Agricultural Research Management Information System

Home
Research Summary
Search
About Us
- ARMIS
- Brochure
Contact Us
Report
User Request
Data Input
Help
- Operation Manual
  - PDF
  - Video
- Program Area & Commodity
We have reached 37600 number of research entries at this moment.

- Logout

Research Detail

Home
Research
Detail

Design and Development of a Boom for a Lever Operated Knapsack Sprayer

MD. FORHADUR RAHMAN
Student, Maser of Science (M.S)
Examination Roll No. 08, FPM JD 16 M, Registration No.: 30844, Session: 2003-2004, Semester: January-June, 2010

Dr. Murshed Alam)
Professor & Supervisor
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh

Dr. Md. Daulat Hussain
Professor & Co-Supervisor
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Most of the developing countries apply pesticides using a lever-operated knapsack (LOK) sprayer. In this method, operator swings the lance in front of his movement. Therefore, it is impossible to maintain a constant nozzle height that produced an uneven spraying. In addition, operator contaminated himself. To overcome this problem, a project was undertaken to design and develop a boom for LOK sprayer to increase uniformity of deposition and minimize the contamination to the operator. Total cost of the boom was only Tk. 947. The effective field capacity of the boom sprayer and spraying by lance swing were 0.201 ha/hr and 0.195 ha/hr respectively by considering 75% field efficiency. This result indicated that the operator would be able to save 9.1% time for spraying due to use of a boom with LOK sprayer. Cost per hectare was increased by 25% for boom spraying due to cost of the boom. However, the coefficient of variation (CV) of spray coverage was decreased by 17% and the coefficient of uniformity (CU) of spray distributions was improved by 28% due to use of boom. Therefore it can be concluded that a boom might be used with a LOK sprayer to increase uniformity of deposition.

Keywords: LOK sprayer, Sprayer, Design a boom, Develop a boom, Frame attaching, Spray tank, Lance swing spraying

Location: Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Sprayer, Farming System

Objectives:

The main objective of the research was to design, develop and evaluate a boom for a LOK sprayer. The specific objectives of the research were;

i. to design and develop a boom and a frame attaching the boom with the spray tank, and

ii. to compare the performance of boom and lance swing spraying of LOK sprayer.

Methodology:

Design consideration: The following points were taken into consideration for designing the proposed boom for LOK sprayer i. The size of the nozzle. ii. Distance between nozzles to nozzle. iii. The machine should be simple in construction. iv. It should have simple and easy adjustment. v. It should be made with locally available materials with simple technology. vi. Different parts of the machine should be as simple as possible so that it can be made in local workshops. vii. It should be easy to repair and maintain. viii. The cost of machine must be within the reach of small and medium farmer. ix. It should be light in weight and easy to operate. x. It should be suitable for operating by a person. Materials to fabricate the boom and frame: Materials required to construct the machine were procured from the local market. Most of the parts of the machine were designed and fabricated in the workshop of the Department of Farm Power & Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University. The major materials required to fabricate the machine were as follows: i. M.S. bar (3 suti) ii. Solid aluminum shaft of 2.5 cm diameter iii. M.S. flat bar ( 2 cm wide x .3cm) iv. M.S. nut bolts v. M.S. pipe ( Outer diameter 0.65 cm & inner diameter 0.125cm ) Design of different parts of the boom: The boom consists of following parts and these were designed and developed in the department of Farm Power & Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University; i. boom’s pipe ii. nozzle holder at the middle of the boom, iii. nozzle holder at the end of the boom, iv. frame for holding the boom, v. frame for fixing boom with the tank. Design and development of pipe of the boom: The boom is made of steel pipe whose length is 35cm, outside diameter is 6.5mm and inside diameter is 1.25mm. That means, distances between nozzles to nozzle is maintained by 35 cm. It has four pieces, each of them 45 cm long, which are connected with nozzle holders. Both sides of each pipe are a taper with a ring. Two nuts are attached at both sides which can move within the pipe but it can not come out from the pipe due to ring at the end of the pipe. Cost analysis: When a new technology is introduced to the farmer, they are interested to know whether the machine will be profitable to them or not. Cost analysis is very important for a new technology Operational cost of the machine is the total of fixed cost and variable cost of the machine. The total cost of the sprayer was determined by knowing the cost of the materials and fabricating cost of the boom. The operational cost (Tk./ha) was calculated by assuming some data. 3.5.2 Variable Cost In calculation of variable cost, i) Labour cost per hour L = Tk./ man-hr. Total variable cost, VC = L+R & M.

Source of Information: A Thesis, Master of Science (M.S.), Department of Farm Power and Machinery, BAU, June-2010

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The design and construction of the boom for LOK sprayer is so simple that it is easy to fix and adjust. It can set at the back as well as the left or right side of the operator. Total cost of the boom is only Tk. 947 which is within the buying capacity of the farmers of Bangladesh. It will obviously reduce the contamination to the operator during spraying. Spray losses for booming spraying was less (1% - 15%) than the losses from lance swing spraying. The coefficient of variation (CV) and coefficient of uniformity (CU) of spray distributions were improved due to boom spraying. Therefore, it can be concluded that the boom with a LOK sprayer could be successfully introduced in Bangladesh after evaluating the field performance.

Knowledge Management: Thesis