EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF GRANULAR FERTILIZER BOOM
SPRAYER THROUGH COMPUTATIONAL FLUID-PARTICLES-DYNAMID CFD
SIMULATION AND SCALED-DOWN MODEL ANALYSIS
ENG PEI YING
A thesis submitted in
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
Master.
Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
APRIL 2006 (JKPS month)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank God for blessing me with ahelpful supervisor, a beneficial research
topic and a very good learning process. In this 2 years of research, I had found my dream
to be an educator and my passion in research.
Thank God for my supervisor, Dr. MohdZamani Bin Ngali, who had been
faithfully supervising me throughout my studies in my master.His knowledge,
understandingand passion in research had being a great inspiration for me, personally.
His expertise in ANSYS CFX and MATLAB software had helped me in both of my
research methodology and data analysis. Under his supervision, he had set a standard for
me to make sure there is a quality of work in both data processing andthesis writing.
Thank God again for this research topic.This research had evaluated the
suitability of the machinesapplying in Malaysia’s agriculture. From this research, it
opened to more future studies for evaluating the applicators.I also able to have the
opportunities to work with both MARDI and UTHM researchers. This had widenedout
my exposure, increased my knowledge and sharpened up my skills in doing research.
I am also grateful because this research was supported financially by the
Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (FRGS/2/2013/STWN03/UTHM/03/1) also
known as Grant FRGS 1420. The funds had provided me with the cost of publishing
papers, going to relevant courses and setting up the experiments. My allowance was paid
by this grant.
Finally, I thank God for all the moral supports from my church friends and
family. They had supported me with their prayers in every aspects of my life and lend
me their listening ear. They also provide me financially during the periods when I do not
have my grant for my allowance.
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ABSTRACT
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) had bought
two Japanese made granular fertilizer boom sprayers to test it on Malaysia’s Paddy
field. In order to confirm the local feasibility of this fertilizer applicator, they had
called UTHM researchers for proper experimental and numerical evaluations. A year
of experimental assessments, the conclusion was supported with full range of
numerical results and has a good agreement with MARDI’s findings. In this
evaluation, ANSYS CFD was used for the fluid-particles-structure simulation while
the statistical and image processing were made via MATLAB software. The
simulation results were verified with the results from an in-house scaled-down model
which was fabricated with the ratio of 2:15. The simulation was carried out by
manipulating the angles of the boom sprayer collecting plates, ranging from 32o to
120o. The length of the collecting plate, the distance of the blow head, the sizes of the
fertilizer and the air velocity of the blower were also varied in order to establish the
correlations between the parameters. The ambient pressure was kept at 1 atm. Even
though we managed to find 60o as the optimum collecting plate angle for most
fertilizer sizes, there are two major factors that made it impossible to obtain good
fertilizer distribution namely; the use of mixture of three different fertilizer (Nitrogen,
Phosphorus and Potassium) sizes at once and the varying velocity profiles throughout
the boom sprayer.
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ABSTRAK
Institut Penyelidikan dan Kemajuan Pertanian Malaysia (MARDI) telah membeli
mesin penyembur baja buatan Jepun untuk di uji pada sawah padi Malaysia. Bagi
memastikan kebolehgunaan mesin ini, mereka telah memanggil penyelidik UTHM
bagi mengkaji secara ujikaji dan simulasi. Selepas pengujian selama setahun,
kesimpulan kajian tersebut telah disokong oleh pelbagai hasil berangka dan ujikaji
simulasi ini jelas menyokong dapatan pihak MARDI. Kajian simulasi UTHM
dijangka mampu menyokong penemuan ini melalui penilaian penuh terhadap
parameter terbabit. Pungujian ini mengunakan perisian ANSYS CFD telah
digunakan bagi tujuan analisis cecair-butiran-dinamik manakala analisis statistik dan
pemprosesan imej telah menggunakan perisian MATLAB. Hasilnya disahkan
melalui hasil ujikaji model berskala kecil iaitu menggunakan tetapan nisbah 2:15.
Simulasi telah dibuat dengan mengubahsuai nilai sudut kepingan pengumpul pada
penyembur baja pada julat 32o ke 120o. Panjang kepingan pengumpul, jarak antara
kepala penyembur, saiz butiran baja dan kelajuan semburan udara juga diambil kira
bagi mendapatkan hubungkait antara setiap pembolehubah. Tekanan udara
sekeliling ditetapkan pada satu atm. Walaupun sudut kepingan pengumpul paling
optima telah dipastikan pada 60o, terdapat dua penyebab yang tidak membenarkan
taburan baja yang baik dapat dicapai. Penyebab-penyebab itu ialah penggunaan
campuran tiga jenis baja yang berbeza secara serentak (Nitrogen, Fosforus dan
Kalium) dan perbezaan kelajuan semburan udara sepanjang penyembur jenis boom
ini. Kajian susulan terhadap jenis-jenis penyembur baja berbeza dijangka mampu
memberikan keputusan yang lebih baik.
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CONTENTS
STUDENT’S DECLARATION i
DEDICATION ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
ABSTRACT iv
ABSTRAK v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi-ix
LIST OF TABLES x-xi
LIST OF FIGURES xii-xii
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATION xiv-xv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUTION
1.1 Research Introduction 1
1.2 Background of Study 1
1.3 Problem Statement 3
1.4 Objectives 4
1.5 Scope 4
1.6 Significant of Study 6
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Demand of Paddy 8
2.3 Paddy and Rice Industrial Strategies in Malaysia 8
2.4 Effect of Fertilizer on the Productivity of Paddy 11
2.5 Granular Fertilizer Applicators 12
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2.5.1 Hand-operated Granular Applicator 14
2.5.2 Drop Spreaders 15
2.5.3 Granular fertilizer boom sprayer 16
2.5.4 Dual-purpose Rotating Disc Spreaders 18
2.5.5 Pendulum spreader 20
2.6 Comparison of the Large Scales Fertilizer Applicators 22
2.7 ANSYS Commercial software 23
2.8 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) 24
2.9 Simulation Procedure 25
2.9.1 Modeling 25
2.9.2 Convergence of CFD 26
2.9.3 Meshing 27
2.9.4 Grid Independence Test 27
2.9.5 Pre-Processing Stage 27
2.9.6 Solving Stage 28
2.9.7 Post processing Stage 28
2.10 Simulation Setup 28
2.10.1 Reynolds Number 29
2.10.2 Compressible Flow and Incompressible Flow 30
2.10.3 Euler Equations 30
2.10.4 Navier-Stokes Equations 31
2.10.5 K-epsilon (k-ε) 31
2.11 Design of experiment 32
2.11.1 Full Factorial Method 32
2.11.2 Taguchi Method 33
2.12 Scaled-down model 35
2.13 Application of the Scaled-down Model 36
2.14 Scaled-down Boom Sprayer versus Full Scaled Boom
Sprayer 37
2.14.1 Cost of Fabrication 38
2.14.2 Time Needed to Carry Out The Experiment 39
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2.15 Summary of Chapter 2 39
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 41
3.2 Modelling Using Solidworks 43
3.3 Computational Fluid Dynamic 44
3.3.1 Optimization (Meshing) 45
3.3.2 Grid Independency Test 47
3.3.3 Model Properties (Pre-processor) 47
3.3.4 Boundary Condition Setup and Data Mining
(Solving stage) 50
3.3.5 Visualisation and Data Interpretation (Post
processer) 50
3.4 Parameters Selection and Data Analysis Methodology 50
3.4.1 Orthogonal Array 51
3.4.2 Particles Distribution by Using Qualitative
Analysis 62
3.4.3 Particles Distribution Analysis Algorithm 62
3.5 Parameter Selection for Scaled-down Experiment 64
3.6 Scaled-Down Model Experiment 67
3.7 Summary Methodology 68
CHAPTER 4 RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Introduction 70
4.2 CFD Convergence 71
4.3 Grid Independency Test for Both Full Scaled
and Scaled-down Model 73
4.4 Specification for Both Full Scale and
Scaled-down Model 75
4.5 Result from the fabricate the scaled-down granular
fertilizer boom sprayer 75
4.6 Comparison of Simulation and Experiment Results 81
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4.7 Effect of angle of Collecting Plate on the mixture
of three types of fertilizer 86
4.8 Effect of angle of Collecting Plate on each
type of fertilizer 90
4.9 Effect of Sizes of Fertilizer and Air velocity 94
4.10 Effect of the Length and Width of Collecting Plate 97
4.11 Blow head arrangement 98
4.12 Summary of the experimental result and the simulation 100
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction 101
5.2 Performance of Existing Boom Sprayer through
Running setup by Fluid-Particles-Structure
Simulation Analysis 101
5.3 Performance of the Existing Boom Sprayer by
Scaled-Down Experiment 102
5.4 Effect of Various Parameters on the Performance of
Granular Fertilizer Boom Sprayer 102
5.5 Performance Comparison of the Granular Fertilizer
Boom Sprayer with other Fertilizer Applicator 103
5.6 Overall Conclusion 103
5.7 Recommendation for Further Improvement 103
REFERENCES 105-109
APPENDIX A 110
APPENDIX B 111-115
APPENDIX C 116-125
APPENDIX D 126-130
APPENDIX E 131-139
APPENDIX F 140-141
APPENDIX G 142-173
APPENDIX H 174-181
VITA 182
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LIST OF TABLES
2.1 Strategies implemented by Malaysian government to
ensure the production of rice. [8] 9-10
2.2 Recommended fertilizer application rate per
unit area according to area and soil by Korea researcher [10] 12
2.3 Status of Agricultural Machinery Imports
(Malaysia Agribusiness directory, 2013 to 2014) [12] 13
2.4 The Specifications of lHB-181LA and lHB-191SA [18] 17
2.5 Operation manual of pendulum spreader [23] 21
2.6 The comparison results of the fertilizer 23
2.7 Articles produce by each commercial software that is
available in the market to simulate fluid-particles-structure
from 2010-2016 24
2.8 Advantages and Disadvantages by using full
factorial method. 33
2.9 Advantages and Disadvantages by using Taguchi method. 35
2.10 Advantages and disadvantages of the scaled-down
boom sprayer [48]. 37
2.11 Advantages and disadvantages of the full scaled
boom sprayer [48]. 37
2.12 Estimation cost of the materials of scaled-down and full
scaled boom sprayer that needed to fabricate. 38
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2.13 Estimation cost of the experiment of scaled-down and full
scaled boom sprayer that needed to fabricate. 38
3.1 Meshing parameter. 46
3.2 Properties of the granular fertilizer. 47
3.3 Setting the properties for the actual boom pipe. 49
3.4 Parameters of the overall experimental. 51
3.5 Six blow heads with the combination of four different angle
collecting plate 51-53
3.6 Collector array by each granular fertilizer sizes and
the air blower velocity. 53
3.7 First stage of data collection. 54-57
3.8 Second stage of data collection 58-61
3.9 Parameters use to verify and to validate
fluid-particles-structure simulation and scaled-down model. 67
4.1 Number of elements and nodes for different size of element for
scaled-down model 73
4.2 Number of elements and nodes for different size of element
for full scaled model 73
4.3 Specification for full scaled and scaled-down model 75
4.4 Experiment results of the number of Nitrogen distributed by
each blow head 79
4.5 Experiment results of the number of Phosphorus
distributed by each blow head 79
4.6 Comparison of the simulation and experimental results
for Nitrogen 81
4.7 Comparison of the simulation and experimental results
for Phosphorus 82
4.9 Effect of Sizes of Fertilizer and Air velocity 93
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LIST OF FIGURES
2.1 Hand-operated granular applicator [13] 15
2.2 Drop spreader [14] 16
2.3 Boom Sprayer [26] 18
2.4 Kuhn Axis Fertilizer spreader [21] 19
2.5 NPK granular distribution patterns for low,
medium and high application rates at 550 rpm disc speed [20]. 20
2.6 NPK granular distribution patterns for low, medium and high
application rates at 1000 rpm disc speed [20]. 20
2.6 Kuhn Axis Fertilizer spreader [21]. 20
2.7 Pendulum spreader [24]. 22
2.8 Mach number flow Regimes [38]. 30
3.1 Methodology Flow Chart 42
3.2 Boom Pipe model 44
3.3 Side view of the model after meshing 45
3.4 Front view of the model after meshing 46
3.5 Images after all the boundaries that had being set 48
3.6 MATLAB coding 63
3.7 Boom pipe and the blow head model 65
3.8 Parts of fabricate of the scaled-down boom sprayer [18]. 66
3.9 Procedures of the scaled down experiment 68
4.1 Momentum and mass graph 71
4.2 Turbulence graph 72
4.3 Error stated while running the simulation 74
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4.4 a) blow head, b) Z-shape blow head, c) air blower,
d) end of boom pipe, 76-77
4.5 Scaled-down granular fertilizer boom sprayer 78
4.6 Left over particles in boom pipe 80
4.7 Comparison of Nitrogen distribution 83
4.8 Comparison of Phosphorus Distribution 84
4.9 Results of the three types of fertilizer inserting at
the same time for Simulation 1 87
4.10 Results of distribution of N from Simulation 2 88
4.11 Comparison of the three types of fertilizer of Simulation 3 89
4.12 Simulation 5, 10 and 26 90
4.13 Simulation 1,2,3,4,9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 33, 35
and 36 93
4.14 Fertilizer size versus air velocity graphs 96
4.15 Velocity legend of the simulation 98
4.16 Air velocity with various length and the width of collecting plate. 98
4.17 Comparison between distances of boom section. 100
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LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATION
Symbol
A - Area
A1 - Area of the actual boom pipe
A2 - Area of the scaled down boom pipe
D - Diameter
V - Air Velocity
Vmax - Maximum Velocity
V1 - Velocity of the Actual boom sprayer
V2 - Velocity of the scaled down boom sprayer
Dn - Diameter of the Nitrogen
Dp - Diameter of the Phosphorus
Dk - Diameter of the Potassium
L - Length of the collecting plate
s - Distance of the blow head
r - radius
r1 - radius of the actual boom pipe
r2 - radius of the scaled down boom pipe
- dynamic viscosity
H - Height of the collecting plate
w - width
s - Distance between the boom section
Re - Reynolds Number
CFD - Computerized Fluid Daynamics
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UTHM - University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
MARDI - Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute
N - Nitrogen
P - Phosphorus
K - Potassium
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research Introduction
The main considerations of a researcher in carrying out any research is on its purposes,
significances, contributions and novelties. Malaysian Agricultural Research and
Development Institute (MARDI) had given a clear purpose to this research, which is
to conduct a proper experimental and numerical evaluations on the Japanese made
granular fertilizer boom sprayers. The outcome of the evaluation helps MARDI in
decision making on the suitability of granular fertilizer boom sprayer to be used in
Malaysia’s paddy field. However, these findings are not just for the benefit of MARDI,
but it also helps to develop Malaysia’s agriculture as well. There is a clear difference
between Japanese and local particles where we generally uses NPK fertilizer with
different composition throughout the country. This condition acquires local farmers to
mix Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) fertilizer that have different sizes.
1.2 Background of Study
Agriculture plays a very important role in providing food to the world population and
one of the common foods for Asian is rice. In Malaysia, the local paddy producing
community is self–sustainable, covering up to 86% of local market demand while the
remaining unfulfilled market demand is mitigated by importing rice from the
neighboring rice producing countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, India and
Cambodia. For the past few decades, productivity of paddy is one of the major
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concerns in agriculture fields. The causes that will affect the productivity of the rice
had been taken into research in order to improve the productivity.
The improvements of growth of paddy cover a very wide areas such as the
quality of the soil, the genetic of the plan, the quality of water, the surrounding
environment, the use of pesticides to kill organisms that is harmful to the plant and the
fertilizer which provides nutrition to the plan. One of the measures taken by MARDI
is the quality of distribution of the fertilizer.
Fertilizer applicators are machines that are used to transfer the fertilizer into
the field. The advantage of using the machine is high efficiency compared to human
effort. It is quicker, has larger quantity of amount distribution and wider distribution
compared to human effort. Fertilizer applicators which produced an even distribution
will help each paddy plant to have enough nutrition and to avoid excessive usage.
There are a few basic concept of distribution use by the applicators in the market such
as gravity flow, rotating disc, pneumatic force and magnetic. For example, the
applicators available in the market are; drop spreaders (gravity flow), boom sprayer
(pneumatic force), centrifugal spreaders (rotating disk) and pendulum spreaders
(magnetic).
There are many models which available in the markets. The differences will be
in term of the method of distribution used, sizes, the power supplied and the design of
the structure. Every fertilizer applicators in the market has its advantages and
disadvantages. By seeing the potential of using fertilizer applicators in the paddy field,
MARDI plans to use boom sprayer for their crop. Therefore, instead of comparing all
concepts of fertilizer applicator in the market, MARDI called for an evaluation on
boom sprayer only. Propose on the most suitable fertilizer applicators can be done
based on journal findings. Currently there are two boom sprayers bought by MARDI
to carry out their evaluation and MARDI require more evidence to support their
conclusion of their findings. This evaluation on the boom sprayer that had brought
which parameters have been optimized based on the Japan market is significant before
these applicators are expected to be used nationwide.
The complement of the applicators toward the fertilizer distribution is a very
important measurement for good and quality fertilizer applicators. The common use
of fertilizer in Malaysia’s paddy field is NPK fertilizer which is in granular form.
Therefore, this evaluation was carried out based on the flow of NPK fertilizer inside
the boom pipes of the boom sprayer. This type of fertilizer is for soil preparation prior
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to planting, in which the fertilizer is worked into the soil to provide nutrients to the
plants and be established there. In Malaysia’s paddy field, it is usually in granular form
because of its low dissolvability which able to prolong the fertilizer in soil. As a result
from using granular fertilizer, fertilization does not need to be carried out too often
and it helps to save up fertilization cost. All these conditions need to be added into this
evaluation.
1.3 Problem Statement
According to the statistic of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
in Malaysia, there are 6700 km2 of paddy rice sown area. Therefore, applicators such
as drop spreaders and centrifugal spreaders are not suitable for the large scale of field.
The remaining applicators that are available for large-scaled field are boom sprayer,
pendulum spreaders and dual-purpose disc rotatory disc applicator.
Among all these types of large scaled field fertilizer applicators, MARDI had
called for the evaluation of the boom sprayer which they had bought. Proper
experiment and numerical evaluation were expected to support the findings of MARDI.
The results of the distribution of the boom sprayer are affected by the flow of
fertilizer inside the boom pipes. However, the distribution of granular fertilizer is
usually more complicated than the distribution of liquid fertilizer. This is due to the
flow of granular fertilizer was affected by the sizes of fertilizer.
The type of fertilizer taken into this evaluation is NPK. This type of fertilizer
is available either in mixed form or singular form. Local practice generally prefers a
mixed form rather than singular form which is more preferred in Japan. The advantage
of using mixed form is the capability to manipulate the composition ratio of N, P and
K according to the various type of soil to provide sufficient and suitable nutrient to the
plant. N, P and K are actually consisting of different densities and sizes.
No doubt that boom sprayer has high efficiency for large scale usage. Boom
sprayer is using pneumatic force which provided by the blower to push the fertilizer to
flow throughout the boom pipe. It is gravity force that directs the fertilizer to fall to
the ground. However, it is hard to control the air velocity to support the three types of
fertilizer flowing at the same time. This is due to all the three types of fertilizer have
various sizes.
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Other than the physical properties of the fertilizer, the chemical properties of
the fertilizer added the level of difficulties to achieve an even distribution. Mixing all
three types of fertilizer will produce a chemical reaction that will dissolve the fertilizer
into sticky liquid. The fertilizer ended up stuck in the hopper, metering and boom
pipes. The boom pipes need to be replaced with new boom pipes from time to time. It
is impractical for long term users and the maintenance cost is very high.
The study of the current designs of boom sprayer is highly needed, to open for
more solution to solve the current problem. As MARDI found that the already brought
boom sprayer gave bad distribution, it is expected that the mixed sizes of the fertilizer
was the culprit of the situation. Proper research finding is needed to support the
hypothesis.
1.4 Objectives
The objectives of this study are:
i. To evaluate the performance of existing granular fertilizer boom sprayer
through computational fluid-particles-dynamic simulation analysis.
ii. To validate the results of the simulation on the performance of the existing
granular fertilizer boom sprayer by in-house scaled-down experiment.
iii. To analyze the effect of angle, length and distance of the collecting plate on
the performance of granular fertilizer boom sprayer.
1.5 Scope
Due to the huge size of boom sprayer, cost of experiments, and time consume, this
research covered only fabrication of scaled-down boom sprayer. Scaled-down model
was used throughout the experiment. For the simulation, the modeling only involved
the parts that need to be evaluated such as the boom pipes and blow head for both
scaled-down and full-scaled parameters. As for lab experiment, the addition parts
involved are hopper, metering and the connection pipes.
There are three major sections in this work, namely to study the flow of
particles (fertilizer) by using simulation from a commercial software ANSYS, the
fabrication of scaled-down boom sprayer to analyze the particles movement from the
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inlet to the outlet of boom pipe and to recommend based on the overall results of
evaluation.
Throughout the simulation process, the parameters manipulated are listed
below;
i. Air velocity of the blower
ii. Diameters of fertilizer
iii. Densities of fertilizer
iv. The distances of the blow head
v. The lengths of the collecting plate
vi. The angles of collecting plate
Air velocity provided by the blower will affect the air velocity along the boom pipe.
The flow of the particles is very much affected by the air flow in the boom pipes. For
local practices, the diameter and the densities of particles (fertilizer) vary. Therefore,
there is a need to manipulate both diameters and densities of the fertilizers to study the
correlation of these parameters. The important parts in the boom sprayer which affect
the flow of fertilizer will be the blow head and collecting plate. The distance of the
blow head will affect the distribution coverage. Whereby, the amount of the fertilizer
distribution will be affected by the lengths and the angles of the collecting plate.
The quality of the fertilizer distribution was determined by the quantitative and
qualitative analysis. Qualitative analysis was made by observing the particles’ tract
while the quantitative analysis was based on the amount of fertilizer distributed to the
ground. The amount was calculated via MATLAB. Graphs were produced from the
statistical and image processing made via MATLAB software. The qualitative and
quantitative analysis on images gave more evidence to the conclusion of the evaluation.
The experiment was made in a controlled environment where the experiment
was carried out in the lab to eliminate the effect of wind, heat and the condition of
landscape. In order to suit the lab-scaled, the boom sprayer was scaled-down to the
ratios of 1:2 (half) from the original model. The reason for using this ratio was due to
the availability of the material and the suitability of parameters of the model to be
tested in the lab. The scaled-down model was used to verify and to validate the
simulation results. The model was stagnant throughout the evaluation. Therefore, no
movement, vibration and the drag force are involved.
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This research was carried out due to MARDI called for experimental and
numerical evaluation on boom sprayer only. The outcome of this evaluation are the
optimum angle was identified, the results of the performance and the overall evaluation
of the performance of the boom sprayer. The recommendation of this research
involved the design on boom sprayer and the studies to be carried out in the future. As
it is suggested that dual-purpose disc rotatory disc applicator can be considered as
more suitable than boom sprayer based on the review on journals, future study on this
applicator can be done by using the same evaluation tools in this research.
1.6 Significance of Study
The result of the evaluation was expected to help MARDI in decision making, whether
boom sprayer is suitable to be used nationwide. The result of this research is not to
replace boom sprayer. It is to evaluate the feasibility of the applicator based on the
applications and the requirements set by MARDI. The same methodology used to
evaluate the performance of the boom sprayer can be used to evaluate other granular
fertilizer applicators in the future. This work introduces a better way of numerically
evaluating granular fertilizer applicator by using simulation methodology rather than
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction on Literature Review
This chapter is divided into four major parts. The first part focuses the review on paddy
industry (section 2.2 to 2.4). The second part focuses the review on the granular
fertilizer applicators (section 2.5 to 2.6). The third and the forth parts of this chapter
talk about the simulation (section 2.7 to section 2.11) and scaled-down model (section
2.12 to 2.14) respectively. The first part of the chapter shows the significance of this
research in contributing to Malaysia’s agriculture. It also provides information which
is needed in this evaluation such as the properties of the fertilizer that are used for
Malaysia’s paddy and the conditions of the environment. The second part of the
chapter describes the fertilizer applicators. From this part, we are able to identify the
geometry structures and operation function of the fertilizer applicators that are
available in the market. As a result, comparison was made between the boom sprayer
and other fertilizer applicators based on the journals. The third part of the chapter is
the information regarding the commercial software used to evaluate the boom sprayer.
This part of chapter provides us the understanding of the reason that ANSYS was
chosen and the guideline to use the software. The last part is the review on scaled-
down model. The results of simulation are needed for verification and validation
process through experiment. This part provides the understanding of using scaled-
down model instead of full-scaled model and the methods to scale down the boom
sprayer.
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2.2 Demand of Paddy
In 2013 alone, paddy provides the bread and butter to 300,000 paddy farmers in
Malaysia [1]. Land utilization for paddy production was at 674,928 hectares which
was 76 percent in Peninsular Malaysia (515,657 ha) while Sarawak and Sabah
accounted for 18 percent (118,919 ha) and 6 percent (40,352 ha) of the total hectare
respectively [1]. If we look globally, India has one of the largest growing paddy fields
in Asia and agriculture is one of the most important factors contributing to the
economic growth of India [2]. Out of the 329 million hectares of India’s geographical
area, about 34.65 percent, 114 million hectares are under cultivation [2]. In Pakistan,
researches were carried out to see the comparison of the yielding rate of double zero
tillage, direct seeding of rice, brown manuring, transplanting on beds and conventional
transplanting [3]. The highest number of productive tillers/unit even (231.7) were
noted in direct seeding followed by double zero tillage (219), bed planting (206.7) and
conventional planting (200.2) respectively [3]. Therefore, growing paddy is not just
the major concern of Malaysia but in Asia as well. In order to increase the self-
sufficiency level (SSL) without decreasing the importation of rice, the production of
paddy must be increased to meet all the needs [4].
2.3 Paddy and Rice Industrial Strategies in Malaysia
In order to achieve full self-sufficiency, strategies as shown in Table 2.1 had been
implemented by Malaysian government to ensure that the production of rice is able to
reach 2 million metric tons by 2020 with total parcel areas of 416,000 hectares [4]. In
addition, four new granaries in Rompin and Pekan, Pahang; Batang Lupar, Sarawak;
and Kota Belud, Sabah will be developed.
Since 2005, MARDI has been carrying out research in aerobic rice farming.
The benefit of having aerobic rice is that it is high yielding plants which only take 90
days to ripe and 50 percent lower water usage compared to normal rice [5]. In order to
fully utilize the landscape of Malaysia especially hilly places in Sarawak and Sabah,
hilly paddy has also been developed by MARDI to increase the productivity of the
paddy [6]. Hilly paddy does not require any fertilizer to grow but it take around 150
days to ripe [6]. MARDI also produced a breed of rice known as MR220 CL1 and
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CL2 which able to withstand diseases and pest like “weedy rice” [7]. They are resistant
to the herbicide that will enable it to withstand the herbicide that is used to poison the
weedy rice.
Table 2.1: Strategies implemented by Malaysian government to ensure the
production of rice. [8]
Strategies Implementation Result
i) consolidating
small farms
a. Consolidate paddy fields averaging 2.2
hectares into estates of more than 100
hectares to be managed by PPKs or
private companies.
b. Agriculture NKEA, special incentives of
RM2,000 per hectare per season for up
to five seasons will provides for farmers
who join the group farming initiative
c. profit sharing and employment
opportunity given to the farmers
Expected to raise the
paddy yield from 5
metric tonnes per
hectare to 8 metric
tonnes per hectare and
increase the income of
farmers by 5% by
2020.
ii) providing
adequate
irrigation and
drainage
infrastructure
a. High density polyethylene pipes will be
used as an alternative to reduce
construction and maintenance costs of
infrastructure in new granaries.
b. Water management groups or Kumpulan
Pengguna Air set up among the farmers
will be revived to manage water
resources and encourage voluntary
maintenance of infrastructure in their
respective areas.
c. Radio telemetry and Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition as
practised in the Muda Agricultural
Development Authority (MADA) area
will be expanded to other granaries for
effective management and monitoring of
water distribution.
expected to increase
crop intensity from an
average of
188% (1.8 times per
year) in 2014 to 200%
(two times per year) in
2020.
iii) Enhancing
Knowledge and
Skills of
Farmers
a. Lead farmers will be trained by agencies
such as MADA and NATC who will in
turn train other farmers in the designated
area.
b. Training programs on the use of fertilizer
on a scheduled basis, water management,
pest and disease management and
managing impact of climate change
Enhance knowledge of
farmers
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Table 2.1 (continued): Strategies implemented by Malaysia government to ensure
that the production of rice [8].
Strategies Implementation Result
iv) Targeting on
Performance-
Driven
Assistance
a. Various input assistance such as
fertilizer and pesticide for paddy
cultivation will be given to farmers
according to soil conditions, types of
pests and
weeds as compared to the standard
assistance provided irrespective of the
needs of farmers.
b. MARDI will assist MADA, Kemubu
Agricultural Development Authority
(KADA) and Integrated Agricultural
Development Areas (IADAs) to
determine the suitability and
requirement of inputs for maximum
productivity gains.
c. Input assistance will be extended to
farmers in Sabah and Sarawak to
promote sustainable hill rice
production in permanent areas and
discourage shifting cultivation
practices.
Increasing production.
v) Introducing new
high yielding
varieties,
a. New certified paddy varieties such as
MR253, MR263 and MR269 which
offer better yield and resistance to
disease will be widely promoted,
particularly in disease prone areas.
b. Planting of aerobic rice, a paddy
variant that is heat resistant and
requires less water will be promoted in
areas where single season planting is
carried out due to poor water supply.
Aerobic rice enables
three planting cycles a
year
and is expected to
increase the income of
farmers.
vi) Improving Post-
Harvest
Handling Chain
a. Improving the post-harvest handling
chain including harvesting, drying,
storage, transportation and milling
activities.
b. Research will focus on improving the
efficiency of harvesting machines,
drying and storage facilities as well as
milling technology.
c. More drying and storage facilities will
be built to help farmers store their
paddy before transporting to rice
mills.
Reducing post-harvest
loss from an average rate
of 30% to 15% will
increase the overall
production of rice thus
raising the income of
farmers.
vii) Gazetting
granaries and
non-granaries as
permanent rice
production areas
Retain land for paddy cultivation on a
permanent basis.
Ensure sufficient
production of rice.
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