Experimental investigation of an applicator of liquid slurry, from biogas production, for crop production

Abstract

A unit for the application of liquid digested slurry in the field was designed and developed. The developed slurry applicator had a capacity of 1500 L and was pulled by a 35 h.p. tractor. The liquid digested slurry of a biogas plant was pumped in to the tank with the help of a slurry pump. The necessary power transmission system, consisting of a pulley, power take off shaft (PTO) and cross joints, was provided to get power from the PTO of the tractor. In this paper an attempt has been made to evaluate the application of liquid slurry in the field in terms of plant growth parameters such as number of branches/plant, number of nodules/plant, plant height and yield attributes like pods/plant and grains/pod. The application of liquid slurry resulted in an increase in grain, straw and biological yields of 32%, 7% and 15%, respectively, compared with the application of farmyard manure.

Keywords:

• biological yield
• farmyard manure
• harvest index
• slurry applicator

Acknowledgement

The authors are very thankful to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (formerly the Ministry of Non‐conventional Energy Sources) for providing the financial assistance to carry out the research work. The authors are also grateful to the Department of Renewable Energy Sources, College of Technology and Engineering, Udaipur, for providing all sorts of facilities required for the study.