Method and system for agricultural fertigation
OwnerJohn C. Miller, Deborah L. Millerinventors
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Abstract
An agricultural fertigation method includes the in situ manufacture of one or more fertilizers within the irrigation upstream of the agricultural field being irrigated. Co-reactant raw materials, namely sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, nitric acid, potassium hydroxide, urea, ammonium hydroxide, ammonia, calcium nitrate and/or magnesium nitrate, are intermixed with each other and with the stream of the flowing irrigation water. The stream of flowing irrigation water dampens the resultant dissolution and reaction exotherms. A system wherein raw materials are efficiently fed to the irrigation system main line or a side-arm reactor efficiently implements the method.
Claims36
A system for in situ fertilizer-manufacturing fertigation of an agricultural field under the irrigation of an active agricultural irrigation system, wherein said in situ fertilizer-manufacturing fertigation includes charging a fertilizer-nutrient feedstock to said active agricultural irrigation system, said active agricultural irrigation system having flowing irrigation water upstream of said agricultural field, wherein said fertilizer-nutrient feedstock is comprised of a plurality of co-reactant fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw materials, wherein said plurality of co-reactant fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw materials generate an exotherm upon intermixing with each other and with said irrigation water, said system comprising:
- a plurality of fertilizer-nutrient raw-material feed points open to a stream of said flowing irrigation water, wherein said plurality of feed points are sufficiently proximate each other and wherein said stream of said flowing irrigation water has sufficient flow to intermix said plurality of co-reactant fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw materials with each other and with said stream of said flowing irrigation water, generating at least one dissolution exotherm and at least one reaction exotherm, and wherein said stream of said irrigation water has sufficient flow to dampen said dissolution and reaction exotherms;
- and
- means for separately and simultaneously feeding said plurality of co-reactant fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw materials to said stream of said flowing irrigation water whereby treated irrigation water is formed,
- wherein said irrigation system includes means for irrigating said agricultural field with said treated irrigation water.
A method of in situ fertilizer-manufacturing fertigation of an agricultural field, said agricultural field being irrigated by means of an active irrigation system having flowing irrigation water upstream of said agricultural field, said method comprising the steps of:
- (step 1) manufacturing a fertilizer in situ by charging a fertilizer-nutrient feedstock comprised of co-reactant fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw materials to said active agricultural irrigation system by sub-steps 1a and 1b of
- (sub-step 1a) charging a first fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw material to a stream of said flowing irrigation water upstream of said agricultural field at a first feed point;
- (sub-step 1b) simultaneously charging a second fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw material exothermically co-reactant with said first fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw material to said stream of flowing irrigation water at a second feed point,
- wherein said first and second fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw materials are selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, nitric acid, potassium hydroxide, urea, ammonium hydroxide, ammonia, calcium nitrate and magnesium nitrate,
- wherein said first and second feed points are sufficiently proximate each other and wherein said stream of flowing irrigation water has sufficient flow to intermix said first and said second fertilizer-nutrient-feedstock raw materials with each other and with said irrigation water, generating at least one dissolution exotherm and at least one reaction exotherm, and
- wherein said stream of flowing irrigation water has sufficient flow to dampen said dissolution and reaction exotherms,
- whereby said irrigation water is converted to treated irrigation water;
- and
- (step 2) irrigating said agricultural field with said treated irrigation water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.