Chelated Micronutrient Composition for Alkaline Soil Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for replenishing micronutrients in agriculture and animal husbandry, such as direct bulk addition of metal sulfates, face issues like limited bioavailability and solubility, especially in alkaline soils, leading to stunted growth and poor health in plants and livestock.
Innovation Solution
A composition of multiple chelating agents and metal ions forms a network that maintains bioavailability and stability, using a process that minimizes water and drying, creating either granulated or powdered chelated micronutrients that can withstand high pH environments and resist precipitation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metal sulfates are directly added to soil for micronutrient replenishment, then the soil receives micronutrients, but the metal ions oxidize and have limited bioavailability, and in neutral or alkaline soils the metal ions react and precipitate as insoluble oxides and hydroxides
Solution Approach 1:
Chelating agents serve as intermediaries between metal ions and the soil environment. These agents form stable complexes with metal ions, preventing oxidation and precipitation reactions that would otherwise occur in alkaline soils. The chelator acts as a protective mediator, maintaining metal ions in a bioavailable state until they can be absorbed by plant roots.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the chemical state of metal ions from free ions to chelated complexes. This parameter change fundamentally alters the behavior of metal ions in soil, preventing them from reacting with hydroxide ions to form insoluble precipitates. The chelated form maintains solubility and bioavailability across a wider pH range.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional chelate manufacturing processes are used (dissolving metal salt in large amount of water, adding chelator, drying until crystallization), then metal chelates are produced, but the process is energy-, water-, and time-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state parameters during manufacturing by conducting the chelation reaction in a molten state rather than aqueous solution. This eliminates the need for extensive drying operations, as the product is obtained directly in a dry or semi-dry state after controlled cooling and crystallization from the melt.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts water from the manufacturing process entirely. By using molten salt chemistry instead of aqueous solutions, the process eliminates water as a solvent, thereby removing the need for energy-intensive drying operations and significantly reducing water consumption in the manufacturing process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides superior agronomic and metabolic efficacy, maintaining micronutrient bioavailability and solubility, even in alkaline conditions, while reducing manufacturing costs and effort, and ensuring longer soil stability or immediate solubility as needed.
Implementation Method 1
Chelates have been developed and provide a means to maintain bioavailability of the micronutrient metals by binding with the coordination sites of the metal ions
Data Source
AI summary
A composition includes a first chelating agent, a second chelating agent, and a plurality of metal ions. In one embodiment, the second chelating agent includes citric acid and is different than the first chelating agent. A method for forming a composition includes mixing a first chelating agent, a second chelating agent, and a metal salt together to form a mixture and processing the mixture to form at least one of a granulated composition and a powdered composition. In some embodiments, the second chelating agent includes citric acid and is different than the first chelating agent.