Hydrothermal carbonization of biogas slurry and cattle manure into soil conditioner mitigates ammonia volatilization from paddy soil

Hydrothermal carbonization of biogas slurry and animal manure into hydrochar could enhance waste recycling waste and minimize ammonia (NH3) volatilization from paddy fields. In this study, cattle manure-derived hydrochar prepared in the presence of Milli-Q water (CMWH) and biogas slurry (CMBSH), and biogas slurry-based hydrochar embedded with zeolite (ZHC) were applied to rice-paddy soil. The results demonstrated that CMBSH and ZHC treatments could significantly mitigate the cumulative NH3 volatilization and yield-scale NH3 volatilization by 27.9–45.2% and 28.5−45.4%, respectively, compared to the control group (without hydrochar addition), and significantly correlated with pH and ammonium–nitrogen (NH4+–N) concentration in floodwater. Nitrogen (N) loss via NH3 volatilization in the control group accounted for 24.9% of the applied N fertilizer, whereas CMBSH- and ZHC-amended treatments accounted for 13.6−17.9% of N in applied fertilizer. The reduced N loss improved soil N retention and availability for rice; consequently, grain N content significantly increased by 6.5–14.9% and N-use efficiency increased by 6.4–16.0% (P < 0.05), respectively. Based on linear fitting results, NH3 volatilization mitigation resulted from lower pH and NH4+–N concentration in floodwater that resulted from the acidic property and specific surface area of hydrochar treatments. Moreover, NH3-oxidizing archaea abundance in hydrochar-treated soil decreased by 40.9–46.9% in response to CMBSH and ZHC treatments, potentially suppressing NH4+–N transformation into nitrate and improving soil NH4+–N retention capacity. To date, this study applied biogas slurry-based hydrochar into paddy soil for the first time and demonstrated that ZHC significantly mitigated NH3 and increased N content. Overall, this study proposes an environmental-friendly strategy to recycle the wastes, biogas slurry, to the paddy fields to mitigate NH3 volatilization and increase grain yield of rice. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd