Study of Particle Size Distribution of Selected Material of Solid Fertilizer by Using Photo-Optical Image Analysis

Abstract:

In many branches of industrial production, there is a need for continual monitoring of the quality of manufactured product. Such requirements arise in the production of fertilizers, as the physical and mechanical properties of fertilizers affect the quality of application provided by fertilizer spreaders. The aim of the presented paper was to compare the suitability and applicability of the photo-optical image analysis with the sieve analysis used for the determination of fertilizer particle size distribution. The photo-optical method was used by [1] to study the fertilizer particle size distribution. These researchers tried to measure the size and velocity of flying particles in relation to the quality of application of centrifugal spreaders. During our comparative experiments, we have compared the photo-optical image analysis and sieve analysis. In experiments, we used the samples of the granulated fertilizer NMgS produced by the Duslo, a.s. company. The sieve analysis was conducted according to the national standard STN EN 1235 in the laboratories of the Department of Machines and Production Systems at the Faculty of Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 1059)
• Pages: 19-25
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1059.19
• Online since: December 2014
• Authors: Miroslav Macák, Ladislav Nozdrovický
• Keywords: Evaluation, Fertilizer, Image Analysis, Particle Size Distribution

References

[1] T.E. Grift, J.W. Hofstee, Measurement of velocity and diameter of individual fertilizer particles by an optical method, Transactions of the ASAE, 40(1) (1997) 21–27.

DOI: 10.1006/jaer.1996.0129

[2] J.W. Hofstee, Physical properties of fertilizer in relation to handling and spreading, ISBN 90-5485-149-X, (1993).

[3] Impor Basic 4. 0 Software for Digital Image Processing, Kvant s. r. o., FMFI UK Mlynská dolina, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia, Europe.

[3] EN 1235: Solid fertilizers. Test sieving.

[4] EN 1235/A1: Solid fertilizers. Test sieving. (Appendix A1).

[5] ISO 3310-1: Test sieves. Technical requirements and testing. Part 1: Test sieves of metal wire cloth.

DOI: 10.3403/30285009

[6] STN ISO 565: Test sieves. Metal wire cloth, perforated metal plate and electroformed sheet. Nominal sizes of openings.

DOI: 10.3403/00270156u

[7] EN 1482-1: Fertilizers and liming materials. Sampling and sample preparation. Part 1: Sampling.

[8] EN 1482-2: Fertilizers and liming materials. Sampling and sample preparation. Part 2: Sample preparation.

DOI: 10.3403/30383379u

[9] STN 65 4804: Fertilizers, growing media, soil substances. Type list, requirements for labelling and packing. Slovak national standard.