Particle Size Analysis Applications For Agriculture

In agriculture, particulates used in fertilizers

, herbicides, and pesticides must be meticulously controlled, otherwise they would not be effective or would be wasted during application. Particles in the fertilizers used in farmed fields must have the precise size for the chemicals to be infused into the soil at the proper rate. Too large a particle and the growing products risk being damaged. You can run the risk of being wasteful with too small a particle, as the chemicals would not be enough to be effective.

The study of these particles is called particle sizing. Instruments used in this process are highly precision instruments that can analyze components down to very tiny diameters, as in microns, or micrometers. These instruments use a variety of methods for this, as the tried and true sedimentation particle sizing, which the settling of particles in a solution which can determine their size and mass. Laser light scattering, where a concentrated laser beam is projected through the particulate mass and the reflected light is analysed to determine the size, shape, and even rotational velocity of the particles.

In the sedimentation particle sizing process, a solution is used to suspend the particles to be measured. Special lenses are used to collect the light from a lamp on one side of the sedimentation tube. The lenses are connected to a sensor, which can measure accurately the light differences when the particles settle past. The speed in which the particles move past the lens can determine the mass, or weight, of each particle. The light diffracted and refracted from each particle can determine the size of each individual scintilla, and the shape can be scrutinized by the way the particle spins as it settles.

In laser light refraction particle sizing, a powerful focused laser beam in the particle size analyser is sent through am aerosol, suspension, or emulsion. The scattering of light from this is detected and measured by sensors similar to that of a digital camera, also known as a charged coupled device. This CCD can detect difference s of light scattering from the particles to indicate size, shape, mass, and even velocity. Velocity is useful for determining how particles aerosol in powder form, such as used by farmers to scatter chemical fertilizers.

In pesticides and herbicides, proper coverage is extremely important to the farming community. If the mixtures that the farmers used did not completely coat the plants they were trying to protect, or if the herbicides did not cover the weeds well, there would be massive waste of these chemicals. If protective chemicals could not penetrate the soil due to too large a particle size, then there would be no reason to apply them in the first place. Particle size analysers aid in the proper amalgamation of these components.

Manufacturers of these vital products know the importance of the beneficial properties as mentioned above. They use sophisticated techniques to fabricate the chemicals that most farmers use, and one of the most obviously important methodology is particle sizing. Materials used in fertilizers come mostly in powdered form. Powders can be problematic if they are too fine or too coarse. Particle sizing analysers can determine the quality of such powders during manufacturing.

by: Andrew Long

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