Sustainability analysis of various air-assisted orchard sprayer fan designs: Performance, energy and carbon footprint

Medet İtmeç, Ali Bayat, Ömer Barış Özlüoymak, Alper Soysal

Abstract


The fan unit design of air-assisted orchard sprayers directly affects the amount of deposits on leaf surfaces, the amount of airborne drift and endodrift, as well as the fuel consumption during the operation. Therefore, in addition to reducing fuel consumption by modifying the fan inlet side, re-designing fan blade type, deflector type, and discharge side design of the turbofan unit has been a recent increasing trend in R&D studies to achieve higher airflow and better air-jet uniformity. In this study, to achieve better air penetration into the tree canopy, design and performance comparisons were made of three different turbofan designs, one of which is currently available on the market and popular in sprayers, while the other two are new designs. In accordance with EN ISO 9898, wind tunnel tests were carried out at a PTO rotation speed of 540 r/min with fan blade angles of 15º, 30º, and 45º and fan ratios of 1:3.5 (1890 r/min) and 1:4.5 (2430 r/min) for each turbofan. Simultaneously, air velocity measurements were made from the fan inlet side of the wind tunnel and from the discharge side of the fan. Furthermore, torque (N•m), speed measurement (r/min), and instantaneous fuel consumption (L/h) depending on the operation were also measured. The success of the fan blade type was determined by fan efficiency, and specific fuel consumption was an additional indicator of operating conditions. In experiments, 77.5% fan efficiency and specific fuel consumption 0.44 kg/kW•h was achieved with NVS fan. Regardless of fan type, several operational conditions available to users in fan design were statistically proven to be ineffective in terms of airflow.
Keywords: air-assisted orchard sprayer, turbofan performance evaluation, energy usage in agriculture, carbon footprint
DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20241706.9244

Citation: İtmeç M, Bayat A, Özlüoymak Ö B, Soysal A. Sustainability analysis of various air-assisted orchard sprayer fan designs: Performance, energy and carbon footprint. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2024; 17(6): 32–37.

Keywords


air-assisted orchard sprayer, turbofan performance evaluation, energy usage in agriculture, carbon footprint

Full Text:

PDF

References


Matthews G A. Pesticide application methods. Blackwell Science. Abingdon Oxon, UK. 3rd Edition, 2000. doi: 10.1002/9780470760130

Cross J V, Walklate P J, Murray R A, Richardson G M. Spray deposits and losses in different sized apple trees from an axial fan orchard sprayer: 3. Effects of air volumetric flow rate. Crop Protection, 2003; 22: 381–394. doi: 10.1016/S0261- 2194(02)00192-8.

Larbi P A, Salyani M. Model to predict spray deposition in citrus airblast sprayer applications: Part 2. Spray deposition. Transactions of the ASABE, 2012; 55(1): 41–48.

Friso D, Baldoin C, Pezzi F. Mathematical modelling of the dynamics of air jet crossing the canopy of tree crops during pesticide application. Applied Mathematical Sciences, 2015; 9(26): 1281–1296.

Chen Y, Zhu Z, Ozkan H E. Development of a variable-rate sprayer with laser scanning sensor to synchronize spray outputs to tree structures. Transactions of the ASABE, 2012; 55(3): 773–781.

García-Ramos J F, Vidal M, Boné A, Maló H A, Aguirre J. Analysis of the air generated by an air-assisted sprayer equipped with two axial fans Using a 3D sonic anemometer. Sensors, 2012; 12(6): 7598–7613.

Failla S, Romano E, Longo D, Bisaglia C, Schillaci G. Effect of different axial fans configurations on airflow rate. In: Coppola A, Di Renzo G, Altieri, G, D’Antonio P. (eds) Innovative Biosystems Engineering for Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and Food Production, 2020; MID-TERM AIIA 2019. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, 67. Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-39299-4_75.

Panneton B, Thériault R, Lacasse B. Efficacy evaluation of a new spray recovery sprayer for orchards. Transactions of the ASAE, 2001; 44(3): 473–479.

Delele M A, De Moor A, Sonck B, Ramon H, Nicolai B M, Verboven P. Modelling and validation of the air flow generated by a cross flow air sprayer as affected by travel speed and fan speed. Biosystems Engineering, 2005; 92(2): 165–174.

Salyani M, Farooq M. Sprayer air energy demand for satisfactory spray coverage in citrus applications. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society, 2003; 116: 298‐304.

Endalew A M, Debaer C, Rutten N, Vercammen J, Delele M A, Ramon H, et al. A new integrated CFD modelling approach towards air-assisted orchard spraying—Part II: Validation for different sprayer types. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2010; 71: 137–147.

Duga A T, Ruysen K, Dekeyser D, Nuyttens D, Bylemans D, Nicolai B M, et al. Spray deposition profiles in pome fruit trees: Effects of sprayer design, training system and tree canopy characteristics. Crop Protection, 2015; 67: 200–213.

Izadi M J, Falahat A. Effect of blade angle of attack and hub to tip ratio on mass flow rate in an axial fan at a fixed rotational speed. 2008 ASME Fluids Engineering Conference Jacksonville, Florida USA, 2008. doi: 10.1115/FEDSM2008-55179.

Chen Y, Zhu H, Ozkan H E, Derksen R C, Krause C R. An experimental variable-rate sprayer for nursery and orchard applications. 2011 ASABE Annual International Meeting, August 7–10, 2011. Paper No. 1110497. Gault House Louisville, Kentucky, USA. doi: 10.13031/2013.37207.7

Garcera C, Fonte A, Molto E, Chueca, P. Sustainable use of pesticide applications in citrus: a support tool for volume rate adjustment. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2017; 14: 715.

Miranda-Fuentes A, Rodríguez-Lizana A, Cuenca A, Gonzalez-Sanchez E J, Blanco-Roldan G L, Gil- Ribes J A. Improving plant protection product applications in traditional and intensive olive orchards through the development of new prototype air-assisted sprayers. Crop Protection, 2017; 94: 44–58.

Pai N, Salyani M, Sweeb R D. Regulating airflow of orchard airblast sprayer based on tree foliage densıty. Transactions of the ASABE, 2009; 52(5): 1423–1428.

Khot L R, Ehsani R, Albrigo G, Larbi P A, Landers A, Campony J, et al. Air assisted sprayer adapted for precision horticulture: Spray patterns and deposition assessments in small-sized citrus canopies. Biosystem Engineering, 2012; 113: 76–85.

Çengel Y, Cimbala J M. Fluid mechanics: Fundamentals and applications. McGraw Hill New York, USA. 5th Edition, 2004; ISBN: 978–981-315-788-0.

Sabancı A, Işık A. İçten Yanmalı Motorlar. Nobel Yayınevi, Adana. Birinci Basım, 2012. ISBN: 978–605-133-191-1 (in Turkish).

Erzurumlu D Y. Tarım traktörlerinde kullanılan klima sistemlerinin traktör verimi ve özgül yakıt tüketimine etkileri. Türk Tarım – Gıda Bilim ve Teknoloji Dergisi, 2018; 6(3): 285–290.

Salcedo R, Fonte A, Grella M, Garcerá C, Chueca P. Blade pitch and air-outlet width effects on the airflow generated by an airblast sprayer with wireless remote-controlled axial fan. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2021; 190: 106428.

Liu S H, Huang R F, Chen L J. Performance and inter-blade flow of axial flow fans with different blade angles of attack. Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, 2011; 34(1): 141–153.

Salcedo R, Garcera C, Granell R, Molto E, Chueca P. Description of the airflow produced by an air-assisted sprayer during pesticide applications to citrus. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 2015; 13(2): e0208.

İtmec M, Bayat A. Determination of the optimum operating parameters of an axial fan used on the conventional air blast orchard sprayer. Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Food Sciences 2021; 5(3): 395–402.

Lal R. Carbon emission from farm operations. Elsevier BV: In Environment International, 2004; 30(7): 981–990.




Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2023-2026 Copyright IJABE Editing and Publishing Office