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Soil Enhancement Technologies

Arthur Wallace

Charles A Arnold

Garn A Wallace

A stable aqueous suspension of water-soluble polyacrylamide particles is in a saturated solution of an ammonium salt. The polyacrylamide particles are characterized by a particle size of about &#x2212;150 mesh, and preferably &#x2212;270 mesh, with &#x2212;400 mesh most preferred. The suspension is at least about 2.5% by weight polyacrylamide. When the ammonium salt is ammonium sulfate, PAM concentrations as high as about 15% by weight can be achieved while still being easily flowable. The suspension is made by stirring the small particle PAM into the saturated ammonium salt solution. The PAM can be quickly dissolved to form a less concentrated PAM solution by adding the suspension to water or to a dilute solution, which can include calcium salts or other soil enhancers.

Polyacrylamide suspensions for soil conditioning

A method of producing an aqueous solution of water-soluble polyacrylamide (PAM) with a concentration of at least about 5 grams per liter includes the steps of providing a monovalent or divalent cation salt solution, and preferably a calcium salt solution, and adding water-soluble PAM particles to the salt solution such that the PAM particles are essentially all dissolved within about 10 seconds. The PAM particles are characterized by a particle size that is about &minus;100 mesh and consisting essentially of molecules having a molecular weight of at least about 15 million a.u. Preferably, the small PAM particles are produced by a mill that produces bulk quantities of small dry, flowable PAM particles from larger commercial grade particles. Small PAM particles produced in such a mill are essentially all soluble in plain water within about 10 seconds. After solution, the polymer concentrate can be diluted with water to make stock solutions of the polymer for some purposes. For other purposes the concentrate can be injected directly into irrigation systems. Effectiveness of the water-soluble polyacrylamide as a soil conditioner is considerably increased by co-use with a calcium salt, gypsum, fertilizer salts, or a combination of these salts, in addition to the increased ease of making solutions.

Small particle polyacrylamide for soil conditioning

A method of producing an aqueous solution of water-soluble polyacrylamide (PAM) with a concentration of at least about 5 grams per liter includes the steps of providing a monovalent or divalent cation salt solution, and preferably a calcium salt solution, and adding water-soluble PAM particles to the salt solution such that the PAM particles are essentially all dissolved within about 10 seconds. The PAM particles are characterized by a particle size that is about &minus;100 mesh and consisting essentially of molecules having a molecular weigtht of at least about 15 million a.u. Preferably, the small PAM particles are produced by a mill that produces bulk quantities of small dry, flowable PAM particles from larger commercial grade particles. Small PAM particles produced in such a mill are essentially all soluble in plain water within about 10 seconds. After solution, the polymer concentrate can be diluted with water to make stock solutions of the polymer for some purposes. For other purposes the concentrate can be injected directly into irrigation systems. Effectiveness of the water-soluble polyacrylamide as a soil conditioner is considerably increased by co-use with a calcium salt, gypsum, fertilizer salts, or a combination of these salts, in addition to the increased ease of making solutions.

Improvement in the physical properties of soil is achieved by the application of aqueous mixtures of agricultural polyelectrolytes and polysaccharides to the soil. The combination of agricultural polyelectrolytes and polysaccharides results in greatly improving the physical properties of the soil while significantly reducing the quantity of agricultural polymers as compared to methods of the prior art.

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Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

Arthur Wallace