Effect of Zeolite in Fertilizer

Natural zeolites are known for their benefit on many aspects. They are used in many things include cosmetic, automotive, and agriculture. In agriculture, natural zeolites have been used as feed additive, water conditioner, soil conditioner, and even for growing medium for hydroponics. Farmers used zeolite for good reason. It could help their plants have more nutrients or bind heavy metals that cause bad effect on fish, or reducing ammonia production from animal feces.

Benefit of natural zeolite in agriculture have been mentioned in our article before. Please check our article about Uses of Zeolite in Agriculture, and check our full articles at Nusagri’s Blog. In this article, we will discuss about zeolite application in fertilizer for plants. The discussion included properties of zeolite and how zeolite affect the growth of plants.

Natural Zeolite came along with volcano eruption. Geochemists and mineralogists estimate that zeolites are the product of frozen volcanoes into volcanic rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks which subsequently undergo weathering due to the influence of heat and cold so that zeolite minerals eventually formed.

Zeolite properties have been discovered by studies. As result, studies found that zeolite contained up to 70% of high ration between silica and aluminum oxides. Study also found morphology of the porous structure on natural zeolites that able to absorb and desorb substances. Zeolite also have ability to selective adsorption of large cations. This is due to the proximity of the ions size that defined as strong Coloumb interaction with structure of zeolite. Their physicochemical properties essentially depend on the content of the
zeolitic phase in the rock, such as cations exchange form and nature of impurities. Natural zeolites are porous systems, the primary porosity of them is determined by the micropores of crystals, and the secondary one – by the transitional pores and macropores. Natural zeolites start to be applied on multi sectors of agriculture. One of them is become fertilizer mixer for plants growth.

Plants can growth because of soil as their growing medium that contain water and nutrients as growing needs. Those are required for photosynthesis reaction to produce energy. Photosynthesis create food for plants using water, carbon dioxides, sun light, and minerals. That make plants grow and produce resource for us. Soil is one of the most important environmental factors and is considered the main source in providing essential plant nutrients, water reserves and a medium for plant growth. Giving soil a fertilizer purposed to increase nutrients needed by plants like nitrogen, potassium, kalium, magnesium, calcium, and many more. With eligible nutrient, plants will produce higher quality and quantity of fruits and any parts that consumed by human. Each minerals affect certain effect on plants growth. Fertilizer also used to neutralizing soil pH for better environment.

Fertilizer is divided into two categories, organic fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer. Organic fertilizer is fertilizer obtained from weathering and decomposition of organic materials that exist in nature, for example compost. Organic fertilizer is difficult to regulate its nutrient content so it is not necessarily suitable to the needs of plants. Meanwhile, inorganic fertilizers are fertilizers made with certain mineral contents so that they have the quantities needed by plants.

Studies found the effect of zeolite in fertilizer. The experiment showed that fertilizer mixed with zeolite resulted in the same growth and productivity, although the fertilizing doses were reduced. This means that zeolite increase fertilizing efficiency. This is because of zeolite properties. Zeolites have porous surface that able to bind nutrients.

Mostly, fertilizer will lose their nutrients by earth-water flow underground. These nutrients carried away by water, so it can’t be absorbed by plants. This case occurred often during rainy season. Rainy season decrease fertilizer efficiency in soil. Zeolite bind nutrients so they are not carried away by water. This is needed not only in rainy season, but also in any season. Fertilizer consumption is decrease with zeolite.

That’s all of our article today. The conclusion is zeolite will increase the efficiency of fertilizer. Zeolite will decrease the consumption of fertilizer for plants. Zeolite can adsorb substance because of is porous properties. Within fertilizer, zeolite bind nutrients  so they are not easily carried away by water in soil.

Thank you for reading our article. Keep in touch with Nusagri to get more information about zeolite. Nusagri.co.id is the pioneer in exploitation and processing of zeolite minerals in Indonesia used in Agricultural and multi sectors. Nusagri exported tons of zeolite for many countries including India and Malaysia. Please check our website and social media for further information about zeolite. 

Natural Zeolite as Growing Medium

Natural zeolite is mineral contain hydrated aluminosilicate with alkali and alkaline-earth. Benefit of zeolite found in many sectors in the world, include agriculture. Studies found natural zeolite have so many benefits in soil, animal feed, and water for sustainable agriculture. In this article, we will discuss about natural zeolite as growing media in agriculture.

We already discussed about benefit of zeolite in agriculture. If you want to know relation
between zeolite and soil, you should check our article at
The Benefit of Zeolite in Soil. There are also another article about zeolite in generalpurpose of agriculture. Please check our Blog Post too.

 In agriculture, growing media known as media like soil to help the grow of plant, especially for containing water and for holding plants. Grow medium can be soil or non-soil. If the media is non-soil, that supposed to be hydroponic, while soil media found in every agriculture field. There are lot of non-soil medium: bark, perlite, black peat, white peat, wood fiber, rice hull, etc. How about zeolite? If you have read the benefit of zeolite in Agriculture, you should know that zeolite is good in adsorbing water, ion, and nutrients. This will increase efficiency in soil.

Hydroponic with zeolite as growing medium have several benefits. This mineral can absorb higher volume water, plants almost don’t need watered every day. This mineral also contains plants needed component. The color of zeolite can indicate the water content inside it. Beside that, pH in medium can be controlled. Zeolite used in hydroponic usually came in strong granular form. This form helps the growth of plants, especially for the root. Esthetically, zeolite always look clean and nice.

Hydroponic systems in plants can be divided into 3 groups. First is water culture, where plants are cultivated through the water. The second is called sand culture which is a combination of sand and water culture. Furthermore, the third is a porous culture whose system is similar to sand culture, but the sand is replaced by the porous material.

There are several kinds of sand substitutes and one of them is zeolite rock. The most suitable types of plants to be cultivated hydroponically with zeolites are ornamental plants. Ornamental plants developed through this hydroponic method can be placed indoors or indoors and outdoors or outdoors. Hydroponics with zeolite rocks

To get perfect results and quality, zeolite rocks must be chemically processed. However, if only processed up to the physical stage, this rock can still be used for hydroponic cultivation media.

If you want to process it physically, zeolite stone must be soaked first in water so that there is no residual soil and dirt attached. After that, it is broken down and dried in the sun to reduce the water content.

After drying, the zeolite stones are crushed and sieved or filtered through several stages, starting from the size of the large sieve hole to the small one. If used as a hydroponic growing media, the required size is around 1 to 5 mm.

Before using zeolite stones must be washed once again and dried and sterilized by heating at a temperature of 250 to 350 degrees Celsius for 1 to 2 hours. Finally, zeolite stones are cooled and refined.

Furthermore, hydroponics with zeolites are mixed with nutrient solutions according to the type of plant that is cultivated in pots or other containers.

To get perfect results and quality, zeolite rocks must be chemically processed. However, if only processed up to the physical stage, this rock can still be used for hydroponic cultivation media.

If you want to process it physically, zeolite must be soaked in water first so that there is no residual soil and dirt attached. After that, it is broken down and dried in the sun to reduce the water content.

After drying, the zeolite stones are crushed and sieved or filtered through several stages, starting from the size of the large sieve hole to the small one. If used as a hydroponic growing media, the required size is around 1 to 5 mm.

Before using zeolite stones must be washed once again and dried and sterilized by heating at a temperature of 250 to 350 degrees Celsius for 1 to 2 hours. Finally, zeolite stones are cooled and refined.

 

Furthermore, hydroponics with zeolites are mixed with nutrient solutions according to the type of plant that is cultivated in pots or other containers.

The Benefit of Zeolite for Soil

Zeolite is a natural mineral that is genuinely novel in the domain of rock tidies. It has no inalienable supplement esteem like numerous other stone cleans, for example, carbonatite frigid stone residue contain, the two of which, similar to zeolite, were framed a huge number of years back through volcanic action. Zeolite was shaped When the glass part of volcanic debris interacted with a basic water source, it framed Zeolite. This affected the structure of the mineral Clinoptilolite contained inside this debris, giving it an inside permeable, grid-like structure. This structure has an extraordinarily expanded surface zone, much the same as charcoal. It is this equivalent cross-section like structure in the charcoal that gives one of the advantages of biochar, its expanded surface region. Be that as it may, it isn’t just this expanded surface zone alone that gives the noteworthy advantage to the soil that Zeolite can convey.

Zeolite has one other interesting angle, in that it holds a negative charge. There are not very many minerals in nature’s domain that convey a negative charge. It is the negative charge that permits Zeolite to ‘take hold of’ and hold emphatically charged particles or cations, for example, calcium, magnesium, potassium, nitrogen-rich ammonium and other follow components. On the off chance that these cations can’t be held in the dirt, at that point the downpour water will promptly filter these significant supplements through the dirt, which at that point advance into our conduits.

At the point when you consider the blend of the uncommon negative charge that a few Zeolites convey and consolidate this with the essentially expanded surface territory that its permeable mineral structure contains, you can perceive any reason why Zeolite is a significant soil alteration. This expanded capacity to clutch cations implies that Zeolite has a hello CEC, or cation trade limit. Zeolite goes about as a wipe in the dirt for these significant supplements and turns into a moderate discharge supplement repository. As they travel through the dirt particles, the plant rootlets are promptly ready to break the bonds that held these supplements on the outside of the Zeolite particles and bring them into their phone structures.

Zeolite

Zeolite isn’t a speck of dirt, and therefore remains very steady in the dirt. This implies it won’t breakdown or deteriorate, giving long haul advantages and soil quality enhancements. A similar structure that accommodates an expanded surface region is likewise ready to trap dampness in the dirt and its solid fine activity clutches this too, yet permitting the dirt to stay free depleting. This implies Zeolite goes about as a wetting specialist in the dirt and as a merchant of water. This by itself assists with dispersing supplements all the more equally through the dirt.

Utilizing Zeolite will cut compost and water costs by holding the supplements and water in the root zone until the plant is prepared to use them. Subsequently requiring less compost and water to be applied. This advances great stewardship of the land by lessening contamination welcomed on by composts draining to the groundwater or running off into surface water sources. Zeolites, when utilized appropriately, can yield some great outcomes with respect to quicker germination times, quicker development rates, bigger plants, crop yields and diminished compost and water applications.

Lessens water prerequisites during the water system as zeolite holds dampness in the development zone.

Zeolite has a high CEC that empowers a more noteworthy stacking of plant supplements, for example, nitrogen and micronutrients. The supplements are held in the development zone and are plant open yet not water-dissolvable. Lessens nitrogen compost necessities as a huge bit of nitrogen manures drain through the development zone and into the spring. Zeolite will hold nitrogen and forestall the contamination of the water table by nitrates and nitrites. Zeolite forestalls compaction, builds penetration, and helps the air circulation of profound root frameworks because of its high surface territory and porosity. Zeolite is 100% common for natural activities and when treated the soil with excrement, it turns into a characteristic preparing framework.

About Zeolites

Zeolites have been progressively utilized in different application territories, for example, industry, horticulture, natural insurance, and even medication. Despite the fact that, there are no sure figures on the aggregate sum of these minerals the world, a few nations for example Cuba, USA, Russia, Japan, Italy, South Africa, Hungary and Bulgaria, have significant stores and creation possibilities. As per reports of 2001, the complete utilization of zeolites was 3.5 million tons of which 18% originated from their characteristic assets and the rest from synthetics. In excess of forty normally happening zeolites were accounted for by various research gatherings, and clinoptilolite, erionite, chabazite, heulandite, mordenite, stilbit and philipsite are the most notable. The most widely recognized for agrarian applications is clinoptilolite since it has high ingestion, cation trade, catalysis and lack of hydration limits. Zeolites are, hence, utilized as an advertiser for better plant development by improving the estimation of composts ;holding significant nitrogen and improving the nature of coming about fertilizers and ooze. They can likewise be utilized as an atomic strainer or channel medium.

Distinguishing proof of zeolite as a mineral returns to 1756, when a Swedish mineralogist, Fredrich Cronstet, started gathering some all-around framed precious stones from a copper mine in Sweden. They were named “Zeolite” from the Greek words signifying “bubbling stones”, that is, as a result of the capacity to foam when warmed to about 200°C. After their disclosure, zeolites were considered as minerals found in volcanic rocks for a time of 200 years. Luckily in the 1950s, they were rediscovered and answered to exist on all the mainlands (Mysterious, 2004a). On the planet, their business creation and use began in the 1960s, yet in Turkey they were first found in 1971. Until now, in excess of forty kinds of zeolites have been accounted for by various research gatherings. Among these minerals, analcime (now and again known as analcite), clinoptilolite, erionite, chabazite, mordenite, and phillipsite are notable. Additionally, in excess of 150 zeolites have been blended. A portion of the regular synthetics are zeolites A, X, Y, and ZMS-5. Those normally happening and engineered minerals are utilized financially as a result of their one of kind adsorption, particle trade, sub-atomic strainer, and synergist properties. Broad research is critical to guarantee that the wellspring of common zeolites can give their adequate amount of uniform characters and one of a kind properties (cation trade limit, pH and B content) for application and business preparing.

Zeolites are made out of pores and corner-sharing aluminosilicate (AlO4 and SiO4) tetrahedrons, joined into 3-dimensional structures. The pore structure is portrayed by confines around 12å in distance across, which are interlinked through diverts about 8å in measurement, made out of rings of 12 connected tetrahedrons. The pores are interconnected and structure long wide channels of fluctuating sizes relying upon the mineral. These channels permit the simple development of the inhabitant particles and atoms into and out of the structure. Zeolites have enormous empty spaces or confines inside and take after honeycomb or enclosure like structures. The nearness of aluminum brings about a negative charge, which is adjusted by decidedly charged cations.

Zeolites added to manures help to hold supplements and, along these lines, improving the long haul soil quality by upgrading its retention capacity. It concerns the most significant plant supplements, for example, nitrogen (N) and potassium (K), and furthermore calcium, magnesium and smaller-scale components. Zeolite can hold these supplements in the root zone to be utilized by plants when required. Thus this prompts the more effective utilization of N and K composts by decreasing their rates for a similar yield, by drawing out their movement or at long last by delivering more significant returns. Huge misfortunes of composts that move out of the root zone (filtering) regularly occur in sandy soils, which lose their capacity to hold high supplement levels. Therefore the utilization of zeolites will improve plant development and advancement by lessening the loss of supplements.

Regular zeolites can assimilate CO, CO2, SO2, H2S, NH3, HCHO, Ar, O2, N2, H2O, He, H2, Kr, Xe, CH3OH and numerous different gases and would thus be able to be utilized to gather them or control scents. Hence, those minerals are being utilized in concentrated creature cultivation sheds, fundamentally decreasing the substance of smelling salts and H2S, which cause bothersome scents. NH4+ consumed zeolite turns into a characteristic improved moderate discharge compost. High smelling salts retention limit makes it a viable normal approach to control elevated levels of this gas created in fish ranches. It very well may be utilized in the filtration frameworks or essentially be communicated over the water surface as it is absolutely innocuous to water life. Also, nourishment crops developing in soil containing high measures of Pb, Compact disc, and Cu can be ensured by the assimilation capacity of zeolites. Additionally, inquire about demonstrated that S90 take-up by plants was essentially diminished.

Zeolite: Properties, Uses, and Production

Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as adsorbents and catalyst. Zeolites produced naturally by volcanic rock and synthetically by industries. The term of zeolite was found in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist, Axel Fredrik Cronstedt. In this article, we will know about the use of zeolites, properties of zeolites, how zeolites produced, and where is zeolites most produced.

 

Properties of Zeolite

Zeolite is a member of hydrated aluminosilicate that contain alkali and alkaline-earth metals. Zeolites have porous structure that able to bind and unbind variety of cations, such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and others. Example of minerals formula of zeolite is Na2Al2Si3O10.H2O. 

The Use of Zeolite

Zeolites commonly used as adsorbents and catalysts. Anyway, zeolite used by multisector industries. There are many industries that use zeolite as part of their production. The first sector that use zeolite is agriculture in general. With zeolite property of porous, zeolite can adsorb waters and cations. This is important for agriculture. For Example, zeolite can used for addition of fertilizers. With zeolite, plants can absorb macro-and-micro nutrients more effective. This will improve the growth and production of plants. Another sector of agriculture is aquaculture. In aquaculture, zeolites can absorb ammonia that produced by fish droppings which can decrease the quality of water. In animal husbandry, zeolites used as mix for feed. Zeolites make animal feed more efficient.

Other sector, zeolites can be used for the production of warm asphalt concrete. They will decrease the temperature level during manufacture resulting in lower consumption of fossil fuels. Zeolites are used as thermal collector and adsorption refrigeration. Zeolites also used in laundry detergent and many more.

How Zeolites Produced

Zeolite produced naturally or synthetically. Naturally, zeolite produced with eruption from  volcanoes. When volcanoes erupted, they will bring out lava and all materials from down earth, included zeolite minerals. Conventional open-pit-mining techniques are used to mine the natural zeolites. Then, zeolite will be processed into granular zeolite, crushed zeolite, and powder zeolite. The synthetic zeolite is processed by slow crystallization of a silica-alumina gel. Zeolite can also made with variety of atoms which can affect the properties of the product.

Where are Zeolites Mostly Produced

First of all, we know that zeolite can naturally produced or synthetically produced. Synthetic zeolite is most produce at china, in 2010 produce about 3 million tons of zeolites. While natural zeolite produced by places that have many volcanoes such as Indonesia. Indonesia rounded with ring of fire, which mean a lot of volcanoes. One of legal producer and exporter of natural zeolite in Indonesia is Nusagri. Nusagri has exported granular zeolites, crushed zeolites, and powder zeolites all over the world, mostly in India. Nusagri’s zeolite commonly used in agricultural multi-sector. They can be feed additive, mixed with fertilizer, or quality control of water.

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