Agglomeration of Ash-Based Fertilizer Mixtures from Biomass Combustion and Digestate

The production of fertilizers based on high quality waste materials is a highly important problem in environmental protection, mainly due to the protection of natural mineral resources. In addition, the combination of organic and mineral raw materials makes these fertilizers innovative in the fertilizer economy. As the research material unique mixtures of mineral and organic substances mixture were used. The main components were ash from biomass combustion power plant in the Połaniec and the digestate from a biogas plant located in Piekoszów. Sulfur and phosphorite were used as components to enhance the fertilizer value of the tested prototype blends (variant A). There were also blends supplemented with urea (variant B) to add nitrogen to composition. During the tests the energy consumption of the granulation process was determined and the quality of the obtained granules was determined by specifying envelope density, bulk density and mechanical durability.