Method and Apparatus for Producing Ammonia and Nitrogen Fertilizer Using Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria

A method of producing ammonia comprising the steps of:

• providing a first nitrogen fixation tank open to the ambient air;
• providing nitrogen fixing bacteria and a growth medium within the first nitrogen fixation tank for producing ammonium hydroxide from a combination of ambient air, water, and selected nutrients;
• and
• providing a second evaporation tank downstream from the first nitrogen fixation tank to vaporize the ammonium hydroxide to form anhydrous ammonia.

An apparatus for producing ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer comprising:

• a plurality of mineral processing tanks, each mineral processing tank producing a mineral solution;
• a carbon source tank;
• a nitrogen fixing tank containing nitrogen fixing bacteria and growth media for the bacteria, and receiving the mineral solutions from the plurality of mineral tanks and carbon from the carbon source tank;
• a settling tank for receiving water with dissolved ammonia from the nitrogen fixing tank, and separating nitrogen fixing bacteria and solids from the water;
• a first micron screen for collecting nitrogen fixing bacteria and solids from water received from the settling tank;
• a gas-liquid separator for separating the dissolved ammonia from water received from the settling tank;
• a membrane filter for collecting remaining minerals in the water;
• an aerobic digester for digesting residual organic compounds in water received from the gas-liquid separator;
• a second micron screen for removing bacteria in water received from the aerobic digester;
• a gasifier for heating solids received from the settling tank, the first and second micron screens, and minerals from the membrane filter sufficient to convert the solids and minerals to solid fertilizer, the gasifier also producing a mixture of methane gas and ammonia gas;
• a gas processor for condensing ammonia gas received from the gasifier and the gas-liquid separator;
• a generator for generating electric power from methane received from the gasifier;
• and
• a scrubber for scrubbing exhaust gases from the generator.