The agricultural sector relies on nitrogen fertilizers for crop growth. Currently nitrogen is produced from natural gas, making it environmentally harmful and, since the war in Ukraine, much more expensive. A natural alternative for nitrogen—one that does not require fossil fuels— therefore is highly desirable. VitalFluid is a high-tech company that has developed a technology based on a plasma system that can produce natural nitrogen from ambient air: Freya. So far, the effectiveness of the Freya systems has been proven both in the lab and in practice in the United States. Before moving toward commercialization, the Dutch market wants to see the performance of the natural nitrogen unit Freya with their own crop growth processes. In this project, the plasma technology will be demonstrated in various crops: cucumbers at Groentekwekerij ’t Bleekerven B.V., cresses at Koppert Cress (a subsidiary of Division Q B.V.), fungi at The Protein Brewery B.V., micro algae at Fykia B.V., and tomatoes at Kwekerij van der Vleuten. The project will enable Freya machines to be integrated into different types of crop growth systems and to monitor their effects throughout the entire crop cycle. Additionally, the collected data will be used to further develop the plasma technology, increasing the efficiency and production capacity of a 15 kW Freya system.
Project partners:
- Kwekerij van der Vleuten
- Groentekwekerij ’t Bleekerven B.V
Objective:
For growers and farmers, it is important to see the Freya system operating in practice and on a large scale. Results obtained from their own cultivation process will give confidence in PAW technology. Among farmers, the saying still applies: “Seeing is believing.”
The main goal of the project is to integrate the large-scale, stable, and reliable production of a CO₂-free nitrogen fertilizer into various existing high-tech cultivation systems under real-life conditions, demonstrating consistent and reproducible quality, and ensuring the crop yields are at least as good as with traditional fertilizers.
Expected results:
The project focuses on demonstration and further development of technology for producing CO₂-free nitrogen fertilizer using plasma technology in the horticulture.
With this project, we aim to demonstrate the challenges currently faced within the market—CO₂-free nitrogen fertilizer for aCO₂-neutral label on their product—can be solved using this technology.
We continuously welcome new partners that join VitalFluid on our journey.
For inquiries, reach out to info@vitalfluid.com
