Non-Equilibrium Plasma for Energy-Efficient Nitrogen Fixation

Nitricity is developing a technology that produces nitrogen fertilizer using inputs of air, water, and renewable electricity. If successful, this technology has the potential to economically decarbonize fertilizer production from the Haber-Bosch process, which is a $68B global market and gigaton CO2eq/yr mitigation opportunity. Our team has developed a plasma-based process that couples with on-farm solar and irrigation to produce nitrate-based fertilizer directly where it is needed. This process first oxidizes nitrogen and then absorbs nitrogen oxides in water as nitrates. We have already installed a solar-fertilizer pilot on a farm in California’s Central Valley, which is successfully supporting tomato and broccoli crops. Our current reactor uses a high-temperature plasma and our present-day efficiencies permit us to sell fertilizer in high-value, irrigable fertilizer markets. However, we have identified a step-change research and development direction for our plasma reactor that would immensely magnify the economic and environmental potential of our approach. In this proposal, we outline a detailed R&D pathway focused on the development of a non-thermal plasma reactor. Literature and modeling analysis suggest that we can achieve an energy efficiency ten times better than our present values, and better than that of the well-known Haber-Bosch process. Ultimately, this technology has the opportunity to reduce US fertilizer and natural gas imports, improve energy efficiency of nitrogen fixation, and reduce emissions on an immense scale.