Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C1/00—Ingredients generally applicable to manufacture of glasses, glazes, or vitreous enamels
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C12/00—Powdered glass; Bead compositions
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C3/00—Glass compositions
  • C03C3/04—Glass compositions containing silica
  • C03C3/062—Glass compositions containing silica with less than 40% silica by weight
  • C03C3/064—Glass compositions containing silica with less than 40% silica by weight containing boron
  • C03C3/066—Glass compositions containing silica with less than 40% silica by weight containing boron containing zinc
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C4/00—Compositions for glass with special properties
  • C03C4/0035—Compositions for glass with special properties for soluble glass for controlled release of a compound incorporated in said glass
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05B—PHOSPHATIC FERTILISERS
  • C05B17/00—Other phosphatic fertilisers, e.g. soft rock phosphates, bone meal
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05D—INORGANIC FERTILISERS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C05B, C05C; FERTILISERS PRODUCING CARBON DIOXIDE
  • C05D9/00—Other inorganic fertilisers
  • C05D9/02—Other inorganic fertilisers containing trace elements
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05G—MIXTURES OF FERTILISERS COVERED INDIVIDUALLY BY DIFFERENT SUBCLASSES OF CLASS C05; MIXTURES OF ONE OR MORE FERTILISERS WITH MATERIALS NOT HAVING A SPECIFIC FERTILISING ACTIVITY, e.g. PESTICIDES, SOIL-CONDITIONERS, WETTING AGENTS; FERTILISERS CHARACTERISED BY THEIR FORM
  • C05G5/00—Fertilisers characterised by their form
  • C05G5/40—Fertilisers incorporated into a matrix

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a fertilizer compound having a glass matrix, a process for its production, and a fertilizer product based on said compound and relative uses thereof.
• Inorganic polluting substances results by the leaching from the soil of nitrogen compounds (particularly nitrates, the concentration of which can cause beyond certain limits the impossibility of a use of the water for drinking), or phosphatic compounds (in this case the main consequence can be eutrophication of internal waters marine water, nearby the coastlines, causing damages to the relative ecosystems including even the disappearance of living organisms or, at least, in less serious cases from an environmental point of view, the impossibility of aacre exploitation of the polluted areas).
• the fertilizer can be identified as a slow or controlled release fertilizer, the aim of which is exactly that of slowing down and prolong the fertilizing action of the product.
• the slow or controlled release fertilizers those based on glass matrices are also known.
• a fertilizer compound having a glass matrix comprising a combination of forming oxides, modifier oxides and at least one inorganic trace element, wherein forming oxides, in an amount comprised between 9 and 22% by weight of the glass matrix, include phosphorus pentoxide (P 2 O 5 ), silica (Si ⁇ 2), and at least one of zirconium dioxide (ZrOa) and titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), modifier oxides of the glass matrix include potassium oxide (K 2 O) and at least one of sodium oxide (Na 2 O) and lithium oxide (Li 2 O).
• fertilizer compounds having a glass matrix according to the prior art and even according to the above mentioned European patent application EP-A-1 088 806 do not provide for an optimal solution and are sometimes unable to make trace elements contained therein available according to the plant needs.
• some fertilizers having a glass matrix release trace elements contained therein, too slowly and only partially.
• the solution according to the present invention the aim of which being that of providing an improved fertilizer compound having a glass matrix that, starting from studies on the plant nutrient absorption from the soil, according to their needs, and from the investigation of the limits of the solutions according to the prior art, make it possible for the first time to obtain a fertilizer that can really release its nutritive elements only on the request of plants, according to their effective needs.
• the present invention also relates to a method for producing said fertilizer compound having a glass matrix.
• the solution according to the present invention is based on the knowledge that plants are able to modify the rhizosphere, creating an environment more favorable for growth.
• Such modifications mediated by the roots, mainly concerns mechanisms leading to an improvement in the acquisition of water and nutritive elements (e.g. H. Marschner, Mineral nutrition of higher plants, U.K. Academic Press, London, 1995).
• the acidification of the rhizosphere gives a contribution to the mobilization of the elements, such as for example phosphorus and iron (F. D. Dakota and D.A. Phillips, Root exudates as mediator of mineral acquisition in low-nutrient environments, Plant and Soil 245:35-47, 2002).
• elements such as for example phosphorus and iron (F. D. Dakota and D.A. Phillips, Root exudates as mediator of mineral acquisition in low-nutrient environments, Plant and Soil 245:35-47, 2002).
• the solubility product is so low that it can not be considered useful for the nutrition of plants, and even if these compounds are present in the soil in considerable amounts, they can not be absorbed by the roots.
• the natural mechanism just described can be completely inadequate or anyway insufficient in order to satisfy vegetal needs, since non-soluble salts are difficult to attack even for compounds of the kind released by the roots, since they are considerably crystallized or obstructed by other compounds of a different nature.
• the mechanism exerted, by the root secretions is unable to make soluble most of the mineral forms of nutrients indispensable for a good vegetal growth.
• theoretic solubilization of the aforementioned citric acid that was ideally used for improving the different steps of the production process of the product of the invention.
• our fertilizer having a glass matrix following the solubilization of iron and other metals, to which phosphates are chemically bonded, the phosphates themselves can be released in the solution of soil and becoming available for the plant.
• Another aspect of the invention is to assure that the roots cannot meet any physical obstacles that can stop their lack signal emission, or, if desired, the specific secretion of chelating substances and natural complexing agents. Further, according to the method of the present invention, many limits of the method for producing fertilizers having a glass matrix at present on trade were surpassed. In fact, according to the production methods already known, many compounds of iron, and of other metals, produced through a fusion process and a subsequent step of cooling or crystallization of the melt mass can not be solubilized by organic acids of the kind of citric acid and therefore cannot be used by root secretions.
• This phenomenon was considered as due to the formation of spinels, commonly produced also in nature through the crystallization of volcanic magma and having an empirical formula of the kind Me 2+ Me 3+ 2 0 4 , characterised by its minimum solubility and the difficulty for external agents to attack the structure of the corresponding minerals.
• the method according to the invention uses therefore reactive substances the composition of which allows for avoiding the formation of products of this kind.
• a fertilizer compound having a glass matrix having the following percentage composition expressed by weight: phosphorus (as P 2 O 5 ) in the range 2- 45%, potassium (as K 2 O) in the range 2-45%, other secondary macronutrients (calcium, magnesium, sulphur and if necessary sodium) and trace elements.
• the following compounds are present, alone or in mixture thereof, according to the following amounts by weight: 0 - 22% ZnO; 0 -
• said compound has the following percentage composition by weight: 0,50 - 30% SiO 2 , 0,00 - 20% AI 2 O 3 , 3,00 - 37,40% CaO, 0,50 - 22,90% MgO,
• said trace elements are present as a whole in a percentage range by weight comprised between 1% and 65% over the total of the glass matrix, wherein said amounts of trace elements refer to the respective oxides.
• the invention further relates to a method for the production of a fertilizer compound as defined hereinabove, comprising the following steps: - mixing a plurality of precursors of the chemical compounds comprised in the final fertilizer compound, in a powder or pellet state;
• said precursors comprise the following compounds in percentage amounts by weight: 0 - 55% kaolinite clay (AI 2 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 ), 0,10 - 10% zirconium flour (ZrSiO 4 ), 0,00 - 22,00% zinc oxide (ZnO), 0 - 18% colemanite (Ca 2 B 6 On -5H 2 O), 0 - 30% potassium feldspar (K 2 AIO 2 (SiO 2 ) 3 ), 0 - 35% potassium carbonate (K 2 CO 3 ), 0 - 30% dolomite (MgCa(CO 3 ) 2 ), 0 - 30% calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), 0 - 40,00% iron carbonate (FeCO 3 ), 0,00 - 20% iron sulfate (FeSO 4 ), 0,00 - 23% hydrate copper carbonate (CuCO 3 Cu(OH) 2 ), 0 - 40,00% manganese carbonate (MnCO
• said step of melting of the mixture is realised by introducing the mixture in a continuous or batch melting oven, electric and/or with free flame. Further, according to the invention, said cooling step occurs through percolating said melt mixture from the the melting oven to water.
• said cooling step occurs by conveying said melt mixture between two cooled cylinders made of steel.
• the invention further relates to a fertilizer product comprising the fertilizer having a glass matrix as defined hereinabove together with disperding agents and/or fertilizers or organic soil ameliorants able to modify the surrounding physical environment of root exploration and/or with biostimulating substances that promote the plant growth and particularly of their roots.
• the invention relates to a container for a fertilizer product that can be positioned in suitable locations close to the plants, for example in the soil located under the drips of the irrigation apparatuses, in order to address root growth toward the nutrients.
• the invention relates to the use of a fertilizer compound as defined hereinabove for the nutrition of soilless cultivations.
• the product according to the present invention can be mixed together with fertilizers or soil ameliorants having the physical consistency of a sponge, such as for example vinasses from wine and distillery waste treatment, so as to facilitate the development of the roots closer to the fertilizer having a glass matrix that is solubilised according to the real needs.
• fertilizers or soil ameliorants having the physical consistency of a sponge, such as for example vinasses from wine and distillery waste treatment, so as to facilitate the development of the roots closer to the fertilizer having a glass matrix that is solubilised according to the real needs.
• the fertilizer having a glass matrix according to the present invention, or its mixture together with spongy substances and other additives is preferably provided under the drips or other irrigators, already constituting a sort of a attraction for the roots, thus constituting sort of a "drinking trough" for plants, obtaining from it, together with water, also the nutrients they need.
• the fertilizers having a glass matrix of the present invention can be determinant to completely remove any risk of pollution on the one hand, since only the necessary amount of nutrients for the plant is added to the solution, and to avoid any problem of recycling, analytical calculation and restoring of the necessary nutrients on the other hand.
• the features of the process for the production of fertilizers having a glass matrix according to the present invention provide for a first step according to which the raw materials being used, in a dust or pellet state, are separately weighed and subsequently put in a mixer in order to make the composition omogeneous in line with the stoichiometric amounts of raw materials.
• the obtained mixture is put in a melting oven, which can be continuous or batch, with free flame and/or electric, and it is melt at a temperature ranging between 1100 0 C and 1600 0 C.
• a melting oven which can be continuous or batch, with free flame and/or electric, and it is melt at a temperature ranging between 1100 0 C and 1600 0 C.
• the chemical reactions of the different elements start involving the formation of an homogeneous glass matrix, in a viscous liquid state.
• the obtained material is percolated from the melting oven to water to cool it, or as an alternative it is conveyed between two cooled cylinders made of steel and has a solid-vitreous and granular aspect, with granules of different dimensions, depending on the cooling system being used.
• the material cooled as hereinabove is then ground, in order to obtain the desired particle-size characteristics, i.e. the one which is more suitable for the subsequent applications.
• Example 1 The invention will be described hereinbelow for illustrative, non limitative purposes, by making reference in particular to some illustrative examples.
• Example 1 The invention will be described hereinbelow for illustrative, non limitative purposes, by making reference in particular to some illustrative examples.
• Example 1 The invention will be described hereinbelow for illustrative, non limitative purposes, by making reference in particular to some illustrative examples.
• Example 1 Example 1
• the cooled glass was dried and subsequently ground in order to obtain particle-size dimensions suitable for use in agriculture.
• the product of the invention is constituted by complexed salts originating by the reaction of phosphorus, silicon and boron anions with cations of the metals added to the composition.
• the products in excess are mainly constituted by CO 2 and H 2 O.
• Example 3 By the same method of preparation of Example 1 the compounds listed in Table 3 were mixed, their amounts being expressed as a percentage by weight. Table 3
• Example 5 By the same method of preparation of Example 1 the compounds listed in Table 5 were employed for the reaction, their amounts being expressed as a percentage by weight. Table 5
• Example 7 By the same method of preparation of Example 1 the compounds listed in the following Table 7 were mixed, their composition being expressed as a percentage by weight. Table 7
• Example 15 By the same method of preparation of Example 1 reaction was obtained by the compounds listed in the following Table 15, the starting materials being used satisfying the criteria requested for the application in organic agriculture. Table 15
• Zn, Mo and Co oxides were obtained through a thermal treatment of natural mineral sulfides, a method allowed for the preparation of starting materials to be used in organic agriculture. All the remaining starting materials being used came from natural mines. Example 9.
• the efficiency of the fertilizer having a glass matrix of the invention looked similar to that of the conventional fertilizers, except for iron, which is sometimes slightly slower in reacting, even if it is much longer lasting with reference to the cultivations to which the common iron chelate was administered.
• some perforated containers were positioned containing peat and an amount of fertilizer having a glass matrix according to the invention corresponding to 50 g per plant, with a chemical composition as that of example 8. The containers were positioned in the soil in correspondence of drips.
• the fertilizer having a glass matrix was able to respond to the nutritional need of the plants independently from the analysed mineral content of the nutrient solution, without any problem of pollution and recycle of the solutions and without any need of a continuous analytical control thereof.
• the nutritional functions in question was related to both phosphorus and potassium and also to all the other applied secondary nutrients and trace elements.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Pest Control & Pesticides (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Fertilizers (AREA)

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Cited By (12)

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Citations (4)

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• 2006
  • 2006-05-12 IT IT000255A patent/ITRM20060255A1/it unknown
• 2007
  • 2007-05-10 WO PCT/IT2007/000343 patent/WO2007132497A2/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (4)

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