On-Farm Plant Fuels Tractor And Feeds Crops

2024 - Volume #48, Issue #5, Page #03

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Jay Schmuecker makes demonstration amounts of hydrogen and ammonia on his Iowa farm from solar power, air, and water to fuel tractors and feed crops. The plant he and David Toyne, a California-based engineer, built showed it could be done.
Now, the Schmuecker Renewable Energy System is being used to benefit small farmers as far away as Africa. Closer to home, at a co-op in Boone, Iowa, anhydrous ammonia will be produced in a 75,000-sq. ft. production plant and distribution center.
“This project started as a memorial to my father,” says Schmuecker. “He supported hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels.”
Some years earlier, Schmuecker had purchased his grandfather’s farm in Iowa. Newly retired after 52 years at Caltech’s NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2008, Schmuecker started thinking about generating hydrogen on the farm. The first question was what he could do with it if he made it.
“There weren’t any tractors at the time that could run on it,” recalls Schmuecker. “The farmer who rents my cropland suggested using at least a 150 hp. We bought a 7810 Deere, and a guy in Algona, Iowa, converted it with an engine block he converted to run on hydrogen or a combination of hydrogen and ammonia.”
The tractor is equipped with four 10-ft. long composite tanks containing 80 lbs. of hydrogen and one tank containing 50 gal. of ammonia.
Two years earlier, Schmuecker attended a conference in California on ammonia as a fuel. He shared his interest in demonstrating making ammonia and hydrogen for tractor fuel and crop fertilizer. The goal was to be carbon-free. When he began designing and installing a demonstration system, he realized he needed help. He turned to fellow Californian David Toyne, an inventor with 45 years of experience in new design and installation of specialized equipment. They focused on making ammonia, an excellent hydrogen carrier that allows it to be used as a fertilizer and as fuel when mixed with more hydrogen. It also doesn’t require high storage volumes and pressures.
“We discussed how great it would be if an ammonia generation system could be solar powered and installed by agricultural co-ops in their communities,” recalls Schmuecker.
Toyne took the lead on the detailed design and installation of the system. By 2021, they were up and running with a multi-stage system plus control centers for monitoring and management.
Electricity from 36 solar panels powers a proton exchange membrane unit to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen gases. It also powers all the pumps, compressors and controls.
The nitrogen generator uses a dual bed pressure swing adsorption unit to make 99.995 percent pure nitrogen from compressed air. The hydrogen and nitrogen are stored in tanks, and the oxygen is vented into the atmosphere.
The residual mixed gases are compressed to about 3,000 psi and passed through a preheated reactor to produce liquid ammonia. When the tractor needs to be fueled, ammonia is pumped from the storage tank, and hydrogen is dispensed from its pressurized storage tanks.
Schmuecker moved to the Iowa farm in 2017. He financed the demonstration plant and oversaw the project, which can produce about a pound of hydrogen per day. Schmuecker estimates the original 320-acre farm would require about 3,000 lbs. of hydrogen for fuel and another 5,500 lbs. to generate ammonia for the 150 acres devoted to corn annually.
Schmuecker and Toyne christened the operation the C-Free Renew system. Schmuecker shared his decade-plus of work on his website. In 2021, a transition from demonstration to full-scale production began.
“Hiro Iwanaga saw my website and contacted me,” recalls Schmuecker. “He was interested in providing ammonia to African farmers with farms of only a few acres.”
Iwanaga and Toyne formed TalusAg to develop the world’s first commercial-scale, fully contained, automated, modular, zero-carbon, green ammonia production system.
By 2024, TalusAg was completing an installation in Kenya, and two were being installed in Iowa. A fourth is being delivered to Spain for use by a mining explosives manufacturing company. In all cases, Talus Ag continued to own the production plants, and the ammonia was sold to its customers.
The Boone, Iowa, facility will produce 82-0-0 slow-release ammonium nitrate for Landus Cooperative. The green ammonia is less expensive but as efficient as conventional ammonium nitrate.
Further development of the Schmuecker Renewable Energy on-farm system is on hold as Toyne is heavily involved in TalusAg. Schmuecker serves as a key advisor to the company. Meanwhile, he continues to work on his tractor.
“I’ve added catalytic converters to reduce NOx emissions,” says Schmuecker. “We’re fine-tuning the amounts of ammonia and hydrogen used in the tractor and conducting emission testing.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Schmuecker Renewable Energy, Blairstown, Iowa (www.solarhydrogensystem.com).

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On-Farm Plant Fuels Tractor And Feeds Crops ENERGY Alternative Fuels Jay Schmuecker makes demonstration amounts of hydrogen and ammonia on his Iowa farm from solar power air and water to fuel tractors and feed crops The plant he and David Toyne a California-based engineer built showed it could be done Now the Schmuecker Renewable Energy System is being used to benefit small farmers as far away as Africa Closer to home at a co-op in Boone Iowa anhydrous ammonia will be produced in a 75 000-sq ft production plant and distribution center “This project started as a memorial to my father ” says Schmuecker “He supported hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels ” Some years earlier Schmuecker had purchased his grandfather’s farm in Iowa Newly retired after 52 years at Caltech’s NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2008 Schmuecker started thinking about generating hydrogen on the farm The first question was what he could do with it if he made it “There weren’t any tractors at the time that could run on it ” recalls Schmuecker “The farmer who rents my cropland suggested using at least a 150 hp We bought a 7810 Deere and a guy in Algona Iowa converted it with an engine block he converted to run on hydrogen or a combination of hydrogen and ammonia ” The tractor is equipped with four 10-ft long composite tanks containing 80 lbs of hydrogen and one tank containing 50 gal of ammonia Two years earlier Schmuecker attended a conference in California on ammonia as a fuel He shared his interest in demonstrating making ammonia and hydrogen for tractor fuel and crop fertilizer The goal was to be carbon-free When he began designing and installing a demonstration system he realized he needed help He turned to fellow Californian David Toyne an inventor with 45 years of experience in new design and installation of specialized equipment They focused on making ammonia an excellent hydrogen carrier that allows it to be used as a fertilizer and as fuel when mixed with more hydrogen It also doesn’t require high storage volumes and pressures “We discussed how great it would be if an ammonia generation system could be solar powered and installed by agricultural co-ops in their communities ” recalls Schmuecker Toyne took the lead on the detailed design and installation of the system By 2021 they were up and running with a multi-stage system plus control centers for monitoring and management Electricity from 36 solar panels powers a proton exchange membrane unit to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen gases It also powers all the pumps compressors and controls The nitrogen generator uses a dual bed pressure swing adsorption unit to make 99 995 percent pure nitrogen from compressed air The hydrogen and nitrogen are stored in tanks and the oxygen is vented into the atmosphere The residual mixed gases are compressed to about 3 000 psi and passed through a preheated reactor to produce liquid ammonia When the tractor needs to be fueled ammonia is pumped from the storage tank and hydrogen is dispensed from its pressurized storage tanks Schmuecker moved to the Iowa farm in 2017 He financed the demonstration plant and oversaw the project which can produce about a pound of hydrogen per day Schmuecker estimates the original 320-acre farm would require about 3 000 lbs of hydrogen for fuel and another 5 500 lbs to generate ammonia for the 150 acres devoted to corn annually Schmuecker and Toyne christened the operation the C-Free Renew system Schmuecker shared his decade-plus of work on his website In 2021 a transition from demonstration to full-scale production began “Hiro Iwanaga saw my website and contacted me ” recalls Schmuecker “He was interested in providing ammonia to African farmers with farms of only a few acres ” Iwanaga and Toyne formed TalusAg to develop the world’s first commercial-scale fully contained automated modular zero-carbon green ammonia production system By 2024 TalusAg was completing an installation in Kenya and two were being installed in Iowa A fourth is being delivered to Spain for use by a mining explosives manufacturing company In all cases Talus Ag continued to own the production plants and the ammonia was sold to its customers The Boone Iowa facility will produce 82-0-0 slow-release ammonium nitrate for Landus Cooperative The green ammonia is less expensive but as efficient as conventional ammonium nitrate Further development of the Schmuecker Renewable Energy on-farm system is on hold as Toyne is heavily involved in TalusAg Schmuecker serves as a key advisor to the company Meanwhile he continues to work on his tractor “I’ve added catalytic converters to reduce NOx emissions ” says Schmuecker “We’re fine-tuning the amounts of ammonia and hydrogen used in the tractor and conducting emission testing ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Schmuecker Renewable Energy Blairstown Iowa www solarhydrogensystem com

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