FOOD

For healthy and productive plant growth, it is important to control the humidity of plant environments. To accomplish this in an energy efficient way, we have pioneered the novel concept of using fertilizer solution as a liquid desiccant.

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S. Aryal, F. Caragay, M. Lefsrud, D. Monfet, and J. Maisonneuve, “Demonstration of a fertilizer-based liquid desiccant prototype for controlled plant environments,” Journal of Cleaner Production 549 (2026). 

S. Moussaddy, S. Aryal, and J. Maisonneuve, "Specific energy analysis of using fertilizer-based liquid desiccants to dehumidify indoor plant environments," Applied Thermal Engineering 238 (2024).

S. Moussaddy, S. Pushparajah, and J. Maisonneuve, “Fertilizer-based liquid desiccants: A novel concept for energy efficient dehumidification and water vapor recycling in indoor plant environments,” Applied Thermal Engineering 219 (2023).

Concentrated fertilizer and nutrient solutions are important inputs to indoor farms. We've explored several ways of harvesting small quantities of energy from fertilizer in order to generate electricity or to filter wastewater for irrigation. 

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P. Pourmovahed, M. Lefsrud, and J. Maisonneuve, "Thermodynamic limits of using fertilizer to produce clean fertigation solution from wastewater via forward osmosis," Journal of Membrane Science 647 (2022).

P. Pourmovahed and J. Maisonneuve, “Thermodynamic limits of using fertilizer osmosis to produce mechanical work via pressure retarded osmosis,” Journal of Membrane Science 629 (2021).

Microalgae is a versatile and fast-growing organism with tremendous potential for converting carbon to biofuel feedstock. In this project we have developed a membrane-based carbonation system to efficiently manage CO2 delivery and uptake in a microalgae photobioreactor.

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