N2 Applied – Plasma Reactor

About the Solution:

The N2 Plasma Technology runs machines placed directly on livestock farms. The technology enables local production of fertilizer using only livestock slurry, air and electricity – dramatically reducing harmful emissions and potentially improving yield at the same time.

The N2 technology uses plasma treatment to add nitrogen from the air into slurry, which increases the nitrogen content. Plasma treatment is a method for reducing ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously increasing the nitrogen content in the organic material. The process comprises two steps: plasma treatment and absorption.

Step 1: Plasma – Electricity is used to split the nitrogen (N₂) – and oxygen (O₂) molecules in air. The atomic nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) then recombine and form a reactive nitrogen gas.

Step 2: Absorption – the reactive nitrogen gas is absorbed into the liquid phase of an organic material, e.g. livestock slurry or biogas digestate, and is converted to plant available nitrogen.

The reactive nitrogen both enriches the organic material with plant available nitrogen and stabilizes the ammonium nitrogen, which reduces nitrogen losses. By inhibiting microbial activity, the plasma treatment also eliminates the formation of the potent greenhouse gas methane and ensures that the organic carbon and nitrogen is not consumed during storage but makes it way to the field where it provides long-term soil health benefits.

The end-product is a nitrogen enriched organic (NEO) fertilizer, which has the same characteristics as normal slurry, but contains more plant-available nitrogen and has significantly less emissions. It can still be spread using existing farm equipment, enabling farmers to improve their own food production, reduce the need for chemical fertilizer, and make farming more sustainable.

The machines are the size of a shipping container and easily integrated into existing farm infrastructure. Liquid manure is treated continuously prior to storage for application at the right time. A typical set up might be between the barn where livestock is kept and the manure storage.