SBIR Phase I: Enabling On-site Nitrate Fertilizer Production: An Absorption Unit to Efficiently and Selectively Capture Nitrates

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的广泛影响/商业潜力将改变氮肥的生产、分销和应用，采用一种更可持续的新工艺，将为农民节省资金。该项目通过促进对尖端肥料生产系统的科学理解，并随后提高运作效率，使农场能够进行氮肥生产。提高系统效率将降低这些系统的成本，这些系统为农场提供即时获得pH控制的肥料。由于提供的氮素的类型和有效性，有机会大幅减少排放，减少氮素径流，并总体上将农业转变为更可持续的未来。如果成功，该项目还可以对其他用途的硝酸生产系统产生积极影响，并通过提高发展中国家的作物产量来增强美国在抗击全球饥饿斗争中的领导地位，这些国家的化肥稀缺，但对其人口至关重要。该建议包括研究和开发一个吸收装置，以提高血浆硝酸盐生产的系统效率。这一第一阶段项目将克服创新氮肥生产系统方面的关键技术障碍，该系统是为农场使用而设计的。特别是，产品吸收结构需要专门的研发来提高气体产品的吸收效率和产品选择性。具体地说，将建立一个研究测试平台，用于快速测试氧化过渡产品并捕获最终产品硝酸盐化肥化合物的方法。这些战略的目标是将系统的整体效率提高40%，并实现具有成本竞争力的分布式氮肥。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will transform the production, distribution, and application of nitrogen fertilizer, with a new process that is far more sustainable and will save farmers money. This project enables on-farm production of nitrogen fertilizers by progressing the scientific understanding, and subsequent increase in the operational efficiency, of a cutting-edge fertilizer production system. Increased system efficiency will decrease the cost of these systems, which provide instant access to pH-controlled fertilizer for farms. Due to the type and availability of nitrogen provided, there is an opportunity to greatly reduce emissions, reduce nitrogen runoff, and generally transform farming toward a more sustainable future. If successful, this project can also positively impact nitric acid production systems for other uses and add to US leadership in the fight against global hunger by increasing crop yields in developing countries where fertilizer is scarce but vital to their populations.This proposal encompasses the research and development of an absorption unit to improve the systemic efficiency of plasma-derived nitrate production. This Phase I project will overcome key technical hurdles with respect to an innovative nitrogen fertilizer production system, designed for on-farm use. Particularly, the product absorption structure requires dedicated R&D to improve both gas product absorption efficiency and product selectivity. Specifically, a research test platform will be built for rapidly testing methods to oxidize a transitional product and capture the final product, nitrate fertilizer compounds. The goal of these strategies is to improve the overall efficiency of the system by 40% and enable cost competitive, distributed nitrogen fertilization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.