Humic Acid Properties of Bituminous Shales in the Region of Duzagac (Kozan-Adana)

Abstract

Bituminous shale in our country takes second place in terms of reserve, when compared the fossil energy resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas and for this reason, it appears that they have an important value for the country economy. One of the biggest problems in our country, like in all over the world, is to meet the energy demand. Although lignite and coal from the most important fossil fuels having energy potential in our country have been considered important until today, it is not possible to say this for the bituminous shale. According to many scientific studies carried out in recent years, bituminous shale can be used both energy resource and different areas. One of these areas is the efforts to increase agricultural productivity. In the vast majority in our country's agricultural lands, due to below 1 % of organic matter amount, there is a need for organic matter additives such as fertilizers to obtain efficient and high quality products. In this study, it has been tried to assess the potential of shale to increase the efficiency of soils, rather than as an energy source. In this context, possibility of use of Duzagac (Kozan-Adana) bituminous shale as a soil conditioner (compost-humic acid) has been investigated. pH of Duzagac bitumen was defined as 7.79 and this value will help our acidic soils to be balanced in terms of pH. In this study, it was concluded that the use of bituminous shale, which has not economic value as an energy source in our country, as compost (humic acid) is crucial to economical ways and our soil's reclamation and future.