The effect of the combined solution of calcium chloride and magnesium chloride (SSR400) as a new mulch in stabilizing loose sand and sand-loving plants

The effect of a combined solution of calcium chloride and magnesium chloride (SSR400) as a new mulch in stabilizing quicksand and sand-loving plants _ Project leader: Dr. Hamidreza Nasseri, Assistant Professor, International Desert Research Center, University of Tehran

While dust covers up to half of the country at some times of the year and puts the air quality of residents of large cities in Iran at risk of pollution, or in some provinces, the movement of quicksand endangers life in villages and cities, finding a solution to control quicksand or dust is a serious concern for officials and managers of various cities and provinces. Oil mulches have been predicted to solve the problem for years, but the high cost and environmental pollution have caused the plans to fail. Recently, researchers at the International Desert Research Center of the University of Tehran, in cooperation with the Potash Khor and Biabanak Complex, have developed a type of environmentally friendly mineral mulch that has extraordinary effects in controlling dust, moving quicksand and stabilizing it at much lower costs. Based on the tests conducted, its extraordinary effectiveness in desert areas, mines, construction sites and dirt roads has been confirmed. SSR400 solution is a new mineral mulch that has been used in desert areas and has successfully passed tests in all these cases.

The results of the project after one year showed that the resistance of the sand to wind flow increased and the rate of destruction of the mulched hills decreased and the appearance of the hills was maintained and their movement stopped. Wind tunnel tests on the hills in this area showed that without the use of the mixed solution, the rate of erosion of the hills under the influence of wind at a speed of 18.5 m/s was 153 kg/m2/h, but the solution used reduced this rate of erosion to less than one kg/m2/h. Despite the effect of this solution on reducing the germination of agricultural seeds, it did not have a toxic effect, and after removing the salinity from the solution, all seeds re-germinated and greened at a rate of over 90 percent. Compared to petroleum mulch, this mineral mulch has advantages such as "strengthening the soil and not being harmful", "no need for special equipment", "usable in high humidity", "usable in winter and low temperatures".

This product is produced in the Potash Khor and Biabanak units and supplied to the domestic market, and so far, various companies and institutions in the country such as the National Copper Industries Company, Central Iron Ore, Roads and Urban Development Department, etc. have used this product to stabilize road soil.