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Flame weeding: effects of fuel pressure and tandem burners
Author(s) -
ASCARD J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
weed research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-3180
pISSN - 0043-1737
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3180.1996.d01-5.x
Subject(s) - combustor , thermocouple , brassica , tandem , chemistry , environmental science , agronomy , combustion , materials science , biology , organic chemistry , composite material
Summary The effects of fuel pressure and burner arrangements using a covered flamer were studied in field experiments on Brassica napus L. and Sinapis alba L. as test species. The responses of the plants to the propane dose and ground speed were described by logistic models. By raising the fuel pressure, the effective speed required to obtain effective control was increased, with a minor increase in effective dose. The use of tandem burners instead of single burners did not increase the effective ground speed and was therefore less energy efficient. Temperatures under the flamer 1 cm above ground were measured by thermocouples in the laboratory. There was a high positive correlation of the maximum temperature or the temperature sum to the reduction of plant biomass in the field. The sigmoidal relation showed that increased temperatures produced an increased control of plants only up to a certain level. Thus, evaluating flame weeders based on temperature measurements alone without knowledge of the relationship between temperature and weed control is not recommended.