{"title":"Pulsed Power Agriculture; Design of Pulsed Power Generator and its Applications in Agriculture","authors":"Koichi Takaki, Katsuyuki Takahashi","doi":"10.1007/s11090-026-10645-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper provides an overview of pulsed power applications in agriculture to contribute to a modern food supply chain, based on our research results. These applications are primarily based on the biological effects of spatially distributed electric fields and chemically active species in plasma driven by pulsed power generators (PPGs). For such applications, compact PPGs with moderate peak power and repetitive operation were designed and developed to control discharge plasmas and electric field distributions, thereby enabling the selective induction of desired bio-effects at different agricultural phases. A key issue for agro-applications using pulsed electric fields (PEFs) is the creation of multi-reaction fields of plasma and PEFs with precise spatial and temporal control, allowing adaptation across biological scales, i.e., matching the pulse width to the relaxation time. To achieve this, the power semiconductor switching devices such as SiC-MOSFETs were employed in the development of compact PPGs capable of repetitive operation with low energy loss. These compact PPGs were applied in various agricultural phases and optimized in terms of electrical parameters such as applied voltage pulse width, repetition rate, and circuit impedance. In the pre-harvest phase, two approaches were investigated for enhancing plant growth: (i) direct stimulation of plant tissues using PEFs and (ii) indirect stimulation by exposing cultivation media to PEFs or plasmas. The PEFs were applied to mushroom cultivation beds to promote fruit body formation. In hydroponic systems, nanosecond streamer discharges generated in air bubbles under the nutrient solution were used to inactivate pathogenic bacteria, and promote nitrogen fixation, thereby contributing to plant growth. In post-harvest phase, the compact PPGs were developed to drive the plasma reactors for to the rapid decomposition of C₂H₄ to maintain the quality agricultural products.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":734,"journal":{"name":"Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing","volume":"46 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11090-026-10645-9.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11090-026-10645-9","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of pulsed power applications in agriculture to contribute to a modern food supply chain, based on our research results. These applications are primarily based on the biological effects of spatially distributed electric fields and chemically active species in plasma driven by pulsed power generators (PPGs). For such applications, compact PPGs with moderate peak power and repetitive operation were designed and developed to control discharge plasmas and electric field distributions, thereby enabling the selective induction of desired bio-effects at different agricultural phases. A key issue for agro-applications using pulsed electric fields (PEFs) is the creation of multi-reaction fields of plasma and PEFs with precise spatial and temporal control, allowing adaptation across biological scales, i.e., matching the pulse width to the relaxation time. To achieve this, the power semiconductor switching devices such as SiC-MOSFETs were employed in the development of compact PPGs capable of repetitive operation with low energy loss. These compact PPGs were applied in various agricultural phases and optimized in terms of electrical parameters such as applied voltage pulse width, repetition rate, and circuit impedance. In the pre-harvest phase, two approaches were investigated for enhancing plant growth: (i) direct stimulation of plant tissues using PEFs and (ii) indirect stimulation by exposing cultivation media to PEFs or plasmas. The PEFs were applied to mushroom cultivation beds to promote fruit body formation. In hydroponic systems, nanosecond streamer discharges generated in air bubbles under the nutrient solution were used to inactivate pathogenic bacteria, and promote nitrogen fixation, thereby contributing to plant growth. In post-harvest phase, the compact PPGs were developed to drive the plasma reactors for to the rapid decomposition of C₂H₄ to maintain the quality agricultural products.
期刊介绍：
Publishing original papers on fundamental and applied research in plasma chemistry and plasma processing, the scope of this journal includes processing plasmas ranging from non-thermal plasmas to thermal plasmas, and fundamental plasma studies as well as studies of specific plasma applications. Such applications include but are not limited to plasma catalysis, environmental processing including treatment of liquids and gases, biological applications of plasmas including plasma medicine and agriculture, surface modification and deposition, powder and nanostructure synthesis, energy applications including plasma combustion and reforming, resource recovery, coupling of plasmas and electrochemistry, and plasma etching. Studies of chemical kinetics in plasmas, and the interactions of plasmas with surfaces are also solicited. It is essential that submissions include substantial consideration of the role of the plasma, for example, the relevant plasma chemistry, plasma physics or plasma–surface interactions; manuscripts that consider solely the properties of materials or substances processed using a plasma are not within the journal’s scope.
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