초록 ▼

A system and process for dispensing a liquid agrochemical such as ammonia into a field is disclosed. The ammonia is placed in a vessel under sufficient pressure to maintain a substantial portion of the ammonia in a liquid form. From the pressurized vessel, the ammonia is fed to a distribution manifo

A system and process for dispensing a liquid agrochemical such as ammonia into a field is disclosed. The ammonia is placed in a vessel under sufficient pressure to maintain a substantial portion of the ammonia in a liquid form. From the pressurized vessel, the ammonia is fed to a distribution manifold where it is ultimately injected into a soil through a plurality of dispensing tubes. A constant pressure flow rate control device is placed at each dispensing tube for metering the amount of ammonia fed to the soil. Furthermore, the outlet flow of each constant pressure rate control device is made to vaporize nearby the inlet flow path to create a heat exchange effect thereby cooling the inlet flow. In particular, the flow control devices allow ammonia to be dispensed from the system while maintaining sufficient back pressure and temperature within the distribution manifold to maintain the ammonia in a liquid form. By maintaining the ammonia in a liquid form, uniform and accurately controlled flow rates can be dispensed from the dispensing tubes.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A system suitable for dispensing controlled amounts of either a volatile liquid or a non-volatile liquid into a soil, said system comprising: a liquid reservoir for holding a liquid agrochemical, said reservoir including an outlet for dispensing said liquid agrochemical; a d

What is claimed is: 1. A system suitable for dispensing controlled amounts of either a volatile liquid or a non-volatile liquid into a soil, said system comprising: a liquid reservoir for holding a liquid agrochemical, said reservoir including an outlet for dispensing said liquid agrochemical; a distribution manifold in communication with said outlet of said reservoir, said distribution manifold being connected to a plurality of dispensing tubes designed to inject said liquid agrochemical into the soil; and a plurality of pressure reducing members, each of said pressure reducing members being in communication with a corresponding dispensing tube, the pressure reducing members creating a pressure reduction between the distribution manifold and each of the dispensing tubes, wherein, when dispensing a volatile liquid agrochemical, the pressure reducing members cause the volatile liquid agrochemical, prior to entering the plurality of dispensing tubes, to partially vaporize but not intermix with, the liquid agrochemical contained in the distribution manifold thus creating a heat exchange effect which cools the liquid agrochemical contained in the distribution manifold. 2. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the distribution manifold defines a common passageway that is in communication with each of the dispensing tubes. 3. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the pressure reducing members further comprise flow rate control devices. 4. A system as defined in claim 3, wherein each of said flow rate control devices comprises a valve that pulsates between open and closed positions according to a duty cycle. 5. A system as defined in claim 4, wherein said duty cycle of each of said flow rate control devices is determined and controlled by a controller. 6. A system as defined in claim 5, wherein said controller is configured to control said flow rate control devices independently for selectively varying the flow rate of said liquid agrochemical between each of said dispensing tubes. 7. A system as defined in claim 3, further comprising a speed sensing device for sensing the speed at which said system is moved over a field, said controller receiving speed information from said speed sensing device for determining the flow rate at which said liquid agrochemical is dispensed into said soil. 8. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the pressure reducing members comprises an orifice. 9. A system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a controller in communication with at least one metering device, the controller being configured to control the metering device for dispensing the liquid agrochemical at a desired rate. 10. A system as defined in claim 9, wherein the system further includes a sensor configured to detect low levels of liquid agrochemical contained in the distribution manifold. 11. A system as defined in claim 10, wherein the sensor comprises a float activated switch. 12. A system as defined in claim 9, further comprising a global positioning location and rate map device in communication with said controller, said global positioning rate map device being configured to determine the location of said dispensing tubes, said controller receiving information from said global positioning rate map device and, based on said information, determining flow rates used in controlling said pressure reducing members. 13. A system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a valve for increasing the flow at which said liquid agrochemical is dispensed from the agrochemical reservoir. 14. A system as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least two temperature sensing devices, one of said temperature sensing devices monitoring the temperature of said liquid agrochemical prior to entering the pressure reducing members, the other temperature sensing device monitoring the temperature of the liquid agrochemical after flowing through the pressure reducing members; at least two pressure sensing devices, one of the pressure sensing devices monitoring the pressure of the liquid agrochemical prior to entering the pressure reducing members, the other pressure sensing device monitoring the pressure of the liquid agrochemical after flowing through the pressure reducing members; and a controller configured to receive information from the temperature sensing devices and the pressure sensing devices and, based on the received information, to control the pressure reducing members for dispensing the liquid agrochemical at a desired rate and, when dispensing a volatile liquid agrochemical, at a rate that maintains the volatile liquid agrochemical in the distribution manifold as substantially a liquid. 15. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the system is capable of dispensing the liquid agrochemical from each dispensing tube at an application rate of from about 25 pounds per acre to about 250 pounds per acre. 16. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a heater for heating the liquid agrochemical contained in the agrochemical reservoir. 17. A system as defined in claim 16, wherein the heater comprises a heat exchanger that receives heat from a vehicle that traverses the system across a field. 18. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the pressure reducing members are located near the end of the dispensing tubes adjacent the soil. 19. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the distribution manifold includes a plurality of segments, the segments forming a common passageway when assemblied together, at least certain of the segments including a dispensing channel in communication with a corresponding dispensing tube, the pressure reducing members being located in between the common passageway and the dispensing channels, the segments being removable for varying the size of the distribution manifold and for increasing or decreasing the amount of dispensing tubes. 20. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein, when dispensing a volatile liquid agrochemical, the agrochemical vaporizes without any of the vaporized agrochemical being vented to the atmosphere. 21. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to dispense a liquid fertilizer. 22. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to dispense an agrochemical selected from the group consisting of herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, growth regulators, dessicants, defoliants, fungicides, rodenticides, nutrient stabilizers, soil conditioners, root stimulants, and mixtures thereof. 23. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the system includes a plurality of distribution manifolds for applying agrochemicals simultaneously. 24. A system suitable for dispensing controlled amounts of either a volatile liquid or a non-volatile liquid into a soil, said system comprising: a reservoir for holding a liquid agrochemical, said reservoir including an outlet for dispensing said liquid agrochemical; a distribution manifold in communication with the outlet of the agrochemical reservoir, the distribution manifold being connected to a plurality of dispensing tubes designed to inject the liquid agrochemical into the soil, the distribution manifold including a plurality of segments, the segments forming a common passageway when assemblied together, at least certain of the segments including a dispensing channel placed in communication with a corresponding dispensing tube; and a plurality of pressure reducing members, each of the pressure reducing members being located in between the common passageway and the dispensing channels of the distribution manifold, the pressure reducing members creating a pressure reduction between the common passageway and the dispensing channels, wherein, when dispensing a volatile liquid agrochemical, the pressure reducing members cause the volatile liquid agrochemical prior to entering the plurality of dispensing tubes to partially vaporize, but not intermixing with the liquid agrochemical contained in the common passageway thus creating a heat exchange effect which cools the liquid agrochemical contained in the common passageway. 25. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein the pressure reducing members further comprise flow rate control devices. 26. A system as defined in claim 25, wherein each of said flow rate control devices comprises a valve that pulsates between open and closed positions according to a duty cycle. 27. A system as defined in claim 26, wherein said duty cycle of each of said flow rate control devices is determined and controlled by a controller. 28. A system as defined in claim 27, wherein said controller is configured to control said flow rate control devices independently for selectively varying the flow rate of said liquid agrochemical between each of said dispensing tubes. 29. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein each of the pressure reducing members comprises an orifice. 30. A system as defined in claim 24, further comprising a controller in communication with at least one metering device, the controller being configured to control the metering device for dispensing the liquid agrochemical at a desired rate. 31. A system as defined in claim 24, further comprising at least two temperature sensing devices, one of said temperature sensing devices monitoring the temperature of said liquid agrochemical prior to entering the pressure reducing members, the other temperature sensing device monitoring the temperature of the liquid agrochemical after flowing through the pressure reducing members; at least two pressure sensing devices, one of the pressure sensing devices monitoring the pressure of the liquid agrochemical prior to entering the pressure reducing members, the other pressure sensing device monitoring the pressure of the liquid agrochemical after flowing through the pressure reducing members; and a controller configured to receive information from the temperature sensing devices and the pressure sensing devices and, based on the received information, to control the pressure reducing members for dispensing the liquid agrochemical at desired rate and, when dispensing a volatile liquid agrochemical, at a rate that maintains the volatile liquid agrochemical in the distribution manifold as substantially a liquid. 32. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein, when dispensing a volatile liquid agrochemical, the agrochemical vaporizes without any of the vaporized agrochemical being vented to the atmosphere. 33. A process for dispensing controlled amounts of a volatile liquid agrochemical into a soil, said process comprising the following steps: providing a volatile liquid agrochemical in a pressurized vessel, the pressure in said vessel being sufficient to maintain at least a portion of said volatile liquid agrochemical in a liquid form; dispensing said volatile liquid agrochemical into a distribution manifold; injecting said volatile liquid agrochemical into a soil using a plurality of dispensing tubes, each of said dispensing tubes being in fluid communication with said distribution manifold and with a flow rate control device, said flow rate control devices being placed on said dispensing tubes and being configured to control the flow rate of the volatile liquid agrochemical through the dispensing tubes; and wherein the liquid agrochemical prior to entering the dispensing tubes, is vaporizing, but not intermixing with, the liquid agrochemical in the distribution manifold thus creating a heat exchange effect which cools the volatile liquid agrochemical and prevents the liquid agrochemical from vaporizing within said distribution manifold. 34. A process as defined in claim 33, wherein said volatile liquid agrochemical comprises ammonia. 35. A process as defined in claim 34, wherein said ammonia is injected into said soil at an application rate of from about 25 pounds per acre to about 250 pounds per acre. 36. A process as defined in claim 33, further comprising the step of increasing the flow at which said volatile liquid agrochemical is dispensed from said pressurized vessel to the distribution manifold. 37. A process as defined in claim 33, wherein each of said flow rate control devices comprises a valve that pulsates between open and closed positions according to a duty cycle. 38. A process as defined in claim 36, wherein said duty cycle of each said flow rate control device is determined and controlled by a controller. 39. A process as defined in claim 33, further comprising the step of sensing the speed at which said dispensing tubes are moved across a field for determining the flow rate at which said volatile liquid agrochemical is injected into said soil. 40. A process as defined in claim 33, further comprising the step of individually controlling the flow rate at which said volatile liquid agrochemical is dispensed from each of said dispensing tubes. 41. A process as defined in claim 33, wherein individual said flow rate control devices may stop flow altogether to accommodate intermittent system size changes during operation. 42. A process defined in claim 33, wherein the said flow rate control devices possess manually adjustable flow parameters, yielding automatic flow control abilities, but being able to be manually adjusted to provide multiple flow ranges. 43. A process as defined in claim 33, wherein the flow rate control devices are located close to the soil. 44. A process as defined in claim 33, wherein the liquid agrochemical comprises a fertilizer. 45. A process as defined in claim 33, wherein the liquid agrochemical comprises a herbicide, an insecticide, a pesticide, a growth regulator, a dessicant, a defoliant, a fungicide, a rodenticide, a nutrient stabilizer, a soil conditioner, a root stimulant, or mixtures thereof. 46. A process as defined in claim 33, wherein a plurality of liquid agrochemicals are dispensed into a corresponding plurality of distribution manifolds for injecting the agrochemicals into a soil simultaneously.