Efficiency of Prosopis juliflora for phytoremediation of fly ash heavy metals

Abstract

Coal being major fuel for energy production in most of the developing country contributes in generation of enormous amount of byproduct named fly ash. Fly ash disposal and treatment is major problem till date owing to its chemical and physical nature. Efficiently growing natural weed species Prosopis juliflora in the metal enriched pond ash reflects its potential to tolerate fly ash metals also its characteristics to survive in harsh environment. Prosopis juliflora was assessed for phytoextraction potential of Cr, Cd, Fe, Cu, Ni, Pb. Mixture of fly ash and soil was made in ratio 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Soil without fly ash was used as control. Results showed the efficiency of Prosopis juliflora for heavy metals of fly ash.