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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