Hydro-physical aspects of soil treated with hexadecanol

Abstract

Considerable attention has recently been given to using fatty alcohols in soil, primarily to reduce evaporative water losses. After a review of the pertinent literature, two laboratory experiments were designed to explore previously neglected aspects. The first experiment used modulus of rupture to measure the influence of powdered and emulsified hexadecanol and powdered commercial tallow alcohol on the crusting potential of a sandy loam and a silt loam. The results indicate that O.47 by weight of powdered hexadecanol can reduce the modulus of rupture of a sandy loam by over 6O7. Reductions were smaller for a lower dosage, for emulsion treatments, for the commercial product, and for the silt loam. The second experiment examined the locational stability of powdered hexadecanol in soil through which water was moving. Both saturated and unsaturated flow conditions were examined, C-14 being used to trace the movement of tagged hexadecanol through the soil. Results indicate that for both flow conditions, well over 997, of the chemical stayed essentially in place, despite movement through the soil of the equivalent of over 20 inches of water. The small amount which moved probably did so as small particles of solid hexadecanol.