• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.907-914
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• 2019

Ammonia (NH₃) that reacts with nitric or sulfuric acid in the air is the major culprit contributing to the formation of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5). NH₃ volatilization mainly originates from nitrogen fertilizer and livestock manure applied to arable soil. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) of peat moss (PM) and zeolite (ZL) is high enough to adsorb ammonium (NH₄⁺) in soil. Therefore, they might inhibit volatilization of NH₃. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of PM and ZL on NH₃ volatilization from upland soil. For this, a laboratory experiment was carried out, and NH₃ volatilization from the soil was monitored for 12 days. PM and ZL were added at the rate of 0, 1, 2, and 4% (wt wt^-1) with 354 N g m^-2 of urea. Cumulative NH₃-N volatilization decreased with increasing addition rate of both materials. Mean value of cumulative NH₃-N volatilization across application rate with PM was lower than that with ZL. CEC increased with increasing addition rate of both materials. While the soil pH increased with ZL, it decreased with PM. Increase in CEC resulted in NH₄⁺ adsorption on the negative charge of the external surface of both materials. In addition, decrease in soil pH hinders the conversion of NH₄⁺ to NH₃. Based on the above results, the addition of PM or ZL could be an optimum management to reduce NH₃ volatilization from the soil. However, PM was more effective in decreasing NH₃ volatilization than ZL due to the combined effect of CEC and pH.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.321-327
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• 2005

Ammonia ($NH_3$) volatilization was measured from latex coated urea (LCU) and normal urea treated rice paddy under transplanting rice culture in Milyang in 2002 and 2003. The $NH_3$ volatilization from incubation experiment was significantly related with ammonium-N ($NH_4-N$) concentration and pH in the surface water. The correlation coefficients of $NH_3$ volatilization compared to the $NH_4-N$ and pH in surface water were significantly higher in urea than LCU. The $NH_3$ volatilization from both urea and LCU treatments was not increased in surface water of pH less than 8.0, while $NH_3$ volatilization increased significantly in the surface water of pH over 8.0. The results in the field experiment indicated that $NH_3$ volatilization after top-dressing of urea increased rapidly with increasing $NH_4-N$ concentration in soil and floodwater, and highest from 7 to 10 days after top-dressing. The amount of $NH_3$ volatilized from urea treatment was in the range of $4.9-8.4kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$. The variations of $NH_3$ volatilization in 2002 and 2003 were caused by changed N dynamics due to the different weather conditions such as rainfall and temperature. The amount of $NH_3$ volatilized from LCU treatment was significantly reduced compared to that of urea. The reason for the reduced $NH_3$ volatilization in LCU treatment would be due to the lower concentration of $NH_4-N$ in floodwater. The amount of $NH_3$ volatilized from LCU treated rice paddy was in the range of $1.2-1.8kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$, and the loss of N by ammonia volatilization was 2.0-2.3%. Loss of N by $NH_3$ volatilization with LCU treatment was reduced by 75-79% comparing to urea treatment.

• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 1992

Urea, the major N source of world agriculture involves a serious urea-N loss through NH$_3$volatilization. Approaches to decrease N loss include using urease inhibitors in view of the environmental protection and the increase of urea-N efficiency. The purpose of laboratory researches was toassess the potential value of urease inhibitors to increase urea-N efficiency in soil and Kentucky blue-grass(Poa Pratensis L.) turf. The activity of urease inhibitors Phenyiphosphorodiamjdate(ppD) and N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamjde(NBPT) measured to break-down ammonia volatilization. The soil and turf used in this project were from the fairway in one of the Korean gof course. The researches were carried out for two weeks to measure the urease activities on urea hydrolysis under four temperatures (10~ 40$^{\circ}C$) and for one week on turfgrass using forced-draft system. Results indicated that Urea-N involves considerable loss through gaseous NH$_3$ by urease activities in plant-soil systems. Urease inhibitors PPD and NBPT have potential value for increasing N use efficiency by reduing NH$_3$ volatilization. NBPT deserves futher evaluation as fertilizer amendment than PPD use of urea in turf industries.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the roles of co-existed organic materials (OM) with different biodegradability in composting of cattle manure in terms of $CO_2$ emission and $NH_3$ volatilization. Either sawdust (SD, low biodegradability) or rice bran (RB, high biodegradability) was mixed with cattle manure at a various rate and the amounts of $CO_2$ emission and $NH_3$ volatilization were determined periodically during 4 weeks of composting. Percentage of dry matter loss during the composting period was also calculated. The amount of $CO_2$ emitted increased with increasing rate of OM and was significantly (P<0.01) higher in the RB treatment than in the SD treatment by 43 to 122% depending on the rate of OM Accordingly, % of dry matter loss during 4 weeks of composting was higher in the RB (rang: from 35.1 % to 41.5%) than that in the SD treatments (from 18.7% to 22.6%), showing that RB is more biodegradable than SD. During the early composting period up to 8 days, negligible amount of ammonia volatilization was detected in both treatments regardless of application rates. In the RB treatment, substantial amount of ammonia volatilization was detected thereafter, however, no meaningful ammonia volatilization was observed in the SD treatment until the end of composting. Such differences could be attributed to the different properties of SD and RB. For example, the high C/N ratio of SD could enhance $NH_4^+$ immobilization and thus decrease $NH_4^+$ concentration that is susceptible to ammonia volatilization. Binding of $NH_4^+$ on to phenolic compounds of SD may also contribute to the decrease in $NH_4^+$ concentration. Meanwhile, as RB has a relatively low C/N ratio, remineralization of immobilized $NH_4^+$ could increase $NH_4^+$ concentration as high as the level for the occurrence of ammonia volatilization. Therefore, our study suggests that OM which is resistant to biodegradation can reduce $NH_3$ volatilization largely by physico-chemical pathways across the entire composting period and that easily biodegradable OM can retard $NH_3$ volatilzation via microbial immobilization in the early period of composting followed by rapid remineralization, leading to substantial volatilization of $NH_3$ in the middle stage of composting.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.437-446
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• 2023

As the interest in sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture continues to grow, there is a corresponding increase in organic fertilizers utilization. However, studies on ammonia (NH₃) emissions, which are primarily generated in the agricultural sector, by organic fertilizers are lacking. Additionally, the reliance on imported ingredients in the production of organic fertilizers hinders the widespread adoption of organic fertilizers. This study aims to evaluate NH₃ volatilization by incorporating rice husk biochar into organic fertilizers. The study also aims to assess whether domestically produced rice husk biochar can serve as a viable substitute for imported ingredients. Here, the dynamic chamber method was used under controlled conditions. Results show that inorganic fertilizers readily undergo hydrolysis, thereby rapidly generating significant amounts of NH₃, particularly in the initial stages. In contrast, organic fertilizers decompose gradually, leading to relatively long-term NH₃ emissions. The incorporation of rice husk biochar into organic fertilizers demonstrated diminished daily NH₃ emissions compared to those from commercial organic fertilizers, resulting in decreased total NH₃ volatilization. These findings show that the combination of rice husk biochar can reduce NH₃ volatilization and serve as an alternative to imported ingredients for organic fertilizers. The results of this study can be utilized as fundamental information for the assessment of biochar as a potential ingredient for organic fertilizers.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.610-614
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• 2013

Massive intercalation of urea into montmorillonite (MUCH) was recently proposed to enhance urea use efficiency through smart suppression of emission of $NH_3$ and NOx. This study was to synthesize citrate-incorporated MUCH (Cit-MUCH) which can enhance suppression of $NH_3$ volatilization. The XRD pattern of Cit-MUCH was very similar to that of MUCH to indicate successful incorporation of citric acid into MUCH. Incorporation of citric acid was confirmed by the existence of $COO^-$ symmetric stretching vibration. During the initial 4 days after application, $NH_3$ volatilization from both bare and perilla-planted soils was much more suppressed by application of Cit-MUCH than MUCH. A peak volatilization rate decreased from 28.3 N mg $m^{-2}\;h^{-1}$ of MUCH-broadcasted soil to 22.2 N mg $m^{-2}\;h^{-1}$ of Cit-MUCH-broadcast soil. $NH_3$ volatilization was less in planted soil than bare soil for 72 hrs after application. These results showed that incorporation of citric acid led to increase in suppression of ammonia volatilization from urea-applied soils.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.233-237
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• 2009

It has widely been observed that the effect of elevating atmospheric $CO_2$ concentrations on rice productivity depends largely on soil N availabilities. However, the responses of ammonia volatilization from flooded paddy soil that is an important pathway of N loss and thus affecting fertilizer N availability to concomitant increases in atmospheric $CO_2$ and temperature has rarely been studied. In this paper, we first report the interactive effect of elevated $CO_2$ and temperature on ammonia volatilization from rice paddy soils applied with urea. Urea labeled with $^{15}N$ was used to quantitatively estimate the contribution of applied urea-N to total ammonia volatilization. This study was conducted using Temperature Gradient Chambers (TGCs) with two $CO_2$ levels [ambient $CO_2$ (AC), 383 ppmv and elevated $CO_2$ (EC), 645 ppmv] as whole-plot treatment (main treatment) and two temperature levels [ambient temperature (AT), $25.7^{\circ}C$ and elevated temperature (ET), $27.8^{\circ}C$] as split-plot treatments (sub-treatment) with triplicates. Elevated temperature increased ammonia volatilization probably due to a shift of chemical equilibrium toward $NH_3$ production via enhanced hydrolysis of urea to $NH_3$ of which rate is dependent on temperature. Meanwhile, elevated $CO_2$ decreased ammonia volatilization and that could be attributed to increased rhizosphere biomass that assimilates $NH_4^+$ otherwise being lost via volatilization. Such opposite effects of elevated temperature and $CO_2$ resulted in the accumulated amount of ammonia volatilization in the order of ACET>ACAT>ECET>ECAT. The pattern of ammonia volatilization from applied urea-$^{15}N$ as affected by treatments was very similar to that of total ammonia volatilization. Our results suggest that elevated $CO_2$ has the potential to decrease ammonia volatilization from paddy soils applied with urea, but the effect could partially be offset when air temperature rises concomitantly.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2007

Volatilization of ammonia from N fertilizer is the major mechanism of N losses that occur naturally in all soils and is influenced by numerous soils, environmental and N fertilizer management factors. Vegetables are often damaged by $NH_3$ gas volatilized from the high rates of N fertilizer. We determined the rate of $NH_3$ volatilization from urea applied to surface of the alluvial soil (coarse silty, mixed, mesic family of Dystric Fluventic Eutrochrepts, Ihyeon series) as affected by fertilizer management factors such as rate of urea application, irrigation schedule and temperature. The $NH_3$ volatilization was triggered about 3 d after urea application and reached at maximum level in general within 15 days. Cumulative amounts of 3.0, 4.4, and 8.0 kg of $NH_3$ N after 17 d were volatilized at application rates of 200, 400, and $600kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$, respectively, which were equivalent to the N losses of 15.0, 10.9, and 13.0% of N applied. Masses of N volatilization were 5, 21, 75 and $87kg\;NH_3\;N\;ha^{-1}$ at 5, 8, 22, and 28, respectively. Total amounts of 21.3, 21.2, and $16.6kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$ were volatilized at control, 5 and 10 mm water irrigation before fertilization, respectively. However, those at 5 mm irrigation after fertilization were only $10.44kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$. Results showed that urea loss can be avoided by incorporating with the recommended level, applying when temperatures are low or irrigating immediately to carry the urea into soil.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2008

Ammonia ($NH_3$) volatilization from a silty clay loam paddy soil applied with non, straight urea, and coated urea, respectively, under transplanting in Milyang, Korea from 2002 and 2003 was simulated by a Water and Nitrogen Management Model (WNMM). Based on the data from the in-situ measurements, $NH_3$ volatilization during the rice growth was 6.04% and 1.46% of the applied nitrogen (N) from straight urea and coated urea, respectively. The bulk aerodynamic approach in WNMM satisfactorily predicted the difference in $NH_3$ loss during the given rice growing seasons from the two urea fertilizers. $R^2$ for the correlation between the predicted and observed NH3 loss during the calibration year (2002) was 0.53 less than 0.68 of the application year (2003). This difference could be due to the weather condition such as heavy rainfall and temperature during the calibration year.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.328-333
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• 2005

Ammonia volatilization is the major form of nitrogen (N) loss from flooded paddy soils and causes low N use efficiency. The effects of controlled release fertilizer (latex coated urea complex fertilizer, LCU) on reducing N loss by ammonia volatilization was measured comparing with urea in rice culture system of direct seeding on dry soil. In the treatment of urea, $NH_4-N$ concentration in surface water after flooding increased rapidly up to $8-10mg\;L^{-1}$ as affected by topdressing, while in the LCU treatment $NH_4-N$ concentration in surface water was less than $1mg\;L^{-1}$ during rice growing season. Relation of $NH_4-N$ concentration in surface water and ammonia volatilization was significant in urea treatment. The amount of ammonia volatilized from rice paddy of LCU treatment was $2.4-3.0kg\;ha^{-1}$ and the rate of ammonia volatilization from N fertilizer applied was only 2.0-2.3% compared with 5.9-7.9% in urea treatment. Therefore, N loss by ammonia volatilization could be reduced by 72-76% with by LCU compared with urea in rice culture system of direct seeding on dry soil.