge

We made artificial soil using sewage sludge, the organic wastes. The optimum composition is 50% of sewage sludge cake, 45% of illite low-quality clay, 3% of glassfrit, and 2% of other components. The surface was coated with γ-alumina. For an optimum manufacturing condition, we sintered and bubbled the plastic material with dry surface by flowing N2 gas at 800°C for 20 minutes. The developed artificial soil shows excellent characteristics; more than 60% of porosity, of 0.8 of density g/cm3, 80ton/m2 of compression, pH 7.4, cation exchange capacity (CEC) 10 meq/100g and about 2000 of hydraulic conductivity. The developed product performs 1.5 ~ 10 times better than the existing perlite in open porosity, nutrient holding capacity, proof compression and CEC. However, the bulk density is 1.5 times higher and heavier than perlite, it is not so problematic to green roof. The developed artificial soil shows positive effect on the development of ecotype leaf or the growth speed by period comparative to the common fertile soil. The number of pollens and lipid shows excellent growth on the artificial soil. The product can be applied to various kinds of plants such as flowering plants, foliage plants, trees and ground cover plant. It can also be applicable to other large amounts of plants grown on the other artificial grounds (slope, road, etc.)