Measuring the dynamic mass flow from a centrifugal fertilizer spreader

Working widths of commercial centrifugal fertilizer spreaders are continuously increasing, increasing the sensitivity of the spread pattern to fertilizer and spreader properties. One very important parameter is the fertilizer mass flow rate from the hopper to the disks, since this determines the application rate on the field and has also an effect on the shape of the distribution pattern. In this study, the dynamic mass flow rate of a commercially available fertilizer spreader was evaluated for three types of fertilizer. Fluctuations of the flow rate were found and illustrate the need to consider the dynamic behavior of the mass flow rate when designing systems or procedures for measuring or simulating spread patterns of centrifugal fertilizer spreaders