Did you know that manmade ponds rely on the same ecosystem principles that natural ponds do? Yes, for any manmade pond to thrive it must mirror the ecosystem of the natural world. One aspect of this is a pond nitrogen cycle. Understanding how this cycle works is invaluable for maintaining a pond’s overall life.

To an untrained or inexperienced eye, a natural pond seems like little more than a natural “tub of water”. That is, water – mostly from rain or runoff – collects into a small body of water. This then “magically” turns into an acceptable ecosystem for plant and animal life to live in.To an average person, the need to know how a pond regulates itself is relatively useless information. However, when someone wishes to duplicate a manmade pond on their property, the passive witnessing of nature may not be enough. Instead, it becomes important to understand the cyclical process that maintains the pond’s aforementioned ecosystem. This includes understanding the pond’s nitrogen cycle.

And what is a pond’s nitrogen cycle? A ponds nitrogen cycle is a series of steps that take place in a pond that helps to keep the pond clean and cycle out organic waste. Here is a simple break down of it.

In a fish pond, fish will release waste into the water. As the waste breaks down, ammonia is produced. Ammonia can be toxic if it builds up. To keep ammonia levels from getting to dangerous levels, beneficial bacteria called Nitrosomonas will break down ammonia and convert it into Nitrite, which is still toxic if it builds up, but less so than Ammonia. After the Ammonia is converted to Nitrite, another group of beneficial bacteria called Nitrobacter will in break down and convert Nitrites into Nitrates, which are far less toxic than Nitrites. This Nitrate is then utilized by the plant life in the pond as a source of nourishment, which helps to keep the Nitrate level low and can also help with controlling algae. So, the nitrogen cycle is essentially the amazing way a pond’s ecosystem cleans itself of harmful toxins and creates sustaining nourishment within its environment.

This natural process was developed over many years of evolution and is the way it should work in a naturally balanced pond. However, manmade ponds sometimes require assistance from pond products to tip the ecosystem odds in favor of pond life survival. <A HREF=”http://www.naturalenviro.com/sections.php?section=PondFilters”>Pond filters</A> can help filter out extra waste and also provide a safe breeding ground for beneficial bacteria to grow and thrive. There are also bacteria inoculants on the market that can be added regularly to ensure that proper levels of beneficial bacteria are present to help break down waste and to help convert ammonia and nitrites. Additionally, pond plants can be purchased and added to a pond to help with the utilization of un-necessary nitrates to prevent its availability to nuisance plants like algae. All of these products can assist a small fish pond environment with establishing a proper and efficient nitrogen cycle.

Over time, the need to take special steps to maintain a pond’s nitrogen cycle will decrease. This is because the pond will become self-sufficient and able to produce and feed adequate amounts of bacteria that fish waste ammonia is no longer a threat. As the saying goes, nature eventually takes care of itself.

Nitrogen is vital to your lawn and is one of the most popular fertilizers. You need nitrogen because chlorophyll depends on it as do other proteins and amino acids. These in turn are what makes your lawn green and causes it to grow well.

Some things to look for to see if your grass has a nitrogen deficiency are; if it turns yellow despite watering, the grass doesn’t grow quickly, diseases are present in your lawn, or if the grass turf starts getting thinner.

Depending on the time of year, your budget, and the climate there are three basic types of nitrogen used in fertilizers that are popular to apply.

1. You will find isobutyledenedinurea (IBDU) which decomposes slowly and will feed your grass over a longer period of time. It will often take a couple of weeks to decompose enough for you to see it’s effects on your lawn.

This is the most expensive form of nitrogen fertilizer because of the way it is manufactures and it’s uniformity. It’s uniformity also makes it very easy to apply.

2. There is also sulfur-coated urea. It depends on how thick the sulfur coating is to determine how quickly it will dissolve and feed your plants.

S.C.U. will release quicker when the temperature is hotter, the lawn is wetter, or if the grass is healthier.

3. The last one I am going to mention is urea, a fairly inexpensive nitrogen. It is the cheapest nitrogen to produce as well as the fastest acting.

You can often see results over night, it is that fast. But it gets depleted quickly and if you over apply it you can easily burn your yard up and kill your grass.

So the next time you go shopping for fertilizers with nitrogen check the labels and ask lots of questions.

Beans, in particular, are compatible with most plants, although the

allium family is highly antagonistic. Try it. Plant beans next to

garlic – and watch them sulk.

In the legume family, that of broad-beans, or fava-beans, is probably

the best nitrogen supplier I have ever seen. There are certain periods

throughout the plants growth, where, not only can you SEE the nitrogen

nodules, but, they are actually able to be weighed.

When considering the use of nitrogenous plants as companions, in

vegetable growing, a decision must be made as to whether or not the

bean is there purely for the nitrogenous qualities, or, if a produce

return is expected also. I have always felt that any produce is a

bonus, but never actually expect any due to the general treatment the

legumes get.

Meaning, if I am using legumes as nursery, or shelter plants for

another crop, as the beans start to take off, they are pruned to

two-thirds of their size. The prunings become part of the existing

mulch.

Apart from keeping them manageable and preventing competition with the

main crop, this causes the plants to shed their nitrogen, at times

producing some remarkable results.

For mineral utilization AND nitrogen fixation, one just cannot go past

lucerne. This legume has extraordinarily deep roots and brings up a lot

of trace elements. I mainly use lucerne in the walkways, as a good way

to utilize what is basically fallow soil. I cut it from an early stage,

just as flowers form, and continue to do so from then on.

Being penultimate to flowering, then being denied the chance, forces

the plant to become biennial. This then affords an in-situ supply of

nitrogenous mulch for the beds.

Lucerne, being attractive to aphis, acts as a food source for ladybirds, also as a shelter belt for beneficial insects.

I have tried using clover as a living mulch, nitrogen fixer, but found

it to be far too invasive, to the point of rapaciousness as it

practically took over the garden.

Until very recently, advances in tire technology concentrated on the rubber, tread, and the radial metal used in the structure of the tire. Over the past twenty years, the humble tire has come a long way, but one thing remained constant. The means by which the tire was inflated. Now, thanks to huge research into what could improve tire performance for all drivers, nitrogen tire inflation systems are available that are set to revolutionize the whole industry.

Using regular compressed air to fill tires has been the standard practice for more than a century, but the fact is, the air inside the tire is one of the main contributing factors in tire degradation, which can lead to a catastrophic failure in the tire. Using a nitrogen tire inflation system allows you to replace the regular air in the tire with pure inert nitrogen gas, which in turn protects the rubber, and has a number of other important benefits for drivers.

Using a nitrogen tire inflation system allows you to give drivers a more efficient, safer, and more comfortable drive. There are many reasons for this, but they are all related to the fact that when you use nitrogen to fill the tire rather than regular air, less of it escapes, meaning that the pressure is more reliable, so the tire stays at its optimum level.

Normal ambient air contains around 78% nitrogen; however, the remaining 22% is made up of other gases, including around 21% oxygen. Oxygen is one of the most reactive gases in the world, and it can cause a great deal of damage to both the rubber of the tire, and the metal of the rim. Over time, the oxygen degrades the rubber and the metal making the valves less effective, and the rubber more porous. A tire filled with regular air starts to deflate gradually.

Low pressure in a tire means that it has a higher rolling resistance. In turn this means that the engine has to work harder to push the car along, meaning a higher fuel bill. By using a chemically inert gas with a nitrogen tire inflation system, you are able to guarantee a higher internal pressure in the tires. This provides a better ride, better fuel economy, and of course better safety, as a tire that is properly inflated is less likely to fail in use due to proper distribution of weight, and even wear.

Over the next couple of years, as concern about man made climate change grows, and with the ever increasing cost of fuel, many drivers are going to be looking for an edge from their workshop. Nitrogen tire inflation systems are set to be that edge. Imagine being able to offer a single service that can improve fuel efficiency by an average of 8%, extend the lifetime of an expensive part of a car, and provide your customers with a better ride. You can with a Nitrogen tire.

Nitrogen tire inflation systems have been extensively tested by manufacturers such as RTI, and are demonstrating some excellent results. For example, the RTI RTINTF-15 Plus is an excellent piece of equipment for inflating nitrogen tires. The headline of these results is the 8% improvement in fuel economy. To put that amount into perspective, over 12 months, a person who spends $50 per week on fuel would potentially save up to $200 thanks to just replacing the air in their tires with pure nitrogen.

Offering the best possible service to the people who use your workshop or auto repair center means bringing them the latest advances first. Nitrogen tire inflation systems can give your business an edge over the competition, providing you with the means to provide a service that other people cannot, and that can only be a good thing for you and your bank balance.

Some of the new-generation nitrogen generators use the APSA process to generate nitrogen. This APSA process relies on the fractionated distillation of air at very low (cryogenic) temperatures, and in only one column. In other words, APSA nitrogen generators are nitrogen generators that use cryogenic distillation of air to generate nitrogen.

After the air is being compressed, it is purified in the nitrogen generator, so that the cryogenic operation runs smoothly. The air is being compressed at around 9 bars with a centrifugal or a screw compressor and afterwards cooled down with the help of a cooling unit.

The air that runs through the nitrogen generator must then be purified, so it passes through several filters and cooled down some more.

Afterwards the criogenic process must intervene, so the air enters a special area of the nitrogen generator, the cooling area, and then the oxygen in the air is separated from the nitrogen. At the bottom of the area there will be a liquid that is oxygen-rich and at the top the desired nitrogen.
The low temperature inside the nitrogen generator is mantained using a small quantity of liquid nitrogen, which is then added at the produced nitrogen.

This process is designed so that it’s all automatically controlled, it requires no manual procedures. If problems occur, the nitrogen generator is created so that it will try to solve them on its own.
For example, if the nitrogen consumption increases, a pressure regulator will maintain the normal pressure. Or, if the concentration of oxygen is too high, the APSA process is automatically closed and the excess of oxygen is ventilated outside. Furthermore, the nitrogen generator waits for the oxygen levels to decrease, and if they don’t, the whole system is shut down. When this occurs, the nitrogen generator takes safety precautions.

As technology improved, so did the nitrogen generator systems, and recent discoveries have led to the reducing of the nitrogen generators size.

These new-generation, small size nitrogen generators are very effective and reliable, and they operate automatically, with very little maintenance required.
The main difference between these nitrogen generators and the normal ones is the size, these small capacity units only take up 60% of the space used by a usual nitrogen generator, saving 40%.
Another difference is that these nitrogen generators do not supply a 99.99..% pure nitrogen, but something around 95% pure, which is not a disadvantage because most users and laboratories don’t require 99.99..% pure nitrogen. The nitrogen’s purity may be increased to 99.5% if the user desires to do so, by absorbtion or, cheaper, by adding a process to the nitrogen generator, that runs the resulting gas through a special filter that reduces the oxygen concentreation from the resulting gas. Also, if the buyer requests, he will also receive vaporization systems and liquid nitrogen storage together with the nitrogen generator.

These units have been tested, and they have been found to meet al the requirements of a nitrogen generator, and they are the best and cheapest solution to many needs.

The pressure of the gas delivered by the small-size nitrogen generators can vary around 6-7 Bar(g), and it can be increased with the help of a compressor.

In conclusion, these nitrogen generators are the best solution if you wish to save space & money, and not only, they can be used by everybody because they require little maintenance, low power, they have a compact design and they can operate unattended and monitor themselves.

So as a final conclusion compact nitrogen generators are available for purchasing to everyone on the internet maket.

Nitrogen is the building block of life – it is the basis of protein both in plants and in our bodies. If there is more nitrogen in the soil, farmers can grow more crops in the same soil but greater use of the same soil makes it poorer in minerals unless farmers replace them.

Minerals are simple inorganic chemicals required by living organisms. They act as catalysts for vital processes. Plants usually obtain their mineral salts and trace minerals from the soil while animals obtain theirs from food. For example, plants need magnesium for photosynthesis while humans need magnesium and zinc for the production of hormones and maintaining strength levels. There are many trace minerals which we know are important to human nutrition but do not know exactly how.

Minerals came to my attention many years ago when I received an audio cassette in the mail from somebody network-marketing supplements. I had tried taking vitamins but had not noticed any difference except my urine turned a different color, so had dismissed the idea of nutritional supplementation.

The cassette contained the famous lecture ‘Dead Doctors Don’t Lie’ by Joel Wallach. Its premise is that we all suffer from a deficiency of minerals and that the medical profession profits from our malnutrition. This is an extreme view of the medical profession; that it has an interest in the population remaining malnourished. You do not have to subscribe to this viewpoint to agree that our diet is deficient in minerals. It is deficient because our food production is industrialized. Michael Pollan, in his excellent book ‘A History Of Four Meals’, gives us a short history that helps us understand why minerals lost out in the effort to harvest nitrogen.

Before the invention of nitrogen-fixing, the supply of nitrogen on Earth was severely limited even though 80% of the Earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen. Until then, the only way to capture nitrogen and put it in the soil (’fix’ it) so it could feed plants, and therefore end up in our bodies, was to plant legumes in the fields. The amount of grains that farmers could grow was severely limited by the amount of nitrogen available in the soil. Farmers had to rotate crops so that corn could only be grown every other year, interspersed with years of growing legumes to put back nitrogen and other nutrients. They would also graze farm animals and spread manure from livestock in the fields to put back more nutrients.

In 1909, a German chemist called Fritz Haber invented a process to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into ammonia which could then be used to make ammonium nitrate. He developed this technology for the purpose of manufacturing nitrates for explosives for the German war effort in the First World War. He also developed poison gases such as ammonia, chlorine and Zyklon B which was used in Hitler’ concentration camps. Only later did his invention find a use in agriculture.

Michael Pollan identifies 1947 as the year when the era of the industrialization of food production began. A munitions factory at Muscle Shoals, Alabama which used the Haber-Bosch (Bosch commercialized the process) nitrogen-fixing process had a huge surplus of ammonium nitrate, the main ingredient in making explosives. In order to use up this surplus, it switched over to making chemical fertilizer. The Department of Agriculture decided to use the ammonium nitrate as fertilizer on farmland.

The old methods of crop rotation and depending on vegetables and grazing animals to restore nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil became unnecessary once farmers could purchase fertility in the form of bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

If Haber had not found this way of artificially supplementing the nitrogen in farm soil, the population explosion associated with industrial expansion could not have happened. Pollan refers to a book by Vaclav Smil, Enriching The Earth, that estimates that two out of every five humans alive today would not be alive without Haber’s invention. He rates the invention of fixing nitrogen as the most important of the twentieth century.

The end of crop rotation and the relentless, intensive use of farmland for producing one or two crops (usually corn and soybeans) which have been enabled by ammonium nitrate fertilizer mean that minerals are taken out of the soil and, if they are put back, are only put back artificially and inconsistently by farmers. Typically, apart from the nitrogen in ammonium nitrate, they only put back a few minerals, the main ones being potassium and phosphorus. They may also put calcium, sulfur, magnesium and sometimes boron, manganese, iron, zinc, copper and molybdenum. They certainly do not put back all the minerals that the human body requires.

Therefore, what we have gained in the availability of nitrogen and the quantity of food that we can grow, we have lost in nutritional value from essential minerals. We cannot rely on industrial food to provide the minerals we need.

Filling your tires with Nitrogen instead of traditional air is becoming increasingly popular with the average driver.  Nitrogen has long been used in the aircraft industry, on the race car circuit, and in the military.  Now everyday drivers are realizing the benefits of Nitrogen tire inflation. 

Here are the top five benefits of using Nitrogen to fill your tires.

1. Maintain Consistent Tire Pressure – Using Nitrogen instead of air to fill your tires allows the proper tire pressure to be maintained for longer periods of time.  This is important for adding to the life of your tires as well as increasing the safety of the vehicle.  Maintaining the proper tire pressure also improves gas mileage therefore saving money in fuel costs for your vehicle.
2. Protect Your Tires and Rims – Oxygen in compressed air is responsible for water vapor or moisture that builds up inside a tire.  This moisture triggers inner oxidation of the rubber which can lead to tire wear or even blow-outs.  Nitrogen in your tires eliminates the build up of moisture and prevents inner wheel corrosion.
3. Tires Run Cooler – The moisture created by Oxygen in tires causes friction within the tire as it spins.  This friction causes heat to build up and makes the moisture turn back in to a gaseous state.  This then increases the tire pressure.  Replacing the Oxygen with Nitrogen in your tires will eliminate the moisture, prevent the friction and heat, and maintain a more consistent tire pressure.  The tires will remain cooler and the tread will wear evenly.
4. Safety – Nitrogen is a safe gas to use in your tires.  As mentioned earlier, it has been used by the airline, race car, and trucking industries as well as the U.S. Military for years.
5. Good for the Environment – Nitrogen in your tires helps to maintain the proper tire pressure for longer periods of time, thereby increasing your gas mileage and requiring less fuel to be consumed.  You are also preserving your tires by protecting them from premature treadwear, resulting in fewer tires being thrown away.  Nitrogen tire inflation can help save our environment from pollution caused by the burning of fuel and can help save space in our landfills.

Choosing Nitrogen tire inflation for your vehicle can help maximize your tire’s life, your vehicle’s safety, and put money right back in your pocket by improving gas mileage and preserving your tires for longer periods of usage.  Not only that, filling your tires with Nitrogen instead of air is the environmentally friendly choice.

Be sure to ask about the availability of a Nitrogen Tire Filling Station at your tire or automotive shop during your next visit.  It will be your first step to an improved driving experience.

It’s not just you and your eco-conscious neighbors who are looking for ways to conserve energy and preserve the environment. The term “carbon footprint” is the new catchword of the day, and businesses are learning that it applies to their own big “shoe” as well.

Saving energy makes sense all around. Businesses that put energy conservation measures in place help preserve the environment, make use of renewable resources, AND save money.

There are plenty of simple ways that businesses can encourage energy conservation, recycling, and environmental awareness, both on an individual and corporate level.

For instance, research shows that recycling an aluminum can save 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from virgin materials. Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from crushed, used glass; recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp.

If your company has an application or production need for Nitrogen, PSA and Membrane Nitrogen Gas Generators cut down on energy use considerably by completely eliminating the necessity of converting nitrogen into liquid form for transportation and delivery. Making liquid Nitrogen requires that Nitrogen gas be pressurized and cooled to very low temperatures, a process that involves a large amount of energy.

Nitrogen generators cut out that process entirely, since all you need is a source of compressed air – an infinitely renewable resource – to make Nitrogen gas. As the air is fed into the generator, oxygen and other molecules are trapped, then vented out while the Nitrogen is pushed into a storage tank.

Nitrogen Gas Generators are a simpler, “greener”, and far more cost-effective way to meet your Nitrogen needs.

A Nitrogen Generator “borrows” Nitrogen from the air for your application. It then goes right back out to the air where it belongs, without dragging along dirt or contaminants with it, or creating any other particulate or nasty substance to alter the world around us. Nitrogen Generators also cut down on huge tankers hauling liquid down our nation’s highways. Plus, Nitrogen comprises more than 78% of the air, so it is an infinitely renewable resource.

And what will you do with the money you save when you end your gas contract and make your own Nitrogen with a Nitrogen Generator? You might look into even more opportunities to be greener with your business. Corporate tax incentives for energy efficient lighting, building insulation, renewable energy resources and many more energy and cost saving technologies have been in place for several years, and some have been extended this year. Considering some “green” modifications with the money you no longer pay the gas company might make those savings go even farther with energy conscious tax breaks.

Investing in a Nitrogen Generator will result in a positive return on investment for both your business and the world around you. Consider making this change today.

Every one replaces one thing with something. Car manufacturers replaces old models with a new car. People replace their petrol or diesel fuel with the LPG or the CNG kits. Then why not replace the air in a tyre? Shocked?

But it is true, we can replace the air with nitrogen in tyres. Nitrogen in tyres is not a new concept.It was used in aircraft tyres, military vehicles, racing bikes and the also in the Formula one cars. It is often said that Nitrogen inflated tyres are better than the air inflated tyres. Oxygen in the compressed air tyres penetrate through the tyre walls and causes under- inflation. This will also lead to the decaying of the rubber particles. Where as in the nitrogen inflated tyres, due to lack of oxidation, the nitrogen does not escape. In the air inflated tyres, as oxygen enters through rubber there is possibility of steel belts and the steel bead rusting.

Oxidation will further lead to overheating of tyre, reduces life of tyre and also results in blow outs. An under inflated tyre is very much prone to friction. Over a period of time it will not be able to carry the load the vehicle is designed for. The steering will turn slow and sluggish. And all this problems can lead to disastrous results. The air tyres is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and about 1% water vapour and other gases. Whereas dry nitrogen is cooler, lighter, and does not cause any kind of rust on the steel or aluminium rims. As nitrogen inflated tyre does not heat up up, the life of the tyre is longer, braking is efficient and also helps in good fuel economy. By reducing oxygen and water vapour in your tyres from 22% to less than 7%, the tyres will maintain pressure three to four times longer as well as safer on the highway.

Highlights of Nitogen Tyres

• Reduced corrosion – there is no moisture in the pure nitogen therefore rusting does not happen.
• Slower rate of pressure loss – Due to its chemical structure, the molecules of nitrogen are larger than the oxygen and this means that it is slowere to leak out and helps to maintain the tyre prssure
• Eco-friendly in nature- Nitogen nitrogen is a colourless, odourless, tasteless and non toxic gas that forms about 78% of the earth’s atmosphere and this inturn will support the ‘green environment’.

Easy to Fill

Replacing air inflated tyres with nitrogent is a very simple process. First all the air is removed from the tyres. Ensure that it air is completely escaped and then simply fill your tyres( even tubeless tyres) with nitogen. Many garages are now offering nitrogen fills for tyres instead of conentional air filling. Unlike air filled tyres, you do not have to often refill air. The tyre pressure has to be checked in every six months and enjoy the smooth drive.

Primary Advantages of Nitrogen tyres

• Improved Fuel Efficiency – It is very important to have the accurate tyre pressure that is recommended by the car manufacturer. This inturn will not only improve the performance of the tyre but also the maximizes the fuel efficiency.
• Long Life – In the air inflated tyres, when the other material blend with oxygen it causes oxidization. Oxidisation ages the rubber which resulting in poor strength. In the air atyre, the temprature increases and there is high possibility of tyre blowout. Nitrogen inflated tyres inturn is cooler and lighter. It does not heats up and gives long life to the tyres. nitrogen can mean up to a 25% increase in tyre life and a 5% reduction in fuel consumption together with a reduction in CO2 emissions.
• Safety – Compared to the airfilled tyres Nitogen inflated tyres are much safer .90 percent of tyres are blown out with the underinflated tyres. Nitrogen helps to maintain accvurate tyre pressure reducing the chances of blowouts.

Nitrogen used by others

• NASCAR – National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing teams use nitrogen as it helps to predict the the tyre fluctuation accuretly. Though nitrogen fluctuates with temperature change, but it is comparitely lesser than when water vapor is present. Oxygen losses its explosive properties.
• Commercial Airlines – All the commercial aircraft tyres are nitogen inflated. This helps to eliminated potential for water vapou from freezing at high altitudes. Some of the aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing use nitrogen membranes in their On-Board Inert Gas Generation Systems (OBIGGS) to “top” fuel tanks with nitrogen.
• U.S. Government – NASA and the U.S. military utilize nitrogen for many of the same reasons aforesaid.
• Food Processors and Packagers – In order to preserve food for longer period processors and packagers often use modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and controlled atmosphere packaging (CAP) where it replaces some or all of the oxygen in the air inside thepackage with nitrogen.