Development and Field Evaluation of a Variable-Depth Tillage Tool Based on a Horizontal Pneumatic Sensor Measurement
Journal Title: Journal of Agricultural Machinery - Year 2023, Vol 13, Issue 1
Abstract
Soil compaction can be naturally occurred or can be machinery-induced. Subsoiling is often applied to loosen soil compaction and decrease soil strength to levels that allow for root development and growth. Variable-depth subsoiling which modifies the physical properties of soil only where the tillage is required for crop growth has the potential to reduce labor, costs and fuel, and energy requirements. Since this study aimed to perform subsoiling operations with variable depth, the variable-depth tillage (VDT) tool was developed. A pneumatic multi-nozzles sensor has been used to simultaneously predict the depth of a soil layer in three depths (15, 30, and 45 cm), and send a signal to control the depth of the VDT tool. Evaluation of the VDT tool system was performed by two methods namely static and dynamic tests. In static evaluation, the system response time was measured to reach 95% of the proposed depths. The dynamic evaluation of the tool was accomplished in two steps in the field. The amount of fuel consumption and the travel distance of the tool tine to reach the desired operation depth were measured and compared with the common subsoiler (when the depth control was OFF). The average fuel consumption by using the variable-depth tillage tool decreased by 17.36% compared to the constant depth. Furthermore, the pneumatic sensor tine penetrated into the soil perfectly and sent the control signal to the control unit of the VDT tool in real-time, and the VDT tool loosened the soil at the exact depths sent by the sensor.
Authors and Affiliations
M. Tahmasebi,M. Gohari,A. Sharifi,A. Hedayatipour,
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of biogas generated from co-digestion of cow dung, municipal sewage and kitchen waste
Introduction As reported by Sabetghadam (2005), 53.4, 36.3, 1.1, 8.9, and 0.2% of total energy consumption in Iran consisted of oil products, natural gas, coal, electricity energy, and modern energy sources, respectively...
Studying and optimizing the biodiesel production from mastic oil aided by ultrasonic using response surface method
Introduction Biodiesel is a promising renewable substitute source of fuel produced from tree born oils, vegetable based oils, fats of animals and even waste cooking oil, has been identified as one of the key solutions fo...
Exergy Analysis of the Steam Generation System to Explore the Potential for Optimizing Energy Consumption
IntroductionSteam generation system is a crucial and essential part of food industries which generates and distributes steam for consumption in domestic production units. Energy analysis based on the first law of thermod...
Evaluating the effect of methanol-unleaded gasoline blends on SI engine performance
Introduction: Today, all kinds of vehicle engines work with fossil fuels. The limited fossil fuel resources and the negative effects of their consumption on the environment have led researchers to focus on clean, renewab...
Evaluation of Different Methods of Sugarcane Hilling Up in Two Soil Textures and Three Forward Speeds
Introduction Sugarcane cultivation in Khuzestan province is in the form of planting in-furrow. Due to the fact that in a machine harvesting, the reaper is not able to fully harvest the straw in the furrow, in the plantin...