Microbial Inoculant Formulations Non-Aqueous Solvent Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current agricultural microbial inoculant formulations face challenges in stability and ease of application when mixed with agricultural chemicals, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs due to the need for multiple treatments and potential clogging issues.
Innovation Solution
Development of non-aqueous liquid compositions with microbial inoculants dispersed in a water-immiscible solvent, combined with rheology modifiers and emulsifiers, which allows for homogeneous mixing and stability enhancement, enabling direct incorporation into tank mixes with agricultural chemicals without pre-slurry steps and preventing clogging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If microbial inoculants are mixed with agricultural chemicals in tank mixes, then application efficiency is improved and multiple treatments are consolidated, but stability of the microbial inoculants deteriorates and clogging issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a non-aqueous liquid carrier as an intermediary medium to disperse microbial inoculants. This carrier acts as a mediator between the microbial inoculants and aqueous agricultural chemicals, preventing direct harmful interactions while enabling stable tank mixing. The non-aqueous carrier protects microbial viability during mixing and application without compromising application efficiency.
2Manufacturing precision
If microbial inoculants are prepared as pre-slurry formulations, then application uniformity is improved, but additional processing steps are required increasing time and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the pre-slurry preparation step from the application process by incorporating microbial inoculants directly into the non-aqueous liquid carrier at the formulation stage. This eliminates the need for separate pre-slurry mixing operations, reducing processing time and complexity while maintaining application uniformity through the stable dispersion properties of the non-aqueous carrier.
3Reliability
If multiple separate treatments are applied for microbial inoculants and agricultural chemicals, then stability of each treatment is maintained, but application cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges microbial inoculants and agricultural chemicals into a single tank mix application using non-aqueous liquid carriers. This combination approach maintains the stability of both components by preventing direct harmful interactions through the non-aqueous medium, while simultaneously improving application efficiency by consolidating multiple treatments into one operation.
4Ease of operation
If microbial inoculants are dispersed in aqueous solutions, then ease of mixing is improved, but microbial viability and stability deteriorate due to contamination and degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of the dispersion medium from aqueous to non-aqueous liquid carriers. This parameter change creates a protective environment that maintains microbial viability by preventing contamination and degradation associated with aqueous solutions, while still achieving ease of mixing through the fluid properties of the non-aqueous carriers.
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 stable and efficient application of microbial inoculants, enhancing plant growth and protection while simplifying the application process, reducing costs and time by eliminating the need for multiple treatments and pre-slurry steps.
Implementation Method 1
microbial inoculants are dispersed as dried powders or particulates into a non-aqueous continuous phase
Implementation Method 2
compositions comprising an emulsion which comprises the dispersed microbial compositions and an aqueous phase comprising one or more agricultural chemicals
Implementation Method 3
at least one emulsifier comprising from about 0.1% to about 20% percent of the total composition by weight
Implementation Method 4
a rheology modifier comprising from about 0.1% to about 5% percent of the total composition by weight
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are various microbial inoculant compositions, methods for preparing these compositions, and methods of using such compositions for treatment of plants.