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Re:Catching Lightning in a Bottle by darquomiahw on Sunday December 19, 2021 @03:54PM (#29618286)
This type of process has already been developed industrially: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkeland%E2%80%93Eyde_process

The trouble is that it is inefficient and will ultimately release some NOx compounds into the atmosphere since the conversion rate is not 100% to HNO3. I'm surprised there is not a single mention of this process in their paper.

Re:Catching Lightning in a Bottle by elcritch on Sunday December 19, 2021 @05:41PM (#29619248)
The process you mention is for a "hot plasma" formed by electric sparks. Presumably this companies technology uses "cold plasma" aka non-thermal plasma which is significantly more efficient and more selective toward HNO3. Heres a good review paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42768-021-00074-z

Here's another interesting one: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b04997

There is still some NOx production, but likely low enough enough concentrations to be filtered.

Re:Catching Lightning in a Bottle by 01100011 on Sunday December 19, 2021 @05:03PM (#29618894)
I'm sure there are some optimizations that can be done on the process but yeah, it isn't new. I don't think the NOx issue is significant because you can sequester them, but it does add to the expense and lower the efficiency(unless you have a source of animal urine and can use the urea maybe?).

Is the efficiency difference between it and the Haber-Bosch process small enough to be made up by the lack of transportation?

I wonder if the nitric acid is a benefit in places with alkaline soil and water chemistries?