The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop an innovative manufacturing technology for high efficiency, low cost nitrogen fertilizer from fly ash, which is a recycled material from coal power plants that may contain high concentrations of mercury and carbon. The traditional N-fertilizers are water-soluble compounds, resulting in significant loss of fertilizer and pollution of streams and ground water. At the same time, America's coal power plants produce more than 76.5 million tons of fly ash per year, and most of it is disposed of in landfills. The high mercury content in the fly ash makes the disposal more difficult and costly. In this project, the fly ash will be converted to high efficiency nitrogen fertilizer and the mercury in the fly ash will be recovered.
The success of this project will lead to a high volume and highly technical application for fly ash and a value-added high efficiency low cost nitrogen fertilizer. Moreover, the projected production cost of this nitrogen fertilizer is lower than that of the traditional nitrogen fertilizer. The use of this new nitrogen fertilizer on farms will increase crop production profitability and prevent fertilizer loss and water pollution. By avoiding the landfill disposal of the fly ash, the coal power plants will save millions of dollars.
