Pitch
AH can absorb water up to 1000x of its own weight. When mixed in soil, it releases water and macro nutrients that are required by the crop.
Description
Summary
AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ is a potassium polyacrylate based super absorbent which can retain water up to 1000 times of its own weight up to a year and releases it slowly according to the need of the soil/crop along with all the essential nutrients required by the crop. It can be used in vast agricultural lands, large to small scale plantation, as well as household vegetation and plantation. Once mixed with the agricultural soil up to 10%, it can be used over 4-6 yearly cycles until it biodegrades and becomes a part of soil without forming any toxic species. The characteristics AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ possesses are as follows:
1. High absorption capacity in saline and hard water conditions
2. Optimized absorbency under load (AUL)
3. Lowest soluble content and residual monomer
4. Low price
5. High durability and stability in the swelling environment and during storage
6. Gradual biodegradability without formation of toxic species
7. pH?neutrality after swelling in water
8. Photo-stability
9. Re?wetting capability
AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ is the solution for all the problems related to water crisis in agriculture.
1. Improves soil quality, preserves water and resists drought stress
2. Increases seed sprouting and seedling development leading to better farm success
3. From the environmental aspects, it is non-polluting and biodegradable, helps in reducing irrigation frequency and water consumption and creates a simple cyclic process to provide water directly to roots and prevent soil compaction
4. It can store the excess water that cause flooding in summers and utilize it in winter for compensating Rabi crop water shortfall
5. It can keep the soil moisture up to desired level with continuous release of nutrients and hence, it can reduce the barren land
6. In cold regions, death during germination and maturation is common due to moisture freezing in & around plant root tissue.
Is this proposal for a practice or a project?
Project
What actions do you propose?
We have currently developed our testing samples based by solution/suspension polymerization. However, we want to develop a further refined and purified product by using other methods such as:
1. Emulsion Polymerization
2. UV cured polymerization
The products developed by all these methods have slightly different characteristics such as swelling index and cross-linkage. Moreover, UV cured method is highly desirable as the product prepared by it is in hard granular form and requires no purification step other than drying on a conveyor belt whereas in solution polymerization and emulsion polymerization, purification steps are required.
Currently, we are in search of a capable partner in R&D who can provide resources (financial and equipment) for our lab scale development of AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ production process capable of producing it in cheapest possible prices and with minimum material and simplest technology.
We are looking forward to develop lab scale process of all three methods in order to analyze the cost, ease of operation, and categories of super absorbents produced by these processes. We are determined to complete the R&D within 6 months. Following are the objectives of R&D of AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ:
1. To evaluate the alternative process for production and choose the best based on an optimization between cost and ease of operation
2. To determine the cost of production per unit mass of product in terms of raw material, equipment, scale of production, and time of production
3. To develop a working simulation model for pilot plant capable of producing 3 tons a month (For future pilot scale plant)
4. To categorize AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ different grades for different crops and soil types and try to develop 2-3 generalized grades for all types of crops and soils
5. To bring substantial changes in the product in terms of performance, life, advantages, and production process in order to acquire patent for it
6. To carry out an impact assessment report on lab scale plants and model farms
7. To produce charts based on impact assessment reports that define the reduction in amount of water required, and fertilizer required by different types of crops
8. To determine the optimized specifications AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ in terms of porosity, pore size, granule size, and shape of granule
Who will take these actions?
The author Shayan Sohail is the inventor of aab-e-hayaat and he will be working on the development of cheaper and efficient green process for manufacturing of this product on a larger industrial scale.
The key role in this sector will be played by fertilizer industries. These fertilizer industries not only distribute fertilizers to farmers but they also give training to these farmers on how to use their products. They have established a customer base in villages among farmer community and even achieved the faith of the farmers. If they adapt aab-e-hayaat which is not only a green product but also much cheaper than fertilzers. These fertilizer industries can not only distribute aab-e-hayaat but also train farmers on how to use them.
Government can restrict the usage of water on the basis of area. This will compel farmers to use water conservation technologies such as aab-e-hayaat.
A key role is required to be played by electronic and print media to aware general public about the conservation of water and focus on green farming.
Big business organizations must also invest in production of aab-e-hayaat to make a it product of use. It can even be adapted by countries with arid and deserted areas to convert these lands into fertile area and change the natural ecosystem in a positive manner.
Where will these actions be taken?
Aab-e-hayaat can be used in countries whose economy is based majorly on agriculture and they are facing water scarcity problems; such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, China, USA, etc.
This will not only solve their water problem but also reduce green house gases emission due to reduction in fertilizer production.
This product has a vast maket in middle eastern countries as well who are majorly covered in deserts. These countries rely mainly on gas & oil export. But due to rapid depletion of these natural mineral reserves, they are finding ways to strengthen the economy. It is time for them to invest in their agriculture and develop arid and deserted areas into agricultural lands.
In addition, specify the country or countries where these actions will be taken.
Pakistan
Country 2
India
Country 3
Bangladesh
Country 4
China
Country 5
Afghanistan
Impact/Benefits
What impact will these actions have on greenhouse gas emissions and/or adapting to climate change?
This product can make a barren land fertile, minimize the water requirement up to 70%, reduce the fertilizer requirement up to 50%, minimize the floods, save the crops from germs, make the growth faster, and all this without any hazardous effects on environment and plants. It is biodegradable and become a part of soil after releasing all nutrients in a life cycle of 4-6 years without forming any toxic species. This product is cheaper and is only required up to 10% of the surface soil (2-5 kg/ha).
A fascinating break-through about this technology is that, its production is based on green chemistry. Contrarily, the production of fertilizers is effecting our environment. To produce one mole of ammonia, about one mole of natural gas is burnt which means a mass ratio of 1:3 (ammonia:CO2), statistically speaking, we are producing 3 tons of CO2 per ton of ammonia we produce directly by reaction. The steam to urea (min) ratio is about 1.5:1. Production of such huge amount of steam too requires the gas combustion. Our fertilizer industries are one of the biggest contributors in green house gases production.
Unlike this, AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ production does not release such huge amount of carbon to atmosphere. This unique characteristic also makes this product catchy for international environmental safety agencies and communities. It can shock many fertilizer tycoons that this product will cut the requirement of fertilizers up to 50%. With further R&D, AA-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ is capable of finishing all of the fertilizer requirement.
What are other key benefits?
AAB-E-HAYAAT ZARKHEZ has many other uses apart from agricultural one. It can replace RO based water purification. Our Sodium Polyacrylate based product is capable of absorbing 99.95% pure water up to 600 times of its own weight I-e if sea water containing TDS amount of 70,000 mg/L is available to it, it will absorb a water having TDS 35 mg/L. It is capable of releasing the water rapidly under UV light (Sunlight). This makes it a better option than RO in following sectors:
1. It can be used in places where electricity is not available or where electricity is expensive
2. It can become a part of emergency kits of NAVY and other public/ private ships
3. It can also replace RO at industrial scale by development of AAB-E-HAYAAT based absorption bed columns AAB-E-HAYAAT is the need of time.
4. It can be used to store water in areas prone to drought
It is not only a welfare product but a highly profitable
business as well.
Costs/Challenges
What are the proposal’s projected costs?
The project cost requires $50,000 in R&D phase. an amount of $400,000 will be required to establish a plant with capacity of producing 3 tons of aab-e-hayaat per month. For large commercial scale plant, capable of producing 3 ton per day, $ 8 million are required.
The production and usage of aab-e-hayaat is completely green and has no negative impacts. Whereas the challenges to implement this product lies in the fact that fertilizer tycoons see this product as an end to their business due to which they will be creating hurdles in its adaptation.
Another challenge is to create a generalized grade of the product that can be used in all types of soils for all types of vegetation.
Timeline
Aab-e-hayaat require 2 and a ½ years to come to commercial market. The steps are:
- R&D to develop bench-scale and model a pilot plant based on most efficient process (6 months)
- Development of pilot plant to product 3 tons of aab-e-hayaat per month. Impact evaluation report by application of aab-e-hayaat in different areas and different crops (18 months)
- Development of steady state functional process plant for 2 ton per day capacity (30 months)
It will take at least 5 more years to penetrate in the agriculture market completely.
In Pakistan, after 15 years, it will reduce the green house gases emission by 21% which is by the major fertilizer companies producing urea by burning natural gas.
It will reduce floods up to 80% due to its ability to lock water and hence break the flow of water flowing down streams. It will increase the agriculture by 200% due to availability of required water.
This will also help the country to generate more electricity as flow of water will be lesser required in agriculture and more will be available for power generation.
In 50 years, it will completely finish the requirement of fertilizers and pesticides in the field. Its usage will convert the deserted areas into agricultural lands which will reduce the world's deserted area by 30-45% in 100 years.
About the author(s)
The founder and CEO of aab-e-hayaat Shayan Sohail is a Pakistani national. He is specialized in polymeric products including membranes, super absorbent polymers, self-healing polymers. He topped the class of Chemical Engineering 2013-2017 University of Engineering and technology Lahore. He has working experience with K. Electric on water treatment where he was engaged in RO plant installation at BQPS-2 water treatment plant. He also trained the trainee and apprentice engineers on water treatment in K. Electric. He has worked with Engro Fertilizers where he complete Energy efficiency projects including boiler efficiency increase and IOT technology based projects to replace expensive gas chromatographs
with cheaper intelligent apps that control the optimized Air, Fuel, and steam ratios. His projects saved a huge spending of 0.6 million USD per year for Engro. As a result, he was offered direct hiring at the end of his internship. His fields of interest are Energy efficiency, water treatment, new polymeric technologies, process and production economics, and design thinking.
Related Proposals
References
2) http://www.rasayan.in/super-absorbent-polymer-sap.html
4) http://www.indiantextilejournal.com/articles/FAdetails.asp?id=1932
5) http://www.chemicals99.com/super-absorbent-polymer.html
6) http://www.socochem.com/super-absorbent-polymer-for-plants.html
7) https://hydrogelagriculture.wordpress.com/tag/water-absorber/
8) http://www.internationaljournalssrg.org/IJCE/2017/Special-Issue/ICRTCETM/IJCE-ICRTCETM-P113.pdf
By:
Aqua Vitae
