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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Solar evaporation of fertilizers/ag-chemical aqueous mixtures

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:10107429
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. National Fertilizer and Environmental Research Center, Muscle Shoals, AL (United States)
  2. Alabama Solar Energy Center, Huntsville, AL (United States)

Even when best management practices are employed, dealers can have 2000 to 7000 gallons of fertilizer/pesticide rinsewaters each year that cannot be used on nonlabel crops or indiscriminately applied or disposed of without violating Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pesticide label application regulations. A novel, easily implemented solution for reduction of these rinsewaters has been developed at the University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) working with researchers from the Tennessee Valley Authority`s (TVA) National Fertilizer and Environmental Research Center (NFERC), Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Researchers have developed a passive flat-plate solar evaporator. It is a stainless steel/glass unit approximately 8inches {times} 7inches {times} 5inches, and can be produced on an assembly line basis for less than $4000 each. NFERC technologists will use these units for environmental research and demonstration projects at other universities and dealers this year. Each unit can evaporate 900--1200 gallons of water per year.

Research Organization:
National Fertilizer and Environmental Research Center, Muscle Shoals, AL (United States); Alabama Solar Energy Center, Huntsville, AL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN (United States)
OSTI ID:
10107429
Report Number(s):
TVA-Bull--Z-301; ON: DE93002454
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English