System and process for applying ammonia to soil

A process for dispensing controlled amounts of a volatile liquid fertilizer into a soil, said process comprising the following steps:

• providing a volatile liquid fertilizer in a pressurized vessel, the pressure in said vessel being sufficient to maintain at least a portion of said volatile liquid fertilizer in a liquid form;
• dispensing said volatile liquid fertilizer into a distribution manifold;
• sensing the flow rate of said volatile liquid fertilizer;
• injecting said volatile liquid fertilizer into a soil using a plurality of dispensing tubes, each of said dispensing tubes being in fluid communication with said distribution manifold and with a constant pressure flow rate control device, said constant pressure flow rate control devices being placed on said dispensing tubes and being configured to control the flow rate of the volatile liquid fertilizer through the dispensing tubes;
• and
• maintaining said volatile liquid fertilizer in a liquid form throughout said distribution manifold by maintaining pressure within said distribution manifold, wherein said constant pressure flow rate control devices are configured to dispense the volatile liquid fertilizer without significantly reducing the pressure of the liquid fertilizer in the distribution manifold.

A process for dispensing controlled amounts of ammonia into a soil, said process comprising the following steps:

• providing a pressurized vessel containing ammonia, said ammonia being under sufficient pressure within said vessel to maintain at least a portion of said ammonia in a liquid form;
• dispensing said liquid ammonia from said pressurized vessel into a distribution manifold;
• sensing the flow rate of said ammonia dispensed from said pressurized vessel;
• injecting said ammonia into a soil at a predetermined flow rate through a plurality of dispensing tubes which are in fluid communication with said distribution manifold, said flow rate being controlled by a corresponding plurality of constant pressure flow rate control devices, each of said flow rate control devices being in communication with and being placed on a corresponding dispensing tube, said constant pressure flow rate control devices controlling the flow rate of ammonia through each of said dispensing tubes while maintaining back pressure within said distribution manifold sufficient to maintain said ammonia in a liquid form.

A system for maintaining ammonia in a liquid form while dispensing controlled amounts of the ammonia into a soil, said system comprising:

• a fertilizer reservoir for holding ammonia under pressure sufficient to maintain at least a portion of the ammonia in a liquid form;
• a distribution manifold in communication with said fertilizer reservoir, said distribution manifold being connected to a plurality of dispensing tubes designed to inject said ammonia into a soil;
• at least one flow meter positioned upstream from the distribution manifold for monitoring the flow rate of said ammonia;
• a cooling device for selectively cooling the ammonia exiting said fertilizer reservoir;
• a plurality of constant pressure flow rate control devices, each of said flow rate control devices being in communication with and placed on a corresponding dispensing tube, each of said constant pressure flow rate control devices comprising a pulsating valve for controlling the flow rate at which said ammonia is dispensed from said dispensing tubes while simultaneously being adapted to maintain sufficient back pressure within said distribution manifold to maintain the ammonia in a liquid form;
• and
• a controller in communication with said at least one flow meter and said pulsating valves, said controller receiving flow rate information from said at least one flow meter and, based on said information, adjusting said pulsating valves for dispensing said ammonia at selected flow rates.