초록
Application of precision farming technology to rice cultivation could be an effective measure for rice quality improvement and environment-friendly agriculture. This study was conducted to develope a variable rate pneumatic granule applicator. Previous study reported that application uniformity of the prototype machine (C.V. = 23.3%) was not satisfactory. To improve the uniformity, increase of blow-head number from 12 to 16 was suggested. Analysis of the pneumatic conveying system showed that increase of number of blow-head was possible. Three-way variance analysis of the modified applicator showed that inserting length should be changed according to granule metering rate. The range of metering rate from 27.3 to 417.9 g/s were divided into 4 levels and 4 sets of inserting lengths were determined to ensure CV values less than 15%. The revised applicator showed satisfactory C.V. values of 9.4 to 14.6% in the metering rate. Granule conveying pattern was observed using a high speed camera and judged as the homogeneous flow pattern.