Chemistry Final: Paper Mill Waste In Soil

      For our final in chemistry class we were to do something with paper mill waste that will make it better and benefit the people in the community. We were given the possibilities of making use of the waste such as making products that can be used and cheaper. Also reducing the odor of the waste, if you drove by the paper mill you can smell this disgusting smell coming from the open-ponds that contain paper waste. Lastly is mitigate fire danger. So I did a bit of research on what I could probably do with paper mill waste.

     I found this great idea that could probably work, I was to put soil in paper waste to see how much water it observed and how long it stayed wet. Farmers, gardeners could use this mixture as a cheaper soil.

Soil Contains:
 Soil is made up of a variety of components such as clay, silt, sand, stones and rock. Different types of soils have different compositions.

Paper Mill Waste Contains: 
(Cellulose) Pulp derived from Wood, grass, rags. (50-80%)
Calcium Carbonate (lime)   (8-12%)
Silicon (clay)    (2-10%)
Aluminum    (1-10%)

         I did two experiments with the waste, first I had dried soil which then we added tap water. The other one contained distilled water to see which one would soak up more water and keep it moist more time. There is a mixture of soil, water/distilled water and waste together and the other one is only soil in water or distilled water.
Materials:
Paper Mill waste (dried)
Water
Distilled water
Beakers
Soil (any type dried or moist/ let sit for 24 hours)


Procedure:
        Moist soil

1. Weight beaker; record data.
2. Fill beaker(1) with 100ml of tap water, find mass of beaker + water; record in data table.
3. Weight another beaker; record data.
4. Add about 200ml of dried (moist) soil, then take mass of both soil and beaker; record data in data table.
5. Pour the 200ml of tap water in the dried (moist) soil and let it sit for 5 minutes, then record weight of mixture.
6. Weight beaker(2); record data.
7. Weight beaker w/tap water; record mass of beaker + water; record in data.
8. Weight of beaker + wet soil; record data.

Substances: (weight in grams)             Weight:

Weight of Beaker (1)---------------------182.40g
Weight of beaker w/soil----------------- 279.33g
Weight of soil & water (after) --------- 451.34g

Weight of Beaker (2)---------------------143.84g
Weight of beaker w/H2O----------------232.58g

Weight of Beaker w/wet soil ----------- 458.79g




WASTE:

1. Weight beaker(3); record data.
2. Add 200ml of waste into beaker; then weight beaker with waste; record data.
3. Record the weight of waste + water (let sit for 24 hours)
4. Weight again beaker with waste and water; record data.

Substance: (weight in grams)                     Weight:
Weight Beaker(3)-----------------------------175.40g
Weight beaker w/waste----------------------246.08g
Weight w/ distilled water--------------------232.89g
Weight beaker of water & waste-----------434.81g
Weight beaker of water & waste (after)---428.01g


Waste + Soil:

1. Weight the Beaker(4); record data.
2. Add bout 200ml of soil into beaker; record the weight of beaker + soil; record data.

1. Weight the Beaker (5); record data.
2. Add about 200ml of waste into beaker; record the weight of beaker + waste; record data.
3. Add the waste to soil. then add 300ml distilled water to the beaker that holds both waste + soil.
4. Weight beaker + waste + soil + water; record data.

Substance:                                              Weight:
Wight of beaker(4)-----------------      176.09g
Wight of beaker + soil-------------      268.02g
Wight of beaker(5)-----------------      187.32g
Weight of beaker w/waste--------       258.00g
Wight of soil + water + waste----      456.3g
Weight of soil + water + waste (after) -- 576.g


Soil:

1. Weight beaker (5); record data.
2. Add water to the beaker about 100ml; then weight both water + beaker; record data.
3. In another beaker , weight the beaker alone then add about 200ml of soil into beaker. Weight beaker + water + soil.

1. Weight beaker (6); record data.
2. Add around 200ml of wet soil into beaker

Substance: (weight in grams)       Weight:
Weight Beaker (5)-------------------143.41g
Weight Beaker (6)-------------------188.49
Weight Water + beaker -------------371.16g
Weight Beaker + soil----------------235.34g
Weight of  wet soil + beaker-------420.40g
Weight of beaker + soil (after)----386.65g




CALCULATIONS: MOIST SOIL
1.   Soil - Beaker
  279.33g - 182.40g =96.93g Soil
2. Water - Beaker
  232.58g - 143.84g =88.74g Water

Water lost: 7.45g:
458.79g - 451.34g = 7.45g

 CALCULATIONS: WASTE
1. Waste - Beaker
246.08g - 175.40g = 71.39g
 
2. Water - Beaker
232.89g - 175.40 = 57.49g
 
Water lost: 6.8g
434.81g - 428.01g = 6.8g
 
CALCULATIONS: WATER + SOIL
1. Soil - beaker
268.02g - 176.09g = 91.93
 
2. waste - beaker
258.00g - 187.32g = 70.68g
 
3. water - beaker
232.68g - 182.40g = 50.28g
 
Water lost: This experiment didn't lose any water, it actually gained 119.7 g of water, meaning that it did not evaporate. It soaked up the water and kept it tighter to the waste and soil.
 
 
CALCULATIONS: SOIL
1. Soil - Beaker
235.34g - 143.41g = 91.94g
 
2. Wet soil - Beaker
231.91g - 188.49g = 43.42g
 
Water lost: 33.75g



CONCLUSION:
       The purpose of this lab was to find a "friendly" way to use the paper mill waste. I was able to find a cheap and easy way to use the waste, I found that soil mixed with paper mill waste actually keeps the water inside, it doesn't evaporate fast and it actually lasts a long time wet  which is what we were aiming for. One of the hardest things about this lab was getting the exact measurement of soil, waste etc..  Also an experimental error was that we added 300ml of water into the soil and paper mill waste, and we didn't notice until it was to late and we couldn't change it. It made the calculations a lot harder.



(it did not let me post images sorry!)