Student Poster Presentation #18 (Session 2)
Sustainable Production of Nitrogen Fertilizer and Hydrogen Peroxide
with Non-thermal Plasma
Robert J. Wandell, Huihui Wang, and Bruce R. Locke
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Florida State University, 2525 Pottsdamer Street
Tallahassee, FL 32310 USA
Abstract
Annually, approximately 810 M barrels of oil (equivalent) are used globally as feed-stock to produce 147 M
metric tons of synthetic nitrogen-based fertilizer which is vital for producing the food supply to sustain the world’s
population. The production of this fertilizer is not only energy intensive, but also leads to significant
environmental pollution and affects the economic viability of farming in many parts of the world. In this work,
a patented flowing film plasma reactor is utilized to generate nitrogen fertilizer in an environmentally friendly
way using only air, water, and electricity. The environmentally friendly fungicide and bactericide, hydrogen
peroxide, is also simultaneously produced. This process can provide these compounds continuously and on-
demand as “green” nitrogen fertilizer and as a “green” fungicide/bactericide, enabling farmers to produce fertilizer
on-site as needed and reduce the need to use harmful pesticides. Our system can produce locally the required
concentrations of nitrate and hydrogen peroxide, thereby removing the need for shipping and storing large
quantities of highly concentrated, hazardous, and potentially dangerous chemicals. The basic physics and
chemistry of nitrate generation with plasma discharge is well known from naturally occurring lightning in
thunderstorms. This work aims to develop a deeper understanding of how this reactive chemistry can be replicated
and harnessed. Aspects of both the power supply and reactor geometry are investigated to increase both the
energy yield and production rate of the process.
References
1. R. J. Wandell and B. R. Locke, “Low-power pulsed plasma discharge in a water film reactor”, IEEE Trans.
Plasma Sci., 42.10 2014, pp. 2634-2635.
2. P. Lukes, E. Dolezalova, I. Sisrova, and M. Clupek, “Aqueous-phase chemistry and bactericidal effects from an
air discharge plasma in contact with water: evidence for the formation of peroxynitrite through a pseudo-second-
order post-discharge reaction of H2O2 and HNO2”, Plasma Sources Science and Technology, 23.1 2014
pp.015019.
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