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Water retention models for soils mixed with waste residues: application of the modified van-Genuchten and Brooks-Corey models

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Abstract

Applying additives (e.g., biochar and rapeseed-oil residue) to soils is a common agronomic practice used to improve water-retaining capacity. An investigation of water availability and an applicability evaluation of traditional soil water retention curve (SWRC) are therefore necessary for the soil mixed with waste residues. We aimed to investigate the impact of additives on water retention and further to develop models for their prediction. Loam and sandy loam were mixed with different amounts of rapeseed-oil residue and biochar, respectively. And results show that the biochar and rapeseed-oil residue retain more water, with a minimum and maximum increase in soil moisture by approximately 26.2% and 92.7%, and 10.2% and 19.4%, respectively, relative to pure soil. Furthermore, based on the soil capillary theory, modified van–Genuchten (M-VG) and Brooks–Corey (M-BC) models were constructed and compared, which indicate that both the modified physics-based models (M-SWRC) have higher accuracy than the traditional SWRC models in soil moisture prediction; furthermore, the M-VG model outperforms the M-BC model, due to larger R2 and smaller MAPE and RMSE. For the field soils mixed with additives, the soil suction density function has potentials for SWRC model modification based on the soil capillary theory.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 51809217), the National Natural Science Foundation for Youth Grant Project (grant No. 41907252), and the PhD Research Startup Foundation (grant No. Z109021806).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Engineering Center for Structure Safety and Health Monitoring, Shantou University, Shantou, China

    Ankit Garg

  2. Key Laboratory for Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid Area of Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, Shaanxi, China

    Xuguang Xing

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400076, India

    Sanandam Bordoloi

Authors
  1. Ankit Garg
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  2. Xuguang Xing
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  3. Sanandam Bordoloi
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Correspondence to Xuguang Xing.

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Garg, A., Xing, X. & Bordoloi, S. Water retention models for soils mixed with waste residues: application of the modified van-Genuchten and Brooks-Corey models. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 12, 5059–5066 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-00957-x

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