Effects of Heat Treatment on Some Cations in the Soil

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effects of heat treatment on some cations in the soil. Soil samples were taken from Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Benin, Edo state Nigeria. The soil samples were heated at 50–60^oC for 2 hours using a muffle furnace. Magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) were determined using titrimetric method and potassium (K) by flame photometry. From the results obtained, the mean value of calcium and magnesium for unheated soil sample are 2.9973 and 1.4040 respectively which were observed to be higher than the mean value of calcium and magnesium for the heated soil sample (2.1173 and 0.9493). In comparison, the t-value (4.523) obtained for both heated and unheated calcium with a p-value of 0.00 differ from the t-value obtained for heated and unheated magnesium (3.177) with a p-value of 0.004. This shows that there is a significant difference between the heated and the unheated calcium and magnesium respectively. This could be attributed to the increase in temperature which affects the amount of exchangeable magnesium and calcium in the soil. The mean value for unheated potassium was 0.2416 with a t-value of 1.145 and p-value 0.266. This shows that there are no significant differences as heat do not affect the exchangeable potassium (K) in the soil. Heating the soil results in significant effects on physical and chemical properties of the soil. It specifically changes elemental contents in the soil compound as the temperature increases, exchangeable calcium and magnesium decreases.