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| I've seen claims all over the place with this green lightning machine and I really wanted clarify how ridiculous their marketing claims are. So first of all "Green Lightning" nitrogen fixation device claims to use "plasma arc technology" which is basically Birkeland-Eyde process, creating a high-temperature plasma arc through air to fix atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen oxides, which are then absorbed into water to create nitric acid. However the 110000lbs per year and enough N for 500 acres of corn is absurd . Also the economics with 100% efficiency (which they are not real world Birkeland-Eyde is 30% efficient optimistically) don't work. In my later example I use 50% just to be more in green lightnings favor.
Energy Requirements for Claimed Production
Claimed Production: 110,000 lbs of nitrogen annually
100% efficiency :
N2 bond energy:0.942 MJ/mol
Power input: 1.1 kW continuous
Annual energy: 9,636 kWh = 34,689.6 MJ
Moles of N2 that can be split: 36,825 moles
Mass of nitrogen produced: 1,031 kg (2,273 lbs - in a full year of operation)
Energy required at 2.0 MJ/mol (roughly 50% efficiency, still super optimistic) : 3,571,428.57 MJ
Required continuous power: 113.3 kW
Actual Machine Specifications
Power draw: 1.1 kW
Annual energy consumption: 9,636 kWh
Maximum theoretical production: 485 kg (1,069 lbs) annually
Assuming you are paying $0.10 per kWh thats $963.60 for 1069lbs of nitrogen
TLDR:
Required energy: 32.4 kWh/lb of N at 2.0 MJ/mol
Green Lightning claims: 0.087 kWh/lb of N
Difference factor: 372x less energy than theoretically possible with a modern arc nitrogen fixing setup
The fundamental laws of thermodynamics make the claimed production rates impossibleThe machine would need to draw over 113.3 kW continuously to achieve the claimed production, not 1.1 kW.
Does it produce nitrogen yes, does it make economic sense, you decide.
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Green Lightning claims busted
