Plasma Activated Organic Fertilizer

Plasma Activated Organic Fertilizer

Improved utilization of organic waste for fertilizer has significant worldwide economic and ecological potential and the use of plasma can help unlock this potential. Organic waste that are used as fertilizer includes animal waste (manure and urine), human sewage, food waste and biogas digestate. Ai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plasma chemistry and plasma processing Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 1 - 19
Main Authors: Graves, David B., Bakken, Lars B., Jensen, Morten B., Ingels, Rune
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01-01-2019
Springer Nature B.V
Springer
Subjects:
Air plasma
Antiinfectives and antibacterials
Aqueous solutions
Biogas
Capital costs
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Classical Mechanics
Electricity pricing
Emissions control
Energy costs
Engineering
Equipment costs
Fertilizers
Government regulations
Human wastes
Inorganic Chemistry
Mechanical Engineering
Nitrogen
Organic carbon
Organic chemistry
Original Paper
Physics
Sewage
Urine
Viability
Plasma activated water
Plasma agriculture
Organic fertilizer
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Summary:Improved utilization of organic waste for fertilizer has significant worldwide economic and ecological potential and the use of plasma can help unlock this potential. Organic waste that are used as fertilizer includes animal waste (manure and urine), human sewage, food waste and biogas digestate. Air plasma treatment of aqueous solutions of organic fertilizer (plasma activated organic fertilizer, or PAOF) has multiple advantages such as reduction or elimination of atmospheric emission of volatile organic carbon (VOC) compounds, CH 4 and NH 3 . Although the emission of N 2 O from the fertilized soil may be enhanced by PAOF, we surmise that N 2 O emission at large is reduced because the losses of reactive nitrogen from the agro-ecosystem (which cause N 2 O emissions elsewhere) are significantly reduced. In addition, PAOF will improve the commercial value of fertilizer that can be made from organic waste. This includes altering both the quantity and chemical form of N contained in the organic fertilizer, as well as odor reduction. PAOF appears to function using chemical reactivity similar to well-studied natural antimicrobial processes, resulting in significant antibacterial effects in treated waste. The commercial viability of PAOF depends on numerous factors, the most important of which are the energy efficiency and capital costs associated with the plasma process and associated processing equipment; the cost of electricity; and the nature and extent of government regulations regarding pollution from organic waste and all types of fertilizer. We estimate that if the total cost of plasma production of reactive nitrogen is below about €2/kg N–€3/kg N, the process will be economically viable in the absence of penalties or subsidies.
Bibliography:USDOE Office of Science (SC)
SC0001934
ISSN:0272-4324
1572-8986
DOI:10.1007/s11090-018-9944-9