The sodium carbonate product from
internal combustion collectors is compressed 555 times by the reaction
making the carbonate. As a salt the gas is as condensed as if we had
applied 555 atmospheres or 8,159 pounds per square inch, nearly three times
commercial gas cylinder pressures. This makes for a convenient
reconstitution of the gas by adding water equal to one-third the mass of the
salt and heating it. Relatively dry CO2
gas will emerge from the wet salt almost immediately as the sodium hydroxide is
reconstituted.
If insufficient water is added or too much boils away before the reaction is complete heating will convert the carbonate to sodium oxide, Na2O, which will convert to the hydroxide in the final operation where water is added to pick up any oxide or carbonate in the hydroxide.
The conversion produces 555 volumes of gas for every volume of salt so extremely high pressures may be generated easily by this simple apparatus. For safety the cap is made of engineered material that will blow off before the entire cylinder bursts in the event of a line blockage. The generator consists of nothing more than a sealed steel tank with the salt and water charge, a Calrod heater or external flame application and an exit tube for the gas. For safety the cap should be of soft metal machined to fail over pressure caused by a line blockage and be easily replaced.
This is very simple technology in the application and should be operable by any workers with a little training. The maintenance should be little more than cleaning the “bomb” castings and testing the pipes to be sure they are free of obstructions. The pipes may require an occasional soaking as carbonate will find its’ way into the pipes as the interior of the vessel will on occasion be rather like a corn popper when the carbonate is heating.
If insufficient water is added or too much boils away before the reaction is complete heating will convert the carbonate to sodium oxide, Na2O, which will convert to the hydroxide in the final operation where water is added to pick up any oxide or carbonate in the hydroxide.
The conversion produces 555 volumes of gas for every volume of salt so extremely high pressures may be generated easily by this simple apparatus. For safety the cap is made of engineered material that will blow off before the entire cylinder bursts in the event of a line blockage. The generator consists of nothing more than a sealed steel tank with the salt and water charge, a Calrod heater or external flame application and an exit tube for the gas. For safety the cap should be of soft metal machined to fail over pressure caused by a line blockage and be easily replaced.
This is very simple technology in the application and should be operable by any workers with a little training. The maintenance should be little more than cleaning the “bomb” castings and testing the pipes to be sure they are free of obstructions. The pipes may require an occasional soaking as carbonate will find its’ way into the pipes as the interior of the vessel will on occasion be rather like a corn popper when the carbonate is heating.
The gas will evolve immediately on heating and most of
the CO2 will have been driven from
the salt when the mix temperature 100 Celsius degrees. At that point
the unit will need to be emptied of hydroxide and recharged. Gas
generators can be any size from a pound to tons, used in the field to
directly inject the gas underground as it is recovered where the
process generates high pressures.
Large scale stationary generators for tanking the gas may be constructed. The basic economic is maintained by paying users for the scrubber's carbonate which the NatroX™ facility reconstitutes into the patented "X" forms.
The process is so adaptable it could be solar powered using the sun to not only supply the gas for a permanent installation, but respond to need depending on the amount of sun shining. When the sun is shining and plants can photosynthesize gas would be produced. When it is overcast or raining the plants cannot photosynthesize, no gas is needed and with no sun none would be produced for the underground supply grid.
Large scale stationary generators for tanking the gas may be constructed. The basic economic is maintained by paying users for the scrubber's carbonate which the NatroX™ facility reconstitutes into the patented "X" forms.
The process is so adaptable it could be solar powered using the sun to not only supply the gas for a permanent installation, but respond to need depending on the amount of sun shining. When the sun is shining and plants can photosynthesize gas would be produced. When it is overcast or raining the plants cannot photosynthesize, no gas is needed and with no sun none would be produced for the underground supply grid.
CO2 Fertilizer?
The dictionary definition of fertilizer is: “any substance used to enrich the
soil, especially a chemical or manure.” Proof carbon dioxide should be
considered a fertilizer is easily obtained with aqueous solutions of the
gas. And, the evidence has been on the lap of science for many
years, but ignored! We have long known that "humus soils"
were the most fertile of any and they have long been used as potting soils
and amendments, but very little, if any, serious work was done to
determine why these soils were so good.
Now it should be clear that rotting material in humus produces carbon dioxide that the plants were absorbing directly through the roots, but this fact has not become part of the accepted knowledge of the physiology of plants. The only problem with humus is that it is a limited resource. When decay has run its' course the soil is no longer better than any other and so humus would have appeared to have failed. And, having to replace humus every season would be very expensive so it was overlookable.
Now it should be clear that rotting material in humus produces carbon dioxide that the plants were absorbing directly through the roots, but this fact has not become part of the accepted knowledge of the physiology of plants. The only problem with humus is that it is a limited resource. When decay has run its' course the soil is no longer better than any other and so humus would have appeared to have failed. And, having to replace humus every season would be very expensive so it was overlookable.
Simple trials demonstrate that carbonated water increases growth significantly compared with distilled water or rain, but there are problems in using water as the delivery medium for carbon dioxide in full scale agriculture. The major difficulty is that CO2 is not very soluble in water.
Only 1.45 grams of CO2 are soluble in one liter of water. Using water as a delivery medium is very inefficient as only 0.145% of the solution is the desired substance. Where water is available in soil to the extent of 425 pounds per cubic yard one foot below the surface it makes much more sense to deliver the gas directly and rely on solubility to put it in solution and then distribute it to plant roots.
The percentage of water increases with depth in the soil. At 100 feet it may rise to 30% and while recoverable may not be of sufficient quantity to support traditional agriculture if that layer is very shallow. But, with soil delivery of carbon dioxide and the reduced transpiration it brings we will convert "dry lands" to full cultivation. Genetically engineered plants may eventually reduce water demand to 4% of that now used by cultivated plants.
In The Greenhouse
The greenhouse is a special case where we recommend
carbonating water used for the plants as it will increase production
substantially and permit the cooling ventilation to be use without losing CO2 or getting into trouble under the coming
source restrictions. We claim this use of CO2
in our system patents as it has never before been recommended or used to our
knowledge. Saturating water with CO2
can be done quickly and easily in a tank that can take a few hundred pounds
pressure and the provided under high pressure with a simple NatroX™ generator.
The Nevada Wheat Belt
There is rumored to be
a subterranean river under much of Nevada,
one of the driest states in the nation. Given the mountains bordering this
state it seems possible. How adequate or extensive this water source may
be remains to be seen, but SCAF offers a way to utilize it for farming where
only four percent of the water normally required would be needed to grow a
genetically engineered wheat having few stomata and SCAF CO2.
A
Management Issue
The question of what
happens when we use old water has an answer in past experience where older
water moves in to replace that we pumped out. Tapped aquifers
recover. How well and how soon is determined by test, but we have
all the tools needed for good management.
In a study published in 1984 by Jurik, et al, it was seen that aerial CO2 enrichment increased photosynthesis up to 450% as well as adapted the plants to a much higher temperature environment than they were normally cultivated.
Where SCAF should improve by 50% the production of today’s grain plants immediately and do more in the future, Nevada could become a big grain state if the legendary water is there. Genetic engineering and SCAF may well make Nevada the ocean of wheat that feeds the world. There is no engine of economics, peace or politics greater than grain. Our future farms may be served by robot machines working round the clock.
In a study published in 1984 by Jurik, et al, it was seen that aerial CO2 enrichment increased photosynthesis up to 450% as well as adapted the plants to a much higher temperature environment than they were normally cultivated.
Where SCAF should improve by 50% the production of today’s grain plants immediately and do more in the future, Nevada could become a big grain state if the legendary water is there. Genetic engineering and SCAF may well make Nevada the ocean of wheat that feeds the world. There is no engine of economics, peace or politics greater than grain. Our future farms may be served by robot machines working round the clock.
How Much CO2?
It is a simple matter
to determine the amount of usable water in soil for SCAF. Dig down 18
inches, make a golf ball sized clod and put it in a Ziploc sealing plastic
bag. Remove the clod from the bag and weigh it in the lab, put it in
a weighed metal pan, roast it in an oven at 220 degrees for one hour.
Cool and weigh it again. The difference is the water mass. This
figure can be used to compute how much gas may be sequestered in a given area
where each cubic yard of soil contains several hundred pounds of water.
Each pound of water can absorb about half a gallon of carbon dioxide gas at one
atmosphere.
To determine how much gas to put through the nozzles we need only dig to the depth of the spike or permanent pipes, take samples of the soil and seal them in plastic bags to prevent evaporation. In the lab remove soil from the bags, weigh it, bake in an oven for one hour at 220 degrees F, cool and weigh the soil again to determine the percentage water in the soil.
Most soils have a density of about 2.5 g/ml or 4219 pounds per cubic yard 422 pounds of which will be water that will take 16 pounds of CO2 or 4027 liters at 20 Celsius degrees. At a depth of 18 inches and spacing of 30 to 36 inches each spike will cover a bit more than one cubic yard per running yard. At three miles per hour each spike should inject about 1/2 cubic yard per second and should be able to plant about eight pounds of CO2 per second or one long ton every 4.58 minutes.
To determine how much gas to put through the nozzles we need only dig to the depth of the spike or permanent pipes, take samples of the soil and seal them in plastic bags to prevent evaporation. In the lab remove soil from the bags, weigh it, bake in an oven for one hour at 220 degrees F, cool and weigh the soil again to determine the percentage water in the soil.
Most soils have a density of about 2.5 g/ml or 4219 pounds per cubic yard 422 pounds of which will be water that will take 16 pounds of CO2 or 4027 liters at 20 Celsius degrees. At a depth of 18 inches and spacing of 30 to 36 inches each spike will cover a bit more than one cubic yard per running yard. At three miles per hour each spike should inject about 1/2 cubic yard per second and should be able to plant about eight pounds of CO2 per second or one long ton every 4.58 minutes.
Molecular Cohesion
The amount of water in the soil
does not tell the whole story. A cubic yard of soil with 10% water will
take much more than 16 pounds of CO2.
All molecules have a tendency to stay with their own kind we think
because of the similarity in surfaces and the cohesive attractive forces
between them. We see this in the virtually infinite friction between the
iron wheel of a steam locomotive and the iron rail. Both surfaces must be
brightly polished for the effect, but when pressed together with the weight of
the locomotive the two are virtually inseparable, but the wheel can roll.
Without this odd effect trains would never have been developed.
The affect appears again in the formation of a surface skin on fluids like water where they meet air. Where we cannot see down to the size of one water molecule, but could for more an object more than ten molecules wide we believe this layer, or skin, is more than ten molecules deep as it is clearly visible. The water molecules in it are clearly packed as if it were solid. And, the density of this layer is greater than that of steel as small steel objects like razor blades, pins and needles float on it.
Cohesion forms and holds bubbles that eventually dissolve in migrating water to get into plants in the soil. The degree this improves the carrying capacity of soil has to be determined experimentally because soils are different in their characteristics. A management program will include testing the soil for CO2 leakage after application with progressive increases until the capacity limit is found.
In a permanent underground distribution system you will estimate based on an effective diffusion radius of about one foot and compute how much gas that soil can take in each feeding. Gas injections should probably follow water injections by one day to give the fluid time to diffuse away from the injection tubing and better receive the gas which prefers still water.
The affect appears again in the formation of a surface skin on fluids like water where they meet air. Where we cannot see down to the size of one water molecule, but could for more an object more than ten molecules wide we believe this layer, or skin, is more than ten molecules deep as it is clearly visible. The water molecules in it are clearly packed as if it were solid. And, the density of this layer is greater than that of steel as small steel objects like razor blades, pins and needles float on it.
Cohesion forms and holds bubbles that eventually dissolve in migrating water to get into plants in the soil. The degree this improves the carrying capacity of soil has to be determined experimentally because soils are different in their characteristics. A management program will include testing the soil for CO2 leakage after application with progressive increases until the capacity limit is found.
In a permanent underground distribution system you will estimate based on an effective diffusion radius of about one foot and compute how much gas that soil can take in each feeding. Gas injections should probably follow water injections by one day to give the fluid time to diffuse away from the injection tubing and better receive the gas which prefers still water.
Harrow wheels and
perhaps a heavy roller following the spikes can restore ripped soil to cap and
seal gas in the earth preventing escape from an open furrow. Where
this modification is only used for injection and not lifting it should have
much less pulling resistance to tractors than subsoil plows with lifting and
turning plows.
Subsoil
Fertilization
Subsoil plowing
is done to bring deep soil with minerals up to the surface, dig underground
water pathways to the surface and bury soil poisoned by accumulated salts to
put them in contact with moisture for leaching and to control deep soil pests
by suffocating small animals and insects as well as poison subsoil bacteria
with surface alkali. This is quite a lot to be done with long spikes in the
ground. SCAF salesmen may say, “Not since the invention of the penis has
so much fertilization been owed to so few by so many," but then
salesmen are an earthy lot even when paying tribute to Winston Churchill.
These plows can be adapted to deliver carbon dioxide for subsoil fertilization. The plow spikes may be drilled, channeled or piped to carry gas for subsoil deposit. With a spike instead of a triangular delta wing-like lifting plow blade there will be no topsoil disruption for no-till farming.
These plows can be adapted to deliver carbon dioxide for subsoil fertilization. The plow spikes may be drilled, channeled or piped to carry gas for subsoil deposit. With a spike instead of a triangular delta wing-like lifting plow blade there will be no topsoil disruption for no-till farming.
We believe
that sub-soil delivery will be attractive in the beginning, but it
will become obvious that additional applications will be needed during the
growing season and they will be difficult to impossible with tall plants like
corn. With immature soybeans in rows or many other field crops
supplementation will be possible, but permanent installations will look
attractive when the net effects of SCAF are seen.
Leakage?
We have no field data for SCAF, but ammonia gas has been injected into soil for
60 years and in the literature we found, “The Minnesota study found that fields
treated with anhydrous ammonia had two to four times the nitrous oxide losses
compared to urea ammonium nitrate or pelleted urea. If the ammonia was injected
more than four inches below the soil surface, however, nitrous oxide emissions
were lower in no-till fields than in conventional or conservation-till
fields.”
This suggests that soil leakage was negligible in ammonia at the very shallow depth of “more than four inches.” Ammonia is very soluble in water and the product ammonium hydroxide is stable. Nitrous oxide is much less soluble, but was injected and held efficiently by simply going deeper. We are calling for injection at a depth of 18 inches, to insure good cover, with immediate harrowing to close the furrow so we expect our gas losses to be approach zero. Normal soil moisture will absorb the CO2 to make carbonic acid which is stable in still, dark cold water with a 62 g/mole molecule that is going to diffuse at a rate 1/12th that of water vapor per Graham’s law so it will remain in place.
Continue to Carbon Offsetting
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This suggests that soil leakage was negligible in ammonia at the very shallow depth of “more than four inches.” Ammonia is very soluble in water and the product ammonium hydroxide is stable. Nitrous oxide is much less soluble, but was injected and held efficiently by simply going deeper. We are calling for injection at a depth of 18 inches, to insure good cover, with immediate harrowing to close the furrow so we expect our gas losses to be approach zero. Normal soil moisture will absorb the CO2 to make carbonic acid which is stable in still, dark cold water with a 62 g/mole molecule that is going to diffuse at a rate 1/12th that of water vapor per Graham’s law so it will remain in place.
Continue to Carbon Offsetting
Table of Contents
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