You'd have to have some brilliant Northern industrialist come up with it and be able to fund it himself. A lot of 'secret weapon' projects for the North, like the first gatling guns, were privately funded.
Maybe you could see something like this used to try and break the Petersburg Line. Of course given the North's luck in these measures the wind would suddenly shift when they open their cylinders.
As for the South, I just don't see it. Even if someone has the idea, how are they going to impliment it with their limited industrial output?