EXPLODED BIOMASS BASED SLOW-RELEASE FERTILIZER

• US 20170081253A1
• Filed: 06/01/2015
• Published: 03/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sulvaris Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sulvaris Inc.
• Inventors: CONNELL, Angus, Pedersen, Eric, Iyer, Satish, Knoll, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 10,981,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: C05B 7/00 Fertilisers based essentially on alkali or ammonium orthophosphates C05B11/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C05C 3/00 Fertilisers containing other salts of ammonia or ammonia itself, e.g. gas liquor
• CPC Class Codes: C05D 9/00 Other inorganic fertilisers
• CPC Class Codes: C05D 9/02 containing trace elements
• CPC Class Codes: C05F 11/00 Other organic fertilisers
• CPC Class Codes: C05G 1/00 Mixtures of fertilisers belonging individually to different subclasses of C05
• CPC Class Codes: C05G 3/40 for affecting fertiliser dosage or release rate; for affecting solubility
• CPC Class Codes: C05G 5/40 Fertilisers incorporated into a matrix

Abstract

A fertilizer product comprising an acid-carbonized microporous matrix derived from expanded biomass and a fertilizer reaction product of residual acid from the carbonizing process and at least one added fertilizer precursor. The biomass may include steam exploded wood powder. The expanded biomass may be carbonized with a combination of sulphuric and phosphoric acids, followed by ammoniation to produce ammonium sulphate and mono- or diammonium phosphate. The fertilizer reaction product adsorbs onto the carbon matrix, which results in a slow-release when the material is applied to the soil.

Claims

1. A fertilizer product comprising an acid-carbonized microporous matrix derived from expanded biomass and a fertilizer reaction product of residual acid from the carbonizing process and at least one added fertilizer precursor.

2. The fertilizer product of claim 1 wherein the residual acid comprises sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, or both sulphuric and phosphoric acid.

3. The fertilizer product of claim 1 wherein the fertilizer reaction product comprises one or more of ammonium sulphate, monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate, potassium sulphate, potassium nitrate, potassium phosphate, potassium sulphite or potassium sulphide.

4. The fertilizer product of claim 1 further comprising a micronutrient

5. The fertilizer product of claim 4 wherein the micronutrient comprises one or more of Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe, B, Mn, or Mo.

6. The fertilizer product of claim 1, comprising a portion of immediately available fertilizer reaction product and a portion of carbon-bound slow-release fertilizer reaction product.

7. A method of forming a fertilizer product, comprising the steps of:

(a) carbonizing an expanded biomass material with either or both sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid to form a microporous carbon matrix, leaving residual acid in the pore volume; and

(b)adding a fertilizer precursor to react with the residual acid to form a fertilizer.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the biomass is expanded prior to carbonization by steam explosion or a mechanical, thermal, hydrothermal or chemical defibrillation method.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the biomass is expanded by steam explosion having a severity index of greater than about 2.0.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the expanded biomass material is carbonized with a quantity of sulphuric acid less than 100% ratio of acid to biomass by weight.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the expanded biomass material is carbonized with a quantity of sulphuric acid greater than about 25% and less than about 99% ratio of acid to biomass by weight.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the amount of acid used leaves open pore volume and the fertilizer precursor is added to the open pore volume,

13. An intermediate product for producing a fertilizer product, comprising:

(a) an acid-carbonized microporous matrix derived from expanded biomass, having an available pore volume; and

(b) a residual acid from the carbonizing process impregnated in the pore volume, in an amount less than 71% by weight of the intermediate product.

14. The intermediate product of claim 13 wherein the residual acid is impregnated in the pore volume in a volume occupying less than 80% of the available pore volume.

15. The intermediate product of claim 14 wherein the residual acid occupies less than about 70% of the available pore volume.

16. The intermediate product of claim 15 wherein the residual acid occupies than about 60% of the available pore volume.

17. The intermediate product of claim 13 wherein the residual acid is present in an amount less than about 60% by weight.

18. The intermediate product of claim 17 wherein the residual acid is present in an amount less than about 50% by weight.