Article by Sam Jones, NC Plant Sciences Initiative

The idea for Fertilizer of the Future was sparked over five years ago when Stapelmann met Chadi Sayde, assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, at their new employee orientation at NC State. “We started chatting and he told me about his fiber optic-based soil sensors,” Stapelmann recalls. Because she knew that nitrogen fertilizer could be produced with plasma-derived nitrate as a substitute for ammonium made from the Haber-Bosch principle, she got an idea. “I said, ‘Huh, with the sensors in the soil we could use plasma to produce fertilizer. We could do fertigation on demand right there on the farm.’”

Using a plasma device, Stapelmann’s component of the project involves optimizing nitrogen fixation in water for delivery in the fertigation system. When Stapelmann’s plasma process is optimized, it can be applied to a fertigation system using Sayde’s soil sensors. “[The sensors] can tell us if the plants need water, if the plants need nitrogen, if they need both. Then we can use our plasma device to create nitrogen fertilizer in the irrigation water on demand,” Stapelmann explains.

For full article, click here.