DEVELOPMENT OF A PRECISION APPLICATOR FOR SOLID AND SEMI-SOLID MANURE

Abstract

A research program aimed at improving the technology available for the handling and land application of solidand semi-solid manure and that includes both experimental and modeling approaches has been underway at the Universityof Saskatchewan since 2001. On the basis of a thorough assessment of the physical and flow properties of different solid andsemi-solid manure products, a prototype precision land applicator was designed and evaluated. The laboratory and fieldexperiments focused on the manure discharge system and on the transverse distribution system of two prototype machines.The performances of two types of discharge systems were investigated. The results indicate that a four-auger system was moreadapted than a scraper conveyor in effectively handling a variety of manure products and that its characteristic flow rate wasinfluenced by the position of a vertical flow-metering gate and by the speed of the augers. The use of a 305-mm auger conveyorprovided with six equally spaced openings for banded transverse distribution of solid and semi-solid manure productssystematically yielded individual application rates that ranged between 15% and 18% of the total application rate (vs. targetindividual rate of 16.7%). Preliminary experiments completed with two prototype precision land applicators for solid andsemi-solid manure featuring the four-auger discharge system and a transverse auger distribution system have indicated thattheir average specific energy requirements ranged from 325 to 520 W per kg/s of discharge rate.