Microalgae-based soil inoculating system and methods of use

Abstract

A system for inoculating soil with microalgae is provided. The system is portable and can be used with many different water sources to culture microalgae and form an inoculate that is added to irrigation water used for watering crops. The system provides improved crop production metrics as compared to crops grown without the microalgae-based inoculation system. The system can be integrated into existing irrigation systems to add macronutrients and micronutrients into the water, thereby providing highly bioavailable nutrients to crops.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 ) A portable microalgae-based soil inoculating system comprising: a) at least one ozone source adapted to add ozone to a water source to form ozone-treated water; b) at least one solids filter adapted to remove solids from ozone-treated water to form filtered water; c) at least one carbon filter adapted to remove ozone from filtered water to form carbon filter-treated water; d) at least one UV light system to remove ozone from carbon filtered water; e) at least one microalgae-nutrient feed source adapted to add algae-nutrient feed to carbon filter-treated water to form feed water; f) at least one bioreactor adapted for receiving the feed water and cultivating microalgae and forming a microalgae-containing inoculant effluent, when a microalgae is present therein; g) at least one blower comprising a first outlet adapted to provide air to the at least one ozone source and a second outlet adapted to provide air to the at least one bioreactor; and h) at least one carbon dioxide source adapted to add carbon dioxide to air provided to the at least one bioreactor.