STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
“Not Applicable”
“Not Applicable”
Current U.S. Class: 504/119; 71/25; 47/58.1R
Current International Class: A01N25/04; A01G7/02, 06; A01N31/02 C05F007; C05F011
Field of Search: 504/119; 504/116.1; 504/118; 71/25; 71/11,23,25,26,27,38,64.1; 47/58.1R; 47/15; 435/420; 700/36
Reference Cited
1. “Towards integrated commodity and pest management in grain storage”: A Training Manual for application in humid tropical storage systems, edited by R. L. Semple, P. A. Hicks, J. V. Lozare, and A. Castermans from “Proceedings and selected papers from the Regional Training Course on Integrated Pest Management Strategies in Grain Storage Systems, conducted by the National Post Harvest Institute for Research and Extension (NAPHIRE), Department of Agriculture, Jun. 6-18, 1988, Philippines.
2. “Modeling Urea Processes from the Virtual Material Group“:—A new thermodynamic model and software integration paradigm, presented at The Chemical Engineers' Resource Page by: Marco A. Satyro, Yau-Kun Li, Rajeev K. Agarwal, and Oscar J. Santollani.
This invention relates to a plant (vegetation) protecting and regulating environment which uses excessive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) coupled with reduced amounts of oxygen (O2) to, simultaneously and collectively, (1) promote plant (vegetation) growth, (2) provide insect control and (3) render effective use of fertilizers. As an illustrative example, such said environment can be provided by using the waste flue gas from coal-fired power plants, which typically contains 10% to 14% carbon dioxide (CO2) and 4% to 6% oxygen (O2) (vs. the normal atmosphere which contains about 0.03% carbon dioxide (CO2) and 20.99% oxygen (O2).
Cited U. S. Patents and References failed to teach an environment which can deal with all the elements in the situation, i.e. (1) plant (vegetation) growth, (2) insect control and (3) fertilizer effectiveness, simultaneously and collectively .
This invention relates to the use of an environment with excessive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) coupled with reduced amounts of oxygen (O2) to, simultaneously and collectively, promote plant (vegetation) growth, provide insect control and render effective use of fertilizers.
Plants (including algae, weeds and other vegetation) grow by photosynthesis in an earth atmosphere containing about 0.03% carbon dioxide (CO2) and 20.99% oxygen (O2). The net result of plant photosynthesis produces oxygen with corresponding depletion of carbon dioxide, as shown by the following equation:
n CO2+n H2O2O+Light Energy (CH2O)n+n O2
Thus, any carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration higher than 0.03% will promote the photosynthesis process and any oxygen (O2) concentration lower than 20.99% will also make it easier for the photosynthesis to proceed. In addition, a higher concentration ratio of carbon dioxide (CO2) relative to oxygen (O2) will minimize photorespiration (an undesirable side reaction to photosynthesis) which is detrimental to plant growth. Furthermore, the reduced oxygen (O2) concentration, coupled with the toxicity effect of high carbon dioxide (CO2) content in the environment, will make harmful insects difficult to survive, thus making it possible to reduce the amount or perhaps eliminating the use, of pesticides otherwise needed to protect the plants.
This invention utilizes and consumes carbon dioxide (CO2), therefore will help to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and thus alleviate global warming.
Excessive water moisture is detrimental to the effective use of fertilizer, especially urea (NH2CONH2) because urea (NH2CONH2) hydrolyses readily according to the following equation:
NH2CONH2+H2O2O2NH3+CO2
The resulting NH3 escapes before it can be fully utilized by the plant. Under an environment of excess CO2, as preached in the invention, the hydrolysis process will be slowed, less amount of NH3 will be lost and the fertilizer can be more efficiently utilized.
In Reference 2, the investigators focused their attention on the manufacture of urea from NH3 and CO2 and studied thoroughly the reaction mechanism and kinetics. But the investigators failed to realize and appreciate the beneficial effect of an excess CO2 environment when the fertilizer is being applied to the crop in the field.
In reference 1, the investigators studied pest management in grain storages and concluded that carbon dioxide (CO2) alone was insufficient to control larvae and eggs to a desirable level without the addition of chemical insecticides. Thus, the idea of using carbon dioxide (CO2) alone was dropped because the control of larvae and eggs in grain storages is a very important consideration . In the case of growing crops, control of insects (not larvae nor eggs) is the primary consideration. Furthermore, the investigators focused their attention entirely on grain storage and failed to realize potential applications elsewhere.
Of particular interest to this invention is the waste flue gases from coal-fired power plants. The waste flue gases from coal-fired power plants typically contain about 10% to 14% carbon dioxide (CO2) and 4% to 6% oxygen (O2) while the normal atmosphere contains about 0.03% carbon dioxide (CO2) and 20.99% oxygen (O2). Thus, these waste flue gases may be beneficially used to provide the favorable environment as preached in this invention
This invention can be applied in many ways depending on the circumstances:
None of the cited patents and references teach an environment which can deal with all the elements in this situation simultaneously and collectively, namely: (1) plant growth, (2) insect control and (3) fertilizer effectiveness.
This invention claims priority under 35 USC /119(e) to U.S. Provisional Pat. App. 61/339,158 filed Mar. 1, 2010
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61339158 | Mar 2010 | US |