CA1115539A - Soil amending mixture - Google Patents

Abstract

A process for preparing improved soil amending mixtures by adding coal materials and organic matter thereto. Low grade coal materials are crushed screened and exposed to a number of wetting and drying cycles followed by a thorough leaching to produce therefrom sorptive humus materials. The humus material is separated to provide a first portion fine particulate sorptive humus material having a maximum diameter passing through a 200 mesh screen, and a larger sized sorptive humus material having a maximum diameter of 3/4 of an inch. In a first embodiment a carbon-rich fully matured humus is produced by the removal of water soluble and extraneous adhering substances and gases content of the coal material. A biological inoculation of the humus is effected by exposing the humus in stockpiles thereof to the natural elements of the environment. The first portion sorptive humus is applied to the soil wherein the surface bacteria thereon effects the breakdown of soil organic matter to provide fertilizer products therefrom. In a second embodiment the second portion larger sized humus material is used as a filter medium and an organic solids waste stream is directed therethrough to remove the solids therefrom and accumulate the organic solids therein. The filter medium and organic solids mixture is commin uted then mixed in a heated mixer-agitator under controlled conditions to enhance the bacterial population, stockpiled exposed to the natural environmental elements to effect the degradation of organic solids therein, then pasteurized to remove bacteria and pathogens therefrom and pelletized. A soil amending product having neutralizing properties is produced thereby. In a third embodiment the first portion sorptive humus is inter-mixed with septic and odorous bacteria and pathogen-containing organic liquid waste effluent having an alkaline pH and utilized to enhance the quality of the liquid mixture. The liquid mixture is applied to soils as a soil amending mixture and a resource and energy conservation mixture.

Description

5~

Bac~kground of the Invention T~e presenk invention relates to a method of producing a carbon-rich fully matuxed humus materia~ with self fertil-i7er-generatinq characteristics, and the product produced by practicing the method.

Soil buildina oon~tituents deemed essential in broad soil-building applioations (æuch a~ hortioultuxe, agriculture;
silverculture, and the rehabilitation of humus and fertilizer deple~ed~ di~turbed or devaætated soils) are mixture~ of biolo~ically-active humus, nitrogen fertilizers and trace minerals.

Agricultural scientist~ are shifting emphasis from the advocation of mor~ and more chemical` ertili-ers to a more balanced view ofthevalue of organic substanoes. So that when or~anic matter is applied to the soil, its purpos~ will not be to feed plants but to feed and condition the soil.

Canadian prairie virgin soil had an original humus content of about 7 per cent with a nitro~en content of 0~35 per c~nt.
Constant croppinq cau~ed a drop in h~mus to 5 per cent and a lo~ in nitroqen reserves of about 1 ton per acr~-Th~se instances tend to show that in nitrogen ~ixation there is an equilibrium reached which corresponds to the humu~ content, and it logically follows that by adding humus to the soil, the nitrogen f ixing or~anisms are stimulated unti~ the equ~ rium point is again reached~

It is we}l known that the mo~t important organi6ms in nitrog~n fixation are the clostridia and the azotobacter.
Both these are d~pres~ed by the addition of nitrat~ to the ~oil9 and under the~e circumstances ni~rogen fixation does n~t occur.

5~

Nitrogen fertilizer~ are of natural or synthetic origin.
Nitroaen is at once an abundant element, making up alm~st 80 percent of the earth~ atmosphere, and at the same time a ~carce nutri~ional resource. Thi6 i~ because nitrogen can enter biolo~ical æy~tems only when it ha~ been~fixed~
or combined with certain other element~9 ~uch as hydrogen or oxygen.

While natural nitrogen was an effective source of plant nutrients ~ince the early days in the development of our ;~
planet, it has fallen far behind in its ability to hasten the growth of a sufficient amount of p~ant foodstuffs to feed the rapidly increafiing population of our world. While synthetic nitrogen fertilizer produ~t~ are presently helping to ful~ill thi~ need they are considerably more costly ( and out of reach of thoc~ fa~ine ridden peoples needing them mo6t)~
and require highly-sophiæticated ener~y~intensive manufact~
uring equip~ent for their production~ in an energy ~hort world. Al~o, whi~e ~ynthetic nitrogen fertilizer products provide quick growth and are ea~y to ~pply the ~tructural integrity of a 90il may be deqraded by its use in various way~. In tho~e areas which have been ~ubjected to intengive crop producing practices to further increase the yields o~ crop~ (~uch afi the canadian and U.S. p~airies)~ ~oil~
over a great por~ion of these land~ may ~xhibit early si~ns of exhau~tion brought about by the ~ontinuous dep letion of their natural biological, humus and nit~ogen content, and are ther~fore, re~dily ~usceptible to 80il erosion and degradation of the loo~ely bonded soil part icles (thereby leadin~ to the phenomenon kno~n a9 t'desert-ification'')g

- 2 _ Acid rain, which ha~ resulted in the proqressive deterior-at;on of our ~tream~, lake~, ~oil~ and our oceans ha~ b~en ~ith U8 since the ~tart of the so-called indu~trial revolution a hundred year~ or more ago. Recently. it ha~ been announced9 that dioxin an extremely toxic poison ha~ been found in the eggs of birds from all parts of Lake Ontario, this sugge~ts that ~cid rain may be a mixture of many dangerous pollutants and the reaction pxodu~ts therefrom~ other than ~ulphur diox-ide and nitrogen oxides- :

Fo~sil-fuel plants, and in particular coal burning plants, discharge very high amounts of sulphur dioxide into the air.
Thi~ combines with other pollutant~ including nitrogen oxides, in the atmo~phere, and mixe~ with the water vapor and can be distributed thousands of miles away.

Coal burning i~ recognized as a major ~ource of the sulphur :
dioxide pollution re~ponsible for the damaging acid_rain that is ~lowly ~illing off fi~h and animal life and resulting in the pro~re6sive destruction and deva8tation of forest and t:roplands all over the world.

The burning of the ~oal doe~ not cause the pyrolysis (mean-ing the chemical decomposition of subætanc~s by the action of heat~ of the pollutants in the coal, th~refore the coal poll-utants are di~charged into the atmosphere with the sulphur dioxide forming thereby,further reaction produ~t~ and by-products to further compound ~nd culminate the lethal effect of the acid rain on fi~h, animal, forest and croplands-55~
, In the ca~es re~erred to above, the contamination of thesoil is due to natural and artificially applied air, vapor, and water carried pollutants, and the degradation of the soil structure and the exhau~tion of the ~oil iæ duq to the continuous removal from the soil of its natural soil building con~tituents and defence mechanisms such as its residual content of humus, nitro~en, and beneficial soil bacteria ~such a~ decay9 nitro~en-fixin~, and soil ammonifiersl by depletion and decimation, If this contamination, depletion and deci~-ation were to be arrested, and the natural 50il buildin~proce~ses were to be re-started, and augmented, and the natural fertility of the soil could be increased sufficlently at a reasonable increase in cost, which would not negate the e~on-omic advant~ges of using improved natural nitrogen-fixation and fully matured humu6 addition as oppo~ed to synthetic nit-rogen fertllizer addition, a superior ~oil amending and soil building mixture would be produced at a con~iderable savings in both co~t and energy consumption over commercially produced synthetic nitrogen fertilizerc~

By the same token, the problem of dispo8ing of domestic, ind-ustrial, agricultural, manufacturing and other or~anic wastes, and the alkaline liquid organic effluents therefrom, is b~-oming more acute, becauæe of public concern and objections over it~ potential hazard to health and aesthetic considerations.
Alkaline organic-~o}id~ ~iquid wast~s and di~charging alkaline liquid ~ffluents therefrom repre~ent a valuable source of wat~r and fertilizer nutrients which may be utilized to advantage in neutralizing natural~y acid or artificially a~idified ~oil~, and with humus addition ~erve to replenish ~oil~ depleted of 30 humus and ~ertilizer con~tituents. The degree of risk assoc-iated with effluent utilization is related to the microbial and the heavy metal ~ontent of the ~ntreated e~fluent~causing _ ~ _ well water to becsme contaminated wi~h toxic heavy metal~ and other pollutants and cause a heavy build up of such metals in fish, animal~ and vegetatiQn. Furthermore, both primary and secondary stages of sewaqe treatment are designed to ~ause the proliferation of ~ewage bacteria to efect maximum organic-matter breakdown. Therefore~ when the treated organic effluents ar~ discharged from l~goons or holding area~ for land or silver~
culture irrigation or application they still contain the major portion of their original content of hea~y me~als, suspended organic matter, diææolved fertiliæer and other substance~ and a ~reatly increased bacterial population (including harmful pathogenic bacteria). There is a very di~tinct po~sibility~
therefore, that when treated ~ewage effluent is d.ischarged to the surrounding environment widespread contamination of water, air and/or 80il may reæult th~reErom. There~orP~ a carbon-rich fully matured humus malterial ~hich can effectively prevent lagooned or confined sewage effluent from becoming septic thereby maintaining the stored sewage effluents in an odour-free ~tate7 provid~.an environment unfavo~able ~or the 20 continued existence of pa~hogenic bacteria therein, thereby enhancing the lagooning process of pathogen removalz remove and stor~ by sorptive proce~e~ the fertili~.er values there~
from, utilize the succe~sive groups of degradation bactexia therein for the further production of absorbabl~ amounts of fertilizer sub~tance3, and utilize the carbon-rich ~ubstance~
of the n~wly-exposed ancient original fully-makured-humus a~
a food and energy source needed by nitrogen-fixing micro-oxg-anism~: and soil-ammonifiers in the furthe~ produ~tion of nit~
rogen product~ and b~r~product~;~, will negat~ th~ po~æibili ty of 30 large scale contamination from sewage, indu~trialg agricult~
ural and other form~ c~f organic ~aE3te effluerits and pollutant~, effect ben~fic~ally the trea~ment to a grF~ater d~gree9 provide low C06t treatment, and ~uperior ~oil building mate~ials-~553~

Summary of the Invention In the present inventionp a method of producing a sorptivefully mat~red humus with carbon-rich fertilizer-generatin~
characteristics i8 dipclosed which comprises the æteps of separatinq densely structured low grade coal material~ into first and second portion~, both first and second portions being subjected to one or more wetting and drying cycles followed by a thorouah leaching with one or a combination of~
heated air, hot or cold water, ~team, an acid, a base, and a base then ~n acid. The first and ~econd por~ions are cru~hed and ~creened to produce a first portion fine-particulate sorptive humus material havin~ a maximum diameter pas~ing through a 200 me~h ~creen and a ~econd portion larqer sized sorptive humus material having a maximum diameter of 3~4 of an inch. ~ither or both of the first portion ~ine particulat~
sorptive humu~ material and the lar~er sized sorptive humus materials may be stockpiled in low flat-topped pile~ expo~ed to elemental, and solar liaht and heat force~ for a sufficient period of ti~e to effe~t the natural inoculation of the ~oxp-tive humus materials by intru~ive nitroqen-fixin~ micro-orqanisms and soil ammonifiers, whereby the original carbon-rich expo~ures of ancient sorptive-humuæ carbon containing therein the requi~ite food and enerqy values needed by the micro-organisms for the production:of, and ab~orption of,fert-ili~er nitrogenou~ product~ and by-produ~ts therefsom~

In a first embodiment of the present invention, a ~orptive fully matured humus suitable for utilization in the rehabllit~

ation of soil~ of larqe humus and nitrogen-depleted and cont-aminated areas, is produced. In the fir~t em~odimsnt, the first portion fine particula~e sorptive humu~ material i~
added as a biologically and ~olar aetuated additiv~ in a ~urface applica~ion after normal seedinc~ or plantin~ to a typical humus~fertillzer-depleted and/or ce~ntaminated soil being rehabilitated, with the fine particulate sorptive humus material being added in dust form or as a humus-in~water slurry mixture, ~uch that an exposed biologically and solar-activated sorptive-humus cover havin~ neutralizing properties is formed over the soil ~ ace~ to a depth of not less than one millim-eter, or from betwe~n two to ten pounds (dry humuæ weight~ per square yard. The ~oal materials are selected from a gro~p con-8igting of coal9 bone ~oal, coal ~hale~ bituminous shale. ~layeycoal, near coal, leonardite~ oxidized coal, fly ash, bottom ash, coal wastes in burned and unburned form, bituminou~ coal, ~ub-bituminous coal, li~nite and brown coal. coal mat~rials commonly contain a combu~tible content and a non-combustible contentO
The Combustible content of coal con~ist~ of carbon and volat ile~, and the non-combustible content of coal consists of moi~ture, ash and water soluble substances- The com~ustible and non-combustible content of the coal material 3S mined combine to form an almost impenetrable den6ely-structured 2Q coal-80l1d material. The conversion of the coal-solid material into sorptive fully-matured humus is advantageously practiced by the r~moval of the volatile gases-content of the coal mat-erial combu~tibles and the removal of the non-combustible ~ :
content of the ~oal-solids material~ an~ i~ a~compli~hed by the a~orementioned u~ttin~, drying and lea~hing procedures.
A ~econd embodiment of the pre~ent invention result~ in a sorp-tive-humus and alka~ine or~anic-matter mix~ure whi~h is ~uit-able ~or neutralizing a~idi~ied soils and adsorbing the poll-utants therefrom, as well as absorbing and storing ~ertilizer 30 value2; for residual 80i'1 am~nding purposes and slo~ relea~;e there~rom in a form readily availabl~ to plants- In the second embodiment, the second portion lar~er ~ized ~orptlve humu~
materialc are provided as a filter medium through which i8 directed an alkaline or~anic-~olid liquid stream. ~fter the alkaline oraanic-~olid~ and fertilizer values have been entr-apped and ab~orbed upon and within the ~econd portion larqer ~ized sorDtive-humus filter medium to a predetermined requi~ite amount, the ~orptive-alkaline humu~ and orqanic matter mixture i~ comminuted to produce a particle ~izing ~imilar to that of the firfit portion fine particulate sorptive humu~ material.
The comminuted mixture i8 then thorouqhly intermixed in its wet condition, in a conventional type mixer-aqitator, at a temperature o~ not le~ than 4SF. and no~ more than 120 F.
The ~orptive-alkaline humus and orqanic matter mixture may then be ~tored in a confined area expo~ed to elemental,and ~olar light and heat ~orce6 for a ~ufficient period o~ time to ef~ect the complete breakdown o~ the orqanic-matt~r portion o~ the mixture, brou~ht about by ~ucce~8ive group~ of de~ay, nitro~en-fixinq and ~oil ammonifier~. The ~oil microbes dec~
ompoRe the orqanic matter with the resultant liberation of ~imple chemical sub~tance~, which are in turn ab~orbed upon and within th~ humu~ portion of the mixture and ~tored until their r~leage by the ~low oxidation of the humus material. The fine particulate soxptive and alkaline humu~-or~anic-matter mix'cur~ of the ~;econd embodiment may be utili~ed to neutralize naturally a~d or artif icially acidified ~oil6 being re~habil-itated and~or p~ovide a remedial humus and ~ertilize~ source available for immediate utilization by ~rowing plants or the build-up of re~idual humu~ and fer~ilizer value~ in the cont aminated, depleted, di~turbed or deva~tated ~oils hein~ re-habilitatedO The ~orptive-alkaline humu~ and organic matter mixture may be applied to the æoils being re-habilitated in a dust or wa~cer-ælurry form ~:imilar to the prs~cedure outl ined in the first embodiment, or may be applied in granulated or pelletized form, after first removing the bacterial populatiQn therefrom. A proce~ for the removal of the bacterial popul-ation of the humus-organic mixture may involve a method sim-ilar to a dryinq-pa~teurizinq proces~ sin~e pasteurization i~
a proce~ of ster~lizinq or partially sterilizing organic mixture~ without fusing the carbon or altering its chemical 10 proDertieR. The pa~:teurization proces~ ; caxried out at a temperature of betveen 143F. to 145F. for not less than 30 minutes.
. ~`
In a third e~bodiment of the pre~ent invenSion, the ~ir~t portion fine particulate 60rptive humus material is added as a pre-wetted humus-in-water slurry to discharging alkaline liquid organic effluent , originating from the filtering medium ~:
of the second embodiment, sueh that the fine particulate ~orp-tive humu~ be~omes thoroughly intermixed ~ith the alkaline liquid org~nic effluent and in ~u~pension therewi~hin. The fine particulate ~orptive-humu0-material slurry may be~t be added to the alkaline liquid-orqanic-effluent at the plant site at the point of origin, or may be introduced into the effluent conduit pipe leading to a holding lagoon, or in its carriage therefrom to an application site. The addition of the ~arbon-rich humus portion of the mixture to the alkallne liquid-organic-effluen prevent~ the effluent from becoming ~eptic for an extended period of time thereby creating an unfavorable environment for the continued survival of harmful micro-organi~m~ when the effluent is lagooned7 thus materially enhancing the demi~e of pathogenic bac~eria ~xought about in the effluent lagovning procedure.

iS3~

~ he ~orptive and alkaline humuæ-organic~liquid efflu~nt mix-tuxe is an odour-free liquid by rea~on of the carbon-rich content of the ~orptive humu~ ~ortion of the mix~ure.when util-ized for the re-habilitation of contaminated ~oil~ ~uch aæ
naturally acid or artiEicially acidified soils, or for the treatment of other form~ of soil pollutant~ the liquid mixture æerveæ as an effe~tive neutralizing agent, and as an effective adsorbent and ab~orbent media. In addition to ~erving as an anti-pollutant the liquid mixture can provide a valuable æource lQ of water and fertilizer values to the soil~ on application to the ~oil (in designated environmentally safe areaæ~ the æorp-tive humus and alkaline liquid-organic-effluent mixture is added thereto æuch that not les~ than one inch of the mixture is added aæ a ~urface irriqatinq applicationO In some surface irrigating appli~ation~ it may be found beæt to pond the mixture, thiæ may be done by formin~ a rai~ed b~rm around the area to be ponded, to a ~ufficient height to allow one or more incheæ
of the liquid mixture to be ponded therein. A one inch applic-ation of the alkaline liquid organi~ efEluent portion of the 20 mixture will ~upply the fertilizer equivalent of about 750 lbs.
of a typical 10-5-14 fertilizer mixture, whi~e the sorptive humus portion o~ the mixture will supply original fully mat-ured humuæ, to the ~oils being re-habilitated.

It i~ eætimated that the use of the method of the pre~ent invention in either one or all of the three foregoing embod-iment~ will increa~e the available and residual humu~ and fertilizer content of depletedp di~turbed or devasted æoils by a factor greater than that removed from the soil annually by enforced cropping practice~t 5 S~b~

The polluted discharging effluent resulting from the removal of the non-combu~tible and extxaneous combustible content Of the low grade coal material~ is ~reated to remove the pollut-ants there~rom prior to its recycling for reuse, by arran~ing filterinq enclosures comprised of sorptive asphalt-aggregate filter media in predetermined sizings, and then pa~sing the polluted liquid effluent ~herethrough. when spent the aggrega~e-pollutant mixture i~ d~ied, then encapsulated within an imp-roved asphalt mixture acf~ording to a known process, and may be ~ormed into compre~ed æhape~ or agpha~t paving mixtures for safe long term ~tora~e of the pollutantæ therefrom.

Erief De~cription of the Dr~wing~

Figure 1, i~ a flow diaqram showing the variou~ facets of the proceæ~ for producinq a carbon-rich fully matured ~orptive humus material of the Pirst embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2, i~ a flow diaqram showing the variou~ facet~ of the proce~s for producina a ~orptive humus and alkalinP organic-~ol~ oil amending mixture according to the second embod-iment of the precent invention~

Fiqure 3, i~ 3 flow diagram showing the variou~ facetæ of the proceæc for producinq a æorPtiVe humus and alkaline liquid-organic-effluent ~oil amendinq mixture according to the third embodiment of the pre~ent invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments In ~racticinq the present invention and with reference to Fiaure~ 1, 2 and 3, any type of low grade, low carbon cont~nt coal material may be utilized. Such coal~ may have little or no commercial value for their B.T.U. content~ but are espec-ially useful to the pre~ent invention. Such coal materials typically contain a~ much as 50X by weight of non combustible material, in~ludinq moisture, dirt and aæh, a~ ~ell as a high percentage of combu~tible ~a~e~ and extraneous matter. Coal materials which have been found acceptable in practicing the present invention include coal9 bone coal~ coal shale, clayey coal, near coal, burned and unburned coal ~aste~, ~ly ash, bituminous shale, bottom ash, lignite coal, bituminous c~al, subbituminous coal, leonardite, oxidized coal, and brown coal.
The coal waste~ may re~ult from the mining and proce~ing of any kind of coal material. The more valuable coal material~
(such a~ anthracite coal) are less desirable due to th~ir hardn~ss and lower content of non-carbon materials. Th~ I
ancient carbon-rich material# of the original fully-compo~ted 20 humus are expo~ed by r~moving the non-combustible con~tit-uent~ and the combustible gaæe~ and extraneous matter from -~
the densely-~tructured 1~ qrade coal-~olid materials.

The coal mat~rial i~ ~eparated into fir~ and second port-ion~ whose internal and eacternal surface areas are to be expand~d and leached. The coal material i~ crushed and sized the ~i~ing resulting in a ~ir~t portion fine particulate coal material having a m~xi~um particle diameter pa~sing through, a 200 mesh s~r~en ~with no minimum diameter)g and a second portion lar~er sized coal material havin~ a mini~um diameter ~ufficient to be retained upon a 200 me~h ~reen, and a ma~
imum diameter of approximately 3,~4 of an inc~h. The ~oal `' materials ma~ be cru~3hed and gized F:rior to expanàing and leac~hina, or ~3ubsequen~ to th~e proee~;se~. Due to the diff-iculty in handlina the fin~ particulate coal material, it .
may be easier to produce the f irgt and second portions as humus material~; prior to crushing and ~;iZing the coal mater-ials. It will be under~tood that th~ first portion fine particulate coal ma~erials after e~cpanding and leaching are utilized as humus material~ in both the fir~t embodiment and the third embodiments, and that the second portion laxger 10 ~ize coal material6 after expanding and leaching are utilized a~ humus materialæ in the second ~mbodiment of the present inven~ion~

In ~racticing the present lnvention and with reference to Figure 2, any type of bio-degradable organic material may be utilized. Such organic matter may have little or no commercial value in their preæent raw material state for ~heir fertil~
~ r ~enerating potential, but are of partieular value to the pre~ent invention~ Organic mat~er which has been found acceptable in practicing the pre~ent invention includes all form~ of green manure (a term well kno~n in the art meanin~;
crop~ ploug~ed under the ~oil to provide degradable raw humu~
materials thereto)g manure, vegetative matter, digested ~ew~ ;
age ~l~dge, and mo~t other forms of fibrou~ organic de~rad- ' able ma~rial~ occurring a~ a product or re6ulting from manuf- :
a~turin~ or proce~in~ in variou~ dome~tic, horticultualD
agriculturalg indu~trial and fiilverculture activitle~.

In pra~ticing the pre~ent in~ention and with referen~e to Fi~ure 3~ any type of treated or untreated organlc ~iquid effluent may be utilized that has been found ~;uitable~ for application ~n designated areas. ~uch orga~i~ liquid ef~luent~
have little or no ~ommercial value in their pre~ent ~tate for th~ir fertili~er and ~ater ~ontentJ but are of parti~-13 _ ular value to the present invention. Organic liquid ef~luentwhich have been ~ound acceptable in practicing the present invention includes most forms of animal and poultry manures, liquid sewage ef~luentg and most okher forms of liquid org-anic effluent regulting ~rom dome3~;~ic, agriculturall, manuf-acturing, proces~;lng and silverc~lture ac~tivities-Tbe followin~ examples are illustratlve of the inventionbut are not in'cended to be limiting in any manner.

Example 1 10 An inve~tigation wag carri~d out to a~;sess the effective-nes~ of lo~r grade coal~ ~or water pollution abatement- During this invegtigation, it wa~ learned tha'c low grade coal, ~oll-owing an activation proces~ or partial pyrolysi~, showed ad~orptivity to~ard~ methylene blue about on~-third of that shown by activatecl char~oal Methylene blue i6 an organic dye commonly u!3ed Sor s~reening te~3t6 of activat~d charcoal~-A con~non high grade coking coal, on the other hand~ ~howed es~entially zero ad~orptivity following the ~ame activation proce~e~.

20 To e-valua~e ~oal material~3 suit~ble fc3r cQnv~rsion by an activation proce~ into mature humus material a low grade Hat Creek ~oal material and a high grade Vicary Creek coal mat~r~
ial vere u~ed~ In te~ts to determine the a~mount of non-comb-uætible and combustible materials ~hich CC)Uld be removed by an activatlon process from the diffe~nt ~oal-material types~
a pretreatme2lt involving aqueou~; Soxhlet extraction was selec t~d9 ~in~e hot water wag expected to remove all mat~r-ials that would be extracted during shaking at room t~mper-ature~

The coal i~ample~: were f iri~ ground and ~i~ed by ~ieving to produce fractions of the! followin~ particle 6iZe rangesO
Tyler 5cale Particle sizet mm -60~115 0. 20 -115 0~ 1 o The coal material fraction~i were then subjected to Soxhlet extraction and dried before weighing; the re~ults are shown in the ~ollowing table.
10 Results of Soxhlet Extraction of Hat Cr~2ek and Vicary Creek Coal Hat Cree}c Coal Vicary Creek Coal :.

Me~h Si:ze %w E~ctracted~ Extracted -60/115 21.4 3.7 16 hours -60/llS
24 hos~r~ 23.3 1.3 4~ hour~ 15. 6 - .

21~ -115 48 hour~ 14. 5 -The te~ts 6how that the ~ater e~tractible frac~ion for f~at Creek low grade coal ranS~es from about 15% to ju~t QVer 23%~
while the water extrac'cible fraction of the high grade Vicary Creek c!oat was considerably lower, about 1%, Proximate Analy~is of Hat Creek Coal and Vicary Creek coals Hat Cr ek Coal Vicary Cre~k Coal Moi~ture Content %w 24. 0 3 . 9 A~h %w 28~0 13,1 Volatile Matte~ %w 27.1 20.1 30Fixed Carbon by Difference %w ~2.7 62~,9 , ., . ~. .

It i~ evident from the fore~oing te~t~ that low grade coal materials are more adaptable for conversion to humus material~
than high grade coal material~ by ~he me~hod of the present inventlon, by reason of the qreater amou~t of extractible materials therefrom.

To determine if a sufficient amount of extractible materials could be remoYed from low grade coal material without fusing the coal carbon ~urface areas therein~ ~o tha~ it could be classed as a fully mature type o humus, an att~mpt was made to discover whether thix goal could be achieved by reducing the particle size of the coal material~. The following Example 2, outlines the findin~s and con~lu6ions of the testsO

~xample 2 Low grade coal materials w~re crushed and the pulp~ screened to produce ~raction~ of the following particle si~e range~.
-1/8" to ~20r -20 to 440, -40 to ~60, ~60 to ~80, -80 to ~100, -100 to 4200~ -200 and und~r.
Effect of Particle Size on Sorptive Properties An attempt wa8 made to discover if decrease in paxticle size gave an increa~e in ~orptive activ~ty in exce~s of that expec-ted from normal ~urface ar~a con~iderations.

Ea~h portion was te~ted ~eparately for its actiYity under identical temperature condition~ and time periods. To e~tab~;
li~h the ultimate degree of sa uration for the carbon a ~uit-able reference substance which was easi~y determinable in concentration~ experienred in the tests,was choæen. An acid-if ied OolM solution of Potassium P~rma~anate was chosen as the adsorbent. Y~ro serieæ o~ test~3 were run in order to ascer~
tain i the sorptive ac~ ity of the carbon could be increaæed by artificial me~n~ such aæ w~atherinq pro~e~se~. Th~ pxoced~re ~ 16 -adopted for 7~weathering" the materia~ comprised a fi~e minute pre-boiling step and gub~equent filtration. It i~ thou~ht tha~ this process may ope~ and expo~e fresh surfaces upon which the 60rption may take place.

The results are tabulated comparing the weathered to the unweathered mat~rial as ~ollows-WEATHERED MATERIAL

Pota~ium Permanganate 2ml = lOml of O.lN F.A.S.Particle size Back Titre O-lN Initial KMnO4 cc KMnO~ ml _ l Q F . A S .
~0 10.0 10 8~00 ~40 10.0 10 8.00 ~60 64.0 25 12.20 ~80 700 25 23~60 ~100 107 50 28.60 4200 58 50 38.40 UNWE~THERED MATE~IAL
Particle Slze Back Titre O-lN Initial KMnO4_~ KmnO4 ml F.A.~.
.
~20 10.1 10 7.~98 ~40 9.~ 10 8,04 ~6~ 68 25 11.40 480 7.2 ~5 23.56 ~100 115 50 27.00 4200 ~8 5~ 37~00 -200 245 100 51~00 Conclusions The coal ~ample~ tested were found to have similar and in certain cases, ~uperior adsorptive propertie~ to conventional active carbon~ pr eviou~ly evaluated.

It has been ~ho~n by the tests outlined in Example 1~ that when the densely stru~tured low grade coal-~olid samples of the pre~nt invention a-re crushed and sieved to a -115 me~h size and exposed to a hot water extraction proces~, that a~ much as 23% per cent of the water soluble materials contained the rein can be removed a~ compared with 1 per cen~ r~moved from 10 the high grade coal materials. Furth~rmor~, as outlined in Example 2, when these sam~ low grade coal materials are cru~hed and sieved to produce a smaller than -200 mesh si~e a great~y increa~ed change in sorptive properties of the fine coal particles takes place and the coal material~ after a hot water treatment process will ab~orb more than 14 ~imes their own weight~ It may be seen therefore> that the cru~hing, .si.eY~n~Wetting~ dryinq and leaching method of the present inv~ntion can produce a fully matur~ humu~ product wit~ many desirable characteristc~ inher~nt in the original humu~ of the coal mater lal-It is known that about thres-quarter~ of British Columbia' fi coastal fore~t land i~ deficient in nitrogen. IE fertiliza~ion ~ith an economical fertilizer proved vlable, wood yield could be areatly increa~ed in these areas~ It haæ been reported~ that if yields ca~ be increa~ed by a~ little as 10~, or about 7 ~uO

ft. per acr~ annually, allowable cut on the coast would incr~
e~e by more than 50,000,000 cu~ ft. per ye~r~ This would be ~uff~cient to supply a pulp mill with a capacity o~ 750 t.p.d, - 1~

If an economi~al fertilizer material were available, and viable for this appl;cation, a favourable an~wer may be worth many millions of dollars to ~he economy of 8ritish Columbia in terms of employment and revenue- It could for instance, increa~e the annual tree crop per acre, and mo~t importantly~
reduce the crop-rotation period, which i8 now about 90 years in the coastal areas of the province.

The following example shows, in a practical example, how the carbon-rich exposures of the fully m~ture humu~ of the presen~ invention can be utilized to reduce the a~ove mentioned crop rotation period by a number of years-Example 3 To determine the growth rate of Balsam trees which were naturally bedded in a coal-fines waste pile~ out of direct ~.
contact with the 50il and without the aid of any ~ynthetic fertilizer additive~, the following te~ts were made. ~:

Te~t Procedures -Diameter tape and increment borer æize of 1/2 diameter of -largest tree.
-Drill to just over 1/2 diameter ~traight to the core--Remove boring.
-Count r ing~ to core (dark).
-~dd ~our years to age to get to 4~ ft~ ~chest heiyht -Measure tree diameter.

Two tree~ were tested and after ~xamination by the local forester~wère graded #2 wood~

1 9 ~

The dramatic growth of treeE; which have been bedded natur-ally in coal-f ines waste and ~ancien~ coal dirt iE~ ~:h~wn in the following photographs and de~;criptive data~ The coal f ine materials refiult from a coal wa~hery plant and are stockplled to a depth o~ Qver 75 ~eet in a ravine, out of direct contact with the soil. The material~ have been stockpil~d at this location for over 75 year~ and the ~;ince the old mines cloed down the coal wa~3te has been ~ubjected to a natural wetting, dryin~ and leaching proce~9 by the elemen~s over ~hat period 10 of t ime .

Balsam Irees 13oring ~3ample~3 #1 & #2.

Test Resul t~ ~ ;
Tree #1 Diameter 26 inches age 36 yea~s ~ree #2 Diameter 34 inc~hes ag@ 52 year~
The growth had 610wed do~n in tree #2 for the last ~0 year~
or ~og according to ths forester.

~ he Balsam tree~ te~ted in the foregoing example are "living~
p~oo that trees can be grown by the sil~erculture indu~try wi~hout the aid of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer~J and in about half the normal crop-rotation p~riod~ by means of the fully matured humus of the pre~ent invention.

- ~0 Three studie~; were made of the ~eaæibi~ity of using ~orp~ive coal material~ for the removal of ~ulfu:rous 1?roduct~ from air, water and 1 iquid~

1. A studY wa~ made o* the feasibility of using coal material a6 an ad~orbent material ~or the removal of su~phur dioxide from ~tack gases emmitted to the atmo~phere by different indu~trie~O

The ~tudy show~ that the ad~orptive capacity of sulphur dioxide on coal varie~ but ~lightly from one coal to another and that when coal i9 u~ed and re-u~ed through numexou~ ~440) ~ycle~, its effectiveness a~ an adsorbent for sulphur dioxide i~ not areatly reduced.

2- A study was made to determine the ability of low qrade sorptive coal to remove ~ulphate from water solution~.

One of the unusual properties of the sorPtive coal is its apparent ability to adsorb a variety of inorganic ions- The procedure followed in te~ting the ad~orption properties of the coal involve~ (1) preparation o~ s~andard ~olution; (2) sievin~ of the carbon to a 1/4'~ to 1/16~ par~icle siZe; ~3) three different wa~hing pro~edure~ involvin~ (a) di~tilled water wa~h, (~) a ~aOH ~a~e wash, (c) a HCl acid wa~h, (d) a ba~e th~n acid wash; (4~ ~oal dried at 160C; ~5) treat 200 aram~ of coal with 100 ~rams of solutions (6) mea~ure chan~es in concentration of ion u~ing colourimetric method6. The result~ are a~ fol~ow~.

~5~

Inorgani~ Ion Adsorption Final Concentration (PPM) (PPM) Neutral ~cid Base Base then Contact Initial Con- wa~h Wa~h Wash Acid Times (hrs.) centration Sulf~ate 200 250~00 12Q-0 150.0 1~0 Pho~phate 50 3~.50 33.8 13.~ 1.0 Phosphate 50 6.0 llrl 3~0 Nitrate 200250.00120.0 ~5000 1.0 Th~ a~ove resul~, clearly show a strong adsQrption tendency . .
toward~ mo8t cation~ and the anionæ, CN-, CrO~ and to some extent P04. Both nitrate and phosphate have been reported to be significantly removed by the coal when a biological com-munity i~ developed. The acid and ba~e treated coals appear to have ~nhan~ed ability to ad~orb nitrat~sJ pho~phate~, and 8ul fateæ-

3. The followina ~tudy to determine change~ in the chemicalcompo~ition o~ mine waste leachate after sewaqe efflu~nt and ~ludge irriqation.was done.

rhe mine waste was extremely toxic, having a pH in the range of 2 ~ O to 3 . 0, and wag largely COmpQSed of coal mine shale- The wa~te stockpile had supported no vegetation at all for 23 years.

The treated ~ewage effluent and liquid digested sludge ~;
were anali~ed to determine their chemical composition~ On~ of ;~
the most noticeable propertieæ of the effluent i~3 it~: ~;lightly alkaline pH. The irrigation of the acid mine waste wi~h two inche~ of alkaline effluent per w~e~ has a considerable flushinq effect on a~id waste leachate in the upper rootin~
~one of the w~te pile.

This flushinq of acid leachate wi~h alkaline effluent should improve the chance~ fox survival of qra~ and lequm~ æpecies susceptible to the acid condition~ found in many mine waæte pile~. Effluent total nitroqen a~erages 20.1 mq/l; very low compared to that of the ~ludqe, but each two inch application supplied about 10 pounds of nitro~en per acre. Concentration~
of manganese, iron, boron and aluminum wexe very low, all less than 1 mq/l and weil below levels toxic to mo~t plants.

~ he sludge was ~lightly more alkaline than the effluent, and would have a similar neutralizing effect on acid ~onditions in the mine wa~te. In addition, mean values for total nitrogen reach nearly 500 m~/l with a considerable amount in the organic form, valuable in ~oil building proces~es. The greate~t amount of sludqe nitroaen waæ ammoniacal.

9ince the ~ludge waæ anaerobically di~eæted, one ~ould not expect to find much ni~rate nitroqen present. The small amount found was p~b~bly formed after delivery to the ~torage pond.
Hbwever, the reduced acidity in the ~urface mine waste layers re~ultinq from the alkaline efEluent and æludge would create a mo~e fa~ourable environment for such autotrophs as Nitro-somonas and Nitrobacter, Under these condltions, the proces~
of nitrific~tion may take place re~ulting in the pxoduction of nitrates.

nne inch effluent applicationæ æupp~ied the fertilizer equiv-alent of 750 pounds of a 10-5-14 fertilizer while the one inch ~ludne applications æupplied the equivalent of 39 955 pound~

of a 20~ 7 fertilizer. The ælud~e had roughly 25 tlmes thP fertilizer value of the ef~luent in nitrogen and P205, on an equal volume application basis~

s~

Improved Soil Amending ~orptive Humu6 When the oriainal low qrade coal material is proce~sed to thi~ condition, with the first portion having ~ine particulate sorptive humus material and the second portion having larger sized ~orptive humus material, the humus materialg ~ay be utilized in either one or all of three different methods. In : ::
the first embodiment of the present invention~ only the fine parti~ulate ~orptive humus material~ are used, being stored prior to u~e in low flat-topped piles e~po~ed to the elements and æolar light and heat forces, for a period of time suffic~
ient to effect the inoculation of the ~orptive humus by intr-usive ~oil, air and water micro-organisms (such as decay, nit-rogen-fixing and soil ammonifieræ) ~eeking available bacterial food and energy values inherent in the carbon-xich exposures of the expanded ~urface areaæ and porous ætNct~re of the fully matured sorptive humus material- The stcred sorptive humus material i8 ~prinkle-irrigated with water to provide a moist warm environment for the bacterial population therein. The humus materials are turned over periodically to ensure that even the lowermoRt humus materials receive a requi~ite amount o~ moiæture, bacterial inoculation and potential benafit from expo~ure to the elemental, and golar light and heat for~es~ ~he bacterial ino~ulation of the sorptive humus material, its exp-anded ~urface areas~ and the availability of bacterial food and energy ~ubstances in the carbon-rich expo~ures therewithin, provide the means by which plant ~ertilizer products and by-productæ are produced9 absorbed and 6tored, and releas~d there~
from in a controlled manner by the slow oxidation of the sorp-tive humus material .

The inoculated f ine particulated F~orptive humus materials are best added to the soil surfa~e, in ~i~her du~t or a~ a humu~-in-wa~er ~lurried mixture, immediately after seeding or planting of the crop- ~he hlamus material~;- are applied such that a solar-actuated 80rptive humu~ cover i~ formed covering the ~:
entire area bein~ re-habilitated. In for~ing a solar-ac~uated sorptive humuæ covering for the soil utilizing fine partic-ulate sorptive humus in dust form, the humus dust i~3 applied by mean~ of a conventional type blower or dis~ributor device, 10 ~uch that a 90rptive humu~ layer of not les~ than 1 millim-eter i~ formed covering the entire area being treated~ If the fin~ particulate ~orptive humu~ material is to b~ added to the ~3oil as a humug-in water slurried mixture, it should first be pre-wetted 80 that on addition to the water it will immed-iately go into,and stay in su8pengion therein. The ~lurried humu6-in-water mixture ig applied to the soil ~uch that a solar-actuated sorptive humus covering is formed over the entire area being re-habilitated by conventionaldistribution mean~s to a depth of not le~!3 than one inch. The slurried hwnu~;
7 mixture is best ponded to retain the liquid mixture and is acc omplished by formin~ a raised berm around the ponding area~ of a ~ufflcient hei~ht to retain one or more inches of the ~lur~
ried fine particulate sorptive hu~ux mixture~

In naturally or artif ic~ially acidif ied soil~, it has b~en found over a period of ~ome year~, that the addition of fine particulat~ sorptive humu~ materlal~ to the soil tends to sweet~n th~ soil~ this is due in part to the adsorptive prop-erties of the ~orptive humu~ and also to the normal oalciurn ~ontent of the original low grade ~oal material.

3~ ~t has been foundgthat acidified 90il~ retain their acldity by reason of the 108S therefrom of their natural alkaline constituent~ by leaching- This t~nd~ to lndica~-e ~hat the 80il - struc~ure is deficient in water holding constituent parts, thu~
allowinq the ~oil modi~ying constituent parts to be leached there~rom~ down to a point below that of the root zone, thus making unavailable such soil nutrients to ~rowing plants.

It will be evident that the fine particulate sorptive humu~
materialg of the pre~ent invention9 becau~e of theix low ~pe~ific ~eight, high surface area, and 60rptive propexties will have a profound effect upon the phy~ical properties of mineral soil~ with re~ard to improved soil structure~ water intake and re~ervoir capacity, ability to resist eroæion9 and the ability to hold hold chemical elements in a form readily acce~sible to plants. Treating con~aminated, and humuOE and nitrogen-depl~ted disturbed or devasted soil~ with fine part-iculate sorptive humus materials provides the water holdinq con~tituent parts lacking in naturally acid ~oils ~o aid in their re-habilitation, while at the same time helping replen-i~h such ~oils with badly needed re~idual humu~ and fertilizer values. In artificially acidified goil~;, the fine particulate ~orptive humu~ material~ when added thereto serve to aid 20 in neutralizing the acidified ~oil by mean~ of the adsorptiYe properties of the h~nus and it~3 inherent ca~ci-wn content~
while a~ the same time helping repleni~h such soils with badly needed reæidual humus and fertili:~er ~alue~;.

Be~ause the carbon~rich sorptive humus ha~ a considerably ~reater mature humus content -than ~onventional raw humus-making grePn manur~3, much le~;OE i8 needed over a ~iven area to produce the æame or better rasults withou~ the aid of exp-en~ive and energy wasteful, ~ynthetic nitrogen fertilizerx~
It ha~ been estimated, that the use of the fine particulate sorptive humus of ~he present invention w~uld reduca the cost per acre of soil amending by approximately 90 per cent as compared to conventional ~oil amending and building methods.

~5~i~3~

Improved Fertilizer ~tora~e And controlled Slow Release .. . . ..

The second embodiment oE the ~re~ent invention embodies a novel method for the removal, stora~e and slow relea~e of fertilizer value~ from organic pollutant~ whether they be ~olidæ, ~uspended solid~ or di~olved substances therefxom.
After the coal materials of the fir~t and second portions have been expand~d and leached, and crushed to fine particul-ate æorptive-humus materials, and larger sized sorptive humu~
material (with a maximum diameter of 3/4 of an inch~ the lar-ger ~zed 90r~tiVe humus ma~erials of the second portion areutilized a~ filter medium to extract orqanic pollutants from an organic liquid-effluent stream~ The larger sized ~orptive humus material~ from the second portion are arranged su~h that a liquid organi~ effluent stream may be dir~cted therethrough.
While it is recognized that the primary absorption of organic pollutants occurs in the larger ~ized sorptive humus material of the second portion, the filter medium may also contain the fine particulant ~orptive humu~ materials of the fir~t portion and ~ome orqanic pollution absorption will undoubtedly occur thereon. It ha~ been experimentally determined that, in an operatin~ ~orptive humus filter bed treating the liquid or~-anic effluent from an abattoir, that 99.50% NH3-N~ 86.17%
orqanic N, 92.76 ~ P04 P, and 93.02% X may be removed by a filter medium of the pre~ent inv~ntion. It was found that the liquid oraanic e~fluent was alkaline havina a p~ of 7.6.

It may be preferable to effect the entrappment and ab~orption o~ organic ~olid~ pollutants and fertilizer value0 therefrom~
within the sorptive humus filter medium at ~he source o~ the organic pollution, 80 that after comminutin~ the sorptive humus and alkaline humus-or~anic-matter pollutant mixture recovered from the fi~terinq area, and subje~in~ the mixture to a mixing, then drying pa~teurizin~ procedure (to remove pathogenic bact-5~

eria ~here~rom), they may be transported in a 6afe, dry and~olid condition as oppo~ed to a liquid state~ Alternatively, the entire proce~s of the ~e~ond embodiment may occur at the alkaline organic-po~lutant source, since comminuting,screening and mixer-aaitator equipment form an essential part of most or~anic waste effluen~ treatment-pxoce~inq operations.

When the 60rptive humus filter medium has entrapped the al~-aline organic pollutant effluent (~uch a~ liquid di~ested sew-age sludge~ to a predetermined requisite amount9 the combined sorptive humus and entrapped alkaline organic-po~lutant-solidg materials are comminuted in their wet state, to produ~a there-from a fine particulate ~orptive-humuæ and alkaline or~anic- ~`
pollutant-solids mixture havin~ a maximum parti~le diameter passing throu~h a ~00 mesh screen. The comminuted mixture is then added to a conventional type mixer-a~itator,and intermixed ;
therein, at a te~perature o~ no~ les~ than 45F. and not more than 120~. for at least 3 minutes, with extended s~orage at this temperature increasing the rate and degree of ~ertilizer p~oduction and absorption upon and within the sorptive humus materials therein, brou~ht about by the bacterial degradation of the organic-pollutant solids portion of the comminuted mixture. After the mixture i8 removed from the ~torage area, it may be subjected to a drying-pa~teurizing procesæ (a procès~
which enables the bacterial population to be removed without altering its chemical nature, and without the fu~ion of t~e humus material therein), and then formed into a ~oil amending9 ~ ;
and ~oil neutralizing du~ 9 granular ox pelle~îzed produ~t~

According to the condition of the soil being re-habilitated the method and produ~ts!of the present invention may be util--izèd to remove toxi~ pollutants from contaminated ~oils bysorptive proces6es, neutralize natuLally acid or artificially acidified soil~ by the addition thereto of sorPtive and alk-aline mixture~; thereto, and repleni~;h humu~ and nitrogen depleted, disturbed or devasted ~oils with both immediate and residual fertilizer values needed the~ein for increa~ed natural crop production.

Improved Resource con~ervation and re-Utilization _ The third embodiment of the pre~ent invention embodies a novel method for the control, conservation and re-utilization of polluted or~anic liquid effluent resultin~ from the treat-ment of or~anic matter (such a~ liquid digested s~wage ~ludge, vegetable processing or the like), minimizing the potential hea~th hazards therefrom, and con~erving the valuable water and fertili~er re~ourcefi therefrom. After the coal materials of the fir~t portion have been expanded and leached, and crushed to fine particulate sorptive-humus material~, they may be inter-mixed wi~h alkaline liquid organic effluent and utili~ed in the re-habilitation of soils contaminated with toxic pollutants, the neutralization of naturally acid or artificially acidified soils, or aæ a water and fertilizer ~ource for the ~urface irrigation of humus and fertiliæer depleted~ disturbed or devastated agricultural or fore~ted land.s. Most available~
alkaline liquid or~anic effluents which i~ found to he econ-omically suitable and viable, indigenous to the area to be re-habilitated may be u~ed. The fine particulate sorptive humus material has a fineness enabling it to stay in ~u pen-sion in the alkaline liquid organlc effluen~ when added thereto, but must first be pre-wetted prior to ~uch addition. The fine particulate sorptive humus material i~ admixed with the alkr aline liquid organic ef~luent a~ter pre-wetting in a convent-ional type mixer-agitator,the addition i~ made in a proportion of approximately 5% first portion ~ine particula~e ~orptive humus material to 95~ alkaline liquid organic effluentg and is optimal for ease of txan~portation and application, with the fine particulate sorptive humus material bein~ equal to between 3 to 6% of the total weight o~ the sorptive humus and alkaline liquid or~anic-effluent mixture. ~he fine particulate humus is best added to the alkaline organic-liquid-effluent at it~ point of origin, or to the 0ffluent discharge pipe leading to the laqooninq or storage area. Advantage is taken of the tendency of bacterial and pathogenic populations to be decimated over a holding period in the lagooning proces~-When the la~oon~d effluent is intermixed with the fine part-iculate ~orptive humus of the present invention an environment unfavourable to the continued welfare of ~uch bacterial and pathogenic organism~ a~ is evidenced by the non-septic cond-ition prevailing in the la~oon, is created ~hereby increa~ing the demi~e of such population~. The re~ult i8 an odour-free agooning operation.

The present invention, has not as yet,been applied for in any other country ,

Claims (26)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive prop-erty or privilege is claimed is defined as follows:

1. A method of producing an improved carbon-rich and fully-matured sorptive-humus mixture having strong biological and solar related, soil amending properties with self-fertilizing characteristics, said method comprising the steps of:

a. crushing and screening densely-structured low grade coal materials commonly-containing high percentages of removable non-combustible and combustible water-soluble and other extraneous materials, to produce a quantity of fine particulate coal material having a maximum diameter passing through a 200 mesh screen, and a larger sized coal material having a maximum diameter of 3/4 of an inch, b. removing said non-combustible materials and entrapped residual moisture and gases content of said combustible materials from the labyrinth of sealed capillary sections of said fine particulate and said larger sized coal materials with a wetting, drying and leaching procedure, to provide a more porous structure therein and to expose thereby the original carbon-rich structure of the anc-ient fully-matured sorptive humus material, by c. expanding the internal and external surface areas of said fine particulate and said larger sized coal material by exposing said coal materials to at least one cycle of wetting and drying, d. leaching said fine particulate and said larger sized coal material with water to remove water soluble and extraneous adhering substances therefrom, e. drying said fine particulate and said larger sized coal materials at an elevated temperature, sufficient to remove moisture and entrapped volatile and other gases therefrom, without alteration of the inherent chemical or physical characteristics of said coal materials, f. separating said fine particulate from said larger sized expanded, leached and dried coal materials, to provide therefrom a first portion fine particulate sorptive humus material and a second portion larger sized sorptive humus filter medium, g. inoculating said first portion fine particulate sorp-tive humus material with air, water and soil bearing, oxidizing, nitrifying and soil ammonifying bacteria, prior to its application to the soil, by exposing stockpiled enclosures of the said first portion fine particulate sorptive humus material to said bacteria occurring as elemental constituent parts of the natural environment in the presence of solar light and heat forces, and weathering, and h. adding said inoculated first portion fine particulate sorptive humus to the soil surface as a dust or as a humus-in-water slurried mixture, such that a surface covering is formed over said soil equal to a depth of not less than one millimeter or between two to ten pounds (dry weight) of said humus per square yard said covering having biologically active and solar activated humus-particle surface areas, and i. utilizing said surface bacteria of said inoculated sorptive humus covering to dissolve soil organic material through the combined effects of physical adsorption and biological oxidation of the organic substrate, to provide therefrom fertilizer substances immediately available to growing plants and for the accumulation and storage of potential residual fert-ilizer substances upon and within said first portion sorptive humus material, j. effecting the neutralization of naturally acid or artificially acidified soils by adsorption and natural water percolation, wherein said acid soils are flood irrigated by ponding a mixture comprising said first portion sorptive humus fine particulate material and water as a humus-in-water slurried mixture within a shallow bermed treatment area whose surface has been previously loosened, said humus-water slurried mixture being applied to said acid soil such that from two to ten pounds (dry weight) per square yard or not less than one inch of said humus-in-water slurried mixture as measured across any cross section of said ponded area, is added thereto, k. providing by said neutralization of said acid soils by said first portion sorptive humus a re-habilitated soil environment containing therein a replenished source of immediately available and residual forms of said humus, fertilizers and plant trace minerals, l. removing and concentrating coal-pollutants from poll-utant-containing waters, resulting from said wetting, drying and leaching processing of said low grade coal materials, by providing a filter comprising filter medium consisting of said second portion larger sized sorptive humus material and directing said pollutant-containing effluent stream therethrough, and thereafter drying and encapsulating said humus-aggregate and pollutant filter-medium mixture within a conventional improved asphalt mixture and re-cycling the cleansed water therefrom for reuse, whereby said labyrinthine-structured humus containing said carbon-rich exposures distributed therethrough, when added so as to form a soil covering are invaded by intrusive oxidizing and other soil bacteria able to utilize said carbon-rich expo-sures and soil organic matter as food and energy sources which results in the production of nitrogenous products, materially enhancing said self-fertilizer generating activity of said humus material.

2. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising selecting a coal material from the group consisting of coal, bone coal, coal shale, clayey coal, near coal, burned and unburned coal wastes, fly ash, bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, brown coal, oxidized coal and leonardite.

3. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising effecting improved expansion of said coal materials having a higher density, by saturating said coal material with water for from 1/2 hour to four hours.

4. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising eff-ecting improved fuel-energy conservation when drying said coal materials to remove the water therefrom by heating said coal materials with radiant energy for from one to four hours.

5. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising effecting improved penetration and a greater degree of coal-contaminant removal from said coal materials by exposing said coal materials to at least seven wetting and drying cycles.

6. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising improving the effectiveness of coal-contaminant removal from said coal materials having a greater density and less perm-eability after prior treatment by leaching said coal materials with a material selected from a group consisting of dry heat, hot or cold water, steam, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and mixtures thereof.

7. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising leaching said coal materials with a base then an acid.

8. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising recovering from said coal materials by said expanding, wet-ting and drying, and leaching processing the original valuable content of plant trace minerals concentrated within said fully matured humus.

9. A method of recovering and recycling potential humus, fertilizers and trace mineral resource materials from organic solids, wastes thereof, and waste organic-solids liquid effluent streams for the re-habilitation of humus and fertilizer-depleted, disturbed, or devastated soils, comprising the steps of:

a. crushing and screening densely-structured low grade coal materials commonly-containing high percentages of removable non-combustible and combustible water-sol-uble and other extraneous adhering materials as descr-ibed in Claim 1, step "a", to produce a quantity of fine to coarse larger sized second portion coal mater-ials whose minimum particle diameter is that which is retained on a 200 mesh size screen when passed therethr-ough and whose maximum particle diameter is 3/4 of an i inch, b. subjecting said crushed and sized second portion larger sized coal-material particles to a wetting and drying procedure followed by a thorough leaching to remove said non-combustible and said combustible water-soluble and other extraneous adhering materials and entrapped residual moisture and gases content from the labyrinth of sealed capillary sections of said coal materials, by c. expanding the internal and external surface areas of said second portion larger sized coal materials by exposing said coal materials to at least one cycle of wetting and drying, d. leaching said second portion larger sized coal materials with water to release said sealant, water-soluble and other extraneous adhering substances labyrinth of said capillary sections thereof, and e. drying said second portion larger sized coal materials at an elevated temperature, sufficient to remove mois-ture and entrapped gases therefrom, without alteration of the inherent chemical or physical characteristics of said coal materials, and f. providing from said expanded, leached and dried second portion larger sized coal material a sorptive humus filter medium, and g. forming a filter from said second portion sorptive humus filter medium and directing an alkaline organic-solids -containing stream therethrough, h. comminuting said alkaline organic-solids-containing second portion larger sized sorptive humus filter medium after filtration, to produce therefrom a fine particulate sorptive humus and alkaline-organic-solids mixture having a maximum particle size passing through a 200 mesh size screen, i. enhancing the bacterial count of said comminuted mix-ture by subjecting said comminuted humus and alkaline organic-solids mixture in its wet state to a thorough mixing in a conventional type heated mixer-agitator, at a temperature of not less than 45°F and not more than 120°F, for at least three minutes, j. effecting the bacterial degradation of said organic-solids content of said sorptive humus and alkaline organic solids comminuted mixture by storing said mixture in its wetted state exposed to the elements of the natural environment including solar light and heat forces and weathering, k. accumulating and storing by sorptive processes the fertilizer degradation products and by-products re-leased from said organic-solids portion of said mix-ture, upon and within said second portion sorptive humus part of said mixture, l. removing the bacterial and pathogen content of said mixture by means of a conventional type drying-past-eurizing process, prior to use, m. pelletizing the product of pasteurization, n. removing and concentrating coal-pollutants from poll-utant-containing waters, resulting from said wetting drying and leaching processing of said low grade coal materials, by providing a filter comprising filter medium consisting of said second portion larger sized sorptive humus material and directing said pollutant-containing effluent stream therethrough, and thereafter drying and encapsulating said humus-aqgregate and filter-medium mixture within a conventional improved asphalt mixture and re-cycling the cleansed water there-from for reuse, whereby said sorptive and alkaline comminuted mixture cont-aining therein their original fully matured sorptive humus and filtered alkaline raw humus content, their original and filtered plant-organic trace mineral content, and their orig-inal and absorbed fertilizer content, materially enhances the soil re-habilitating properties of said sorptive and alkaline, improved fully matured humus mixture.

10, The method as recited in Claim 9, further comprising selecting a coal material from the group consisting of coal, bone coal, coal shale, clayey coal, near coal, burned and unburned coal wastes, fly ash, bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, brown coal, oxidized coal, and leonardite.

11. The method as recited in Claim 9, further comprising selecting an organic solids alkaline material from the group consisting of treated digested sewage sludge, untreated sewage wastes, septic tank sludge, food and vegetable processing wastes, field vegetative matter, agricultural wastes, animal and poultry wastes, forestry wastes, sugar beet wastes, sugar cane bagasse, fish processing wastes, abattoir wastes or any type of non-toxic bio-degradable organic material or wastes thereof whatsoever.

.

12. The method as recited in Claim 9, further comprising expanding the surface areas of the more densely structured second portion larger sized coal materials by exposing said coal material to at least one sustained cycle of flushing with water for a predetermined period of time and thereafter drying the said coal material.

13. The method as recited in Claim 12, further comprising leaching said second portion larger sized coal materials with hot water over a predetermined sustained period of time to remove deeply seated water soluble and other extraneous ad-ering substances from said intricate maze of capillary passage-ways within said coal materials.

14. The method as recited in Claim 12, further comprising expanding the surface area of said second portion larger sized coal materials by exposing said coal materials to at least 5 cycles of periodic flushing with water and drying.

15. The method as recited in Claim 14, further comprising drying said second portion larger sized coal materials at a temperature sufficient to remove the moisture and entrapped gases therefrom without vaporizing the chemical elements there-in or fusing said intricate maze of said capillary passageways within said coal materials, to produce thereby an improved fully matured sorptive humus second portion larger sized material.

16. The method as recited in Claim 1, further comprising leaching said second portion larger sized coal materials with a material selected from a group consisting of dry heat, hot or cold water, steam, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and combinations thereof.

17. The method as recited in Claim 9, further comprising neutralizing naturally acid or artificially acidified soils prior to cropping said soils, by intermixing therewith an alkaline organic solid neutralizing material.

18. The method as recited in Claim 17, further comprising adding supplemental humus and fertilizer materials to said neutralized and leached soils by the addition thereto of said improved fully matured humus material.

19. The method as recited in Claim 9, further comprising pasteurizing said communited sorptive humus and alkaline-solids mixture prior to pelletizing to remove harmful bacteria and pathogens therefrom at a temperature of from 143°F to 145°F for a period of not less than 30 minutes.

20. An improved sorptive humus and alkaline organic-liquid-effluent mixture having strong soil re-habilitating, fertil-izing, and resource conservation potential therebetween, said mixture comprising:

a. an alkaline, organic-liquid-effluent and sorptive humus based mixture, b. a first portion coal-material-derived sorptive humus additive as described in Claim 1, characterized in that its internal and external surface areas have been expanded and leached, said sorptive humus additive being provided as said first portion of the present mixture as fine particulate sorptive humus materials whose maximum particle size is that passing through a 200 mesh size screen with no minimum size, and c. a second portion alkaline organic-liquid raw- material-effluent additive characterized in that its raw organic solids contaminant content comprises finely divided suspensions of said solids and dissolved substances in a proportion of aproximately 3 percent solids to 97 percent liquid and a large percentage of harmful bacteria including pathogens, said raw material effluent mixture being in a highly septice and odorous state, wherein said raw organic-liquid raw material effluent also containing an abundant source of potentially val-uable recyclable-resource materials including water, fertilizers, humus, and plant trace minerals in imm-ediately available form, said second portion alkaline organic liquid-effluent being provided as a raw poll-uted effluent stream, and d. a non-septic and odour-free liquid organic alkaline fertilizer mixture, said mixture comprising said first portion sorptive humus and said second portion alkaline organic raw material effluent in the prop-ortion of 5% first portion fine particulate humus to 95% alkaline organic raw material effluent such that said first portion fine particulate humus material equals between 3 to 6% of the total weight of said sorptive humus and alkaline liquid organic effluent mixture, said mixture characterized in that it has been lagooned to effect the removal of bacteria and pathogens therefrom, deodorized and made non-septic by the addition of said first portion sorptive humus thereto, and also that the mixture has effective neutralizing properties because of the alkalinity of said second portion alkaline organic liquid effluent, e. a soil amending mixture characterized in that it is applied to the soil such that from two to ten pounds (dry weight of solids) per square yard is added thereto by said effluent organic liquid stream, said mixture being utilized to re-habilitate said humus and fertili-zer-depleted, acid, neutralized, disturbed, or dev-astated soils, and f. a treated mixture comprising a recycled source of potentially valuable soil amending materials charact-erized in that said liquid organic effluent stream the- ;
reof, contains therein in treated form, an abundant supply of water, humus, fertilizers, and plant trace minerals in an immediately available form for plant utilization, comprising g. a resource and energy conserving soil amending mixture characterized in that they are normally expensive and in a short supply, whereby said sorptive humus and organic liquid effluent mixture provides therein a valuable recycled and treated new source of water, humus, fertilizers, and plant trace minerals norm-ally discharged as wastes, for re-utilization in soil building applications, materially enhancing the immediate and long term crop producing capabilities of said humus and fertilizer dep- ;
leted, acid, neutralized, disturbed or devastated soils.

21. The mixture as recited in Claim 20, wherein said mixture comprises sorptive humus additives derived from coal materials chosen from the group consisting of coal, bone coal, coal shale, clayey coal, near coal, burned and unburned coal wastes, fly ash, bituminous shale, bottom ash, lignite coal, bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, brown coal, oxidized coal, and leonardite.

22. The mixture as recited in Claim 20, wherein said mixture comprises an alkaline organic-liquid-effluent based mixture chosen from the group consisting of treated digested sewage sludge, untreated sewage wastes, septic tank sludge, food and vegetable processing wastes, field vegetative matter, agric-ultural wastes, animal and poultry wastes, forestry wastes, sugar beet wastes, sugar cane bagasse, fish processing wastes, abattoir wastes, or any type of non-toxic bio-degradable org-anic material or waste material whatsoever.

. .

23. The mixture as recited in Claim 21, wherein said sorptive humus additives comprise a fine particulate sorptive humus material, said fine particulate sorptive humus material having a maximum diameter passing through a 200 mesh screen.

24. The mixture as recited in Claim 23, wherein said fine particulate sorptive humus material is added to said mixture in the proportion of at least 5% of said fine particulate sorptive humus material additives, such that said smaller size particles will equal approximately 3 to 6% of the total weight of said mixture.

25. The mixture as recited in Claim 20, wherein said mixture is stored in a holding lagoon in an unfavorable bacterial environment, for a period of at least one day to reduce the bac-erial and pathogen content of said mixture.

26. A method producing an improved labyrinthine-structured clean coal material suitable for use as a sorptive humus mater-ial, having exposed and more concentrated carbon-rich materials relatively evenly distributed therethrough, said method comp-rising the steps of:

a. crushing and screening a low grade coal material having a labyrinthine-structured state containing therein a removable high non-combustible content, to produce a quantity of fine particulate coal material having a maximum diameter passing through a 200 mesh screen, and a larger sized coal material having a maximum diameter of 3/4 of an inch, b. expanding the internal and external surface areas of said fine particulate and said larger sized coal materials by exposing said coal materials to at least one cycle of wetting and drying, c. leaching said fine particulate and said larger sized coal materials with hot water to remove water-soluble and adhering substances from said labyrinthine struc-ture of said coal materials, d. heat-drying said coal materials, whereby said expanding, leaching and heat-drying of said low grade coal materials completely removes the accessible non-combustible impurities therefrom, materially enhancing the accessibility of said carbon-rich exposures therewithin.