Measurement of Velocity and Diameter of Individual Fertilizer Particles by an Optical Method

Fertilizer spreaders are traditionally tested by using the collecting tray method . This method requires large indoor test facilities and is very expensive when applied on a large scale . A proposed alternative method is to measure the velocity and diameter of individual fertilizer particles emanating from the spreader and use a model to predict the landing spot of individual particles . The total spread pattern follows from accumulating a large number of particle landing spots . An optical device for measuring the velocity vector and dimensions of individual fertilizer particles was developed . The system proved capable of measuring the velocity of a 4 mm particle travelling at 29 m / s within an accuracy of 5% and dimensions within 2% . Two forms of the detector are discussed , namely , one and two dimensional versions respectively . ÷ 1997 Silsoe Research Institute