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Design and Development of a Low-cost Boom Sprayer for Fruit Tree and Field Crops (2017 - 2018)

M Z Hossain,
Farm Machinery and postharvest Processing Engineering Division

M I Hossain,
Farm Machinery and postharvest Processing Engineering Division

M G Shaha,
Farm Machinery and postharvest Processing Engineering Division

N Jahan, and
Farm Machinery and postharvest Processing Engineering Division

M Gulandaz
Farm Machinery and postharvest Processing Engineering Division

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

A low cost robust power operated boom sprayer was improved in the Farm Machinery & Postharvest Process Engineering Division of BARI Gazipur and all set up re-installed on a tri-cycle van during 2007-18. It was improved by reducing the van height for easy starting. The water tank was replaced behind the driver while engine and compressor was at the long end because the engine heat and smoke can disturb the driver and there found no operational problem by this arrangement. The boom sprayer was tested for spraying mango and litchi trees.The boom sprayer can produce uniform effective spray pattern using minimum amount of spray materials. The spray boom has hollow nozzle and can spray in tall tree. The effective field capacity of the sprayer was 0.3 ha/hr. The field performance of the boom sprayer was found satisfactory at a pressure of 3 bars. The average spray capacity 2.85 lit/min at 3 bar pressure. The power requirement about 4 Hp for operating the pump. Operating cost of garden boom sprayer was Tk. 595/day and foot sprayer was Tk.1029/day, respectively. The entire boom assembly was fixed on a rickshaw van behind the operator’s seat. It is found safe in adverse wind condition.

Keywords: Boom sprayer, Horticultural crops, Tri-cycle van, Foot pump sprayer

Location:

Start Date: 00-00-2017

End Date: 00-00-2018

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Sprayer

Objectives:

Objectives

To improve the power garden boom sprayer for horticultural crops and set the machine up on a tri-cycle van
To test and evaluate the performance of boom sprayer for horticultural crops
To compare the cost of operation with manual foot pump sprayer
To test the machine in the farmer’s field

Methodology:

A robust power boom sprayer was fabricated in Farm Machinery & Postharvest Process Engineering Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in 2015 and it was further improved with the rearrangements of machine parts and flexible boom height in 2007–18. The sprayer consists of a small diesel engine, transparent pesticide tank, spray pump, spray boom, tank support wheel with tread adjustments. All components of boom sprayer were drawn in SolidWorks 16 .The main difference of these two is that the height of bench is lower than the previous one. This change was made because the greater height created problems during starting of the machines. From the consideration of operator’s ergonomics, the height was adjusted to a suitable place. More changes were made in the arrangements of engine, water tank, compressor, spray gun etc. The engine and compressor were transferred to the back end while the water tank was set behind the driver. The chemical tank is a plastic tank of 150 litre capacity. The tank was placed on a common Tri-cycle rickshaw van. These facilitated the bracket to move in both the vertical and horizontal planes. Rectangular shaped 500 x 25 x 6 mm were bent and bolted to the main frame so that it secured the tank without any slippage. The tank was interconnected using 40mm PVC pipes and attached to the inlet of the spray pump. A hole of 110 mm diameter was drilled on the pesticide tanks and fixed with PVC male threaded adapter and capped for easy filling of pesticide. A diesel operated sealed pump was attached with special frame of trailer for a high volume sprayer with hollow cone nozzle having field application rate of 2.9-3.9 lit/min. For design purpose the maximum application rate was taken as 3.5 lit/min. The pump, engine, strainer, pressure gauge was fitted near the seat of the operator and the dial gauge of pressure easily visible to operator. Power to the pump was taken from the diesel engine. A 40 mm diameter flexible hose was used as suction to transmit the spray liquid from the tank to the pump. On the discharge side the hose was provided as a by-pass with a control valve to drain off the excess pesticide back to the tank. A pressure gauge of 0–5 bar was mounted after the by-pass to monitor the pressure in the nozzle. The boom length was chosen as on either side of the two wheel tractor. The nozzles were mounted on a flexible hose of 6 mm internal diameter and were clamped to a rigid pipe. The spacing between nozzles on the boom can be adjusted by means of adjusting the clamps. The boom was attached on a tri cycle. The boom was tied using stay chain to the vertical frame to keep them in position while spraying. Provision was also made to fold the spray boom while in transport. The spraying system requires stability for better maneuverability in the field. Adding 150 lit capacity pesticide tank, on the back side of the operator, just like a trolley for transportation. Therefore, double pneumatic support wheels with provision of tread adjustments were provided to increase or decrease the tread width in alignment with that of tractor wheels. A telescopic arrangement to increase or decrease the horizontal width was provided by inserting two square sections of size 270 x 50 x 50 mm made of angle iron of size 50 x 50 x 6 mm on each side. Two angle bar with different holes were placed backside of the pesticide tank supporting the booms. There are adjustments for high and low the spray height with an interval of 25mm. The support wheels were attached to the telescopic sections through flange plates of size 175 x 100 x 6 mm. The flange facilitated fixing the wheel mounting in such a way that the wheels could be oriented outwards or inwards with respect to the support frame. Tri cycle operated boom sprayer is calibrated to understand and fix up the application rate of pesticide for maximum benefit. It is calibrated in an open floor of FMPE BARI Gazipur. Fresh water is used measure the discharge rate of nozzle. Varying the spraying pressure, delivered water from each nozzle collected in a container and record the time by a stop watch. It is repeated varying pressure until the desired rate occurred.

Source of Information: Annual Research Report (2017 - 2018), Farm Machinery and postharvest Processing Engineering Division

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Based on the results and performance observation of tri cycle power boom sprayer, following conclusions can be made-

The boom sprayer can be used for mango and litchi tree. The effective capacity of the sprayer was 0.3 ha/h for a mango garden.
The boom sprayer was improved in terms of height reduction of machine set and arrangement of engine behind the driver while water tank at the end.
The performance of the tri cycle boom sprayer was satisfactory as a pressure of 3 bars and can be adopted by the farmers for spraying fruit tree as it saves the cost and time of operation.
Operating cost of garden boom sprayer was Tk. 595/day and foot sprayer was Tk.1029/day, respectively.
Boom sprayer is safe to handle chemical where health hazard and risk is considerable issue.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings