Products
The raw output produced by Oxidative Hydrothermal Dissolution (OHD) consists of water soluble, low molecular weight organic products produced by breaking down the original macromolecular feedstock.
Fulvates
By definition, low MW water soluble products produced by breaking down macromolecular organic materials are collectively called “Fulvic acid”, or “Fulvate”, but this very old terminology encompasses a wide range of products.
The nature of the fulvate produced by OHD depends on (reflects) the nature of the original input:
- Aliphatic rich feedstocks produce low MW aliphatic products
- Aromatic feedstocks produce low MW aromatics
- Carbohydrate-rich feedstocks produce sugars and related products
- etc
Different feedstocks produce fulvates with different properties that can be used for different purposes, or which can be further refined or processed into higher value products.
- Independent testing of the efficacy of fulvates produced by OHD of lignite for growing tomatoes found yield increases of up to ~50%
- Early results with broad acreage crops such as wheat are also promising, but further testing is needed.
Further refining or processing into potential higher value products:
Fulvates produced by OHD or lignin rich feeds can be used without further refining as agricultural biostimulants
Fulvate is already used in this application, but current commercially available fulvates are specialty products that are too expensive for widespread applications (e.g. greens keepers often apply fulvates to the greens of golf courses, but not to the fairways due to their expense.)
Fulvate produced by OHD of low-cost lignin-rich feedstocks, such as lignite, can be produced at a fraction of the cost of current products, making agricultural and horticultural applications economically feasible