A novel technical solution to minimize seed dust during the sowing process of maize using vacuum based equipment: principles and an estimate of efficiency

摘要

A technical solution to dust emissions has been developed at Bayer CropScience (BCS) that removes the vast majority of dust emitted during maize drilling operations and then buries the collected dust in situ, i.e. during the drilling operation. This system, patented by BCS as SweepAir~R, has been assessed for its efficiency at capturing the finer particles of dust that can leave the field and be captured by downwind structures such as off-target foliage or a neighbouring crop. Practical design limitations on the system are the high volume of air to be cleaned, the power requirements of the cyclone, the complexity and size of the resulting system, and the ability of the cyclone to capture very small particles. These conflicting requirements have to be balanced whilst still maintaining a high efficiency of dust capture. Capture efficiency of dust by the cyclone is best described in these circumstances by the cut-off diameter-i.e. the particle size for which the cyclone can capture 50% of the particles passing through it. For the experimental system tested, the cut-off was approx. 1-2 um. Of less interest, but still indicative of the usefulness of the system, the experimental system captured in excess of 99% of the dust put through the drill. This latter result is confirmed in field trials reported at this conference (Vrbka et al, 2014).