Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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The invention relates to moulded bodies which contain all ~ ~-
the necessary substances for the nutrition of plant
cultures in quantity ratios appropriate for the needs of
the plants, and also to a process for their preparation. ~ -
For the effective but simultaneously environment-friendly
use of fertilisers, there is an increasing move away from
using fertilisers over wide areas. Instead the trend is
towards putting the fertilisers specifically in the area
where the plants will make use of them.
The pre-mixing of appropriate amounts of fertiliser in
powder form and the conversion the same with suitable
auxiliary substances and pressing devices into moulded
bodies of the desired size is already known, e.g. for use
in planting holes or in single pots. Products such as
this are commercially available.
The modification of the composition and nutrient-release
behaviour of nutrient carriers is also known, such that
fertiliser mixtures are produced which are adapted to the
plants' requirements (DE 3 321 053). This adaptation of
the nutrient composition and nutrient-release rate is of
particular importance in trying to achieve the optimum
nutrition of a plant culture with a greatly reduced strain
on the environment.
The dissolution rate of the nutrients can be adjusted
inter alia by the preparation of granulates from soluble
nutrient carriers and by subsequent surface treatment.
This treatment is usually carried out using synthetic
resins, sulphur or other film-forming substances (e.g. DE
3 544 451).
The disadvantage with the known application forms of
200868(~
fertilisers, however, is that not all plants receive ~
optimum nutrition from heterogeneous mixtures. This -~ ~ -
occurs particularly when these mixtures consist of
particles with different nutrient contents and of
different particle sizes.
It was therefore the object of the invention to provide in
one moulded body the amount of nutrients and nutrient
composition necessary for the optimum nutrition of one
single plant or a group of plants, together with the
nutrient-release rates suitable for the requirements of
the plants.
The object of the invention is achieved using a moulded
body which contains all the nutrients, active substances,
plant-treatment agents and auxiliary substances necessary
for the optimum nutrition of plant cultures, the particles
of the latter being agglomerated by means of material
bridges.
In a particular embodiment of the moulded body according
to the invention at least one of the nutrients, active
substances, plant-treatment agents and auxiliary
substances is coated with a synthetic resin and the
material bridges consist of a binding agent.
The binding agents used according to the invention are in
themselves all agents which can produce a bond between
particles of any size. Particularly suitable are glues,
natural or synthetic resins, waxes and hot-melt adhesives
or reaction resins.
Epoxides and polyurethanes have proved particularly
suitable as reaction resins.
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Examples of the nutrients contained in the moulded body
according to the invention are nitrogen (N), phosphorus
(P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium and the trace
elements - boron, iron, cobalt, copper, manganeæe,
molybdenum and zinc in their appropriate chemical
compounds.
Typical nutrient combinations are listed below by way of
example, with appropriate release rates: .
Example A for a 4-month culture period
NPK Mg 16-11-14-2
consisting of 70 % round granulate, coated ~:
30 % pressed granulate, not
coated.
Example B for an 8-month culture period
NPK Mg 16-10-12-2
consisting of 70 % round granulate, coated
30 % pressed granulate, not
coated.
Example C for a 4-month culture period
NPK 14-8-14 + 0.03 B + 0.07 Cu + 0.1 Fe
+ 0.08 Mn + 0.01 Mo + 0.02 Zn
consisting of 95 % pressed granulate, coated,
5 % trace element-microgranulate,
not coated
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Release rate Example ~:
in A B C
% in days (weeks) : .
.
2 2 2
4 4 6 (1) -
6 (1) 6 tl) 10
12 (2) 18 (3) 16 (2) . :
22 (3) 42 (6) 24 (3) ~:
34 (5) 70 (10) 32 (5)
(7) 106 (15) 42 (6)
74 (10)148 (20) 62 (9)
114 (16)224 (30) 104 (15)
The term "active substance" is understood to include~
growth substances, inhibitors, nitrification inhibitors
and soil inoculants.
The following are examples: indolylacetic acid,
naphthylacetic acid, gibberellins, cytokinins, seed
stimulater KKS (DE 2 625 398), chloromequat, chlorphonium
chloride, daminozide, abscisic acid, pydanon, maleic
hydrazide, isopyrimol, N-dimethylaminosuccinic acid, ; -
2-chloro-6-trichloromethylpyridine, ~ :
2-amino-4-chloro-6-methyl-pyrimidine,
sulfanylaminothiazole, dicyanodiamide and nitragin.
Examples of possible plant-treatment agents here are :~
nematicides or soil insecticides, such as microgranulates ~ :
containing the active substances carbofuran, thiram,
terbufos, ethoprophos, bendiocarb and/or aldicarb.
Auxiliary substances in the sense of this invention are
understood to be those substances which ensure the
stability of the components, improve transport and
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distribution and prevent fixation in the soil and in the
plants.
Examples are chelating agents based on polyphosphates and
phosphonic acid, polyamines, aminoalcohols and
aminopolycarboxylic acids, 2-hydroxycarboxylic acids and
lignosulphonic acids; buffering agents such as boric acid,
phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, citric
acid, phthalic acid and the ammonium, potassium and sodium
salts of the above acids, glycine, glycylglycine,
tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, N-[tris(hydroxymethyl)-
methyl]glycine, piperazine-1,4-bis-(2-ethanesulphonic
acid) and its sodium salt or imidazole and surface-active
agents, such as alkane sulphonates, olefin sulphonates,
ester sulphonates, alkyl sulphonates, particularly
alkylbenzene sulphonates such as dodecylbenzene
sulphonates and alkylnaphthalene sulphonates, alkyl
sulphates, ether sulphates, straight-chain and cyclic
ammonium compounds, benzalkonium chlorides, quaternary
ammonium salts, amine salts, pyridinium salts, polyethers,
particularly alkylphenolpolyglycol ethers, ethoxylated
fatty acids, fatty acid amides, fatty amines, fatty acid
esters of polyalcohols, glycerin derivatives with a
betaine structure or sulphobetaines.
The above substances can in principle be present in many
different physical forms, e.g. as powders, crystals,
prills, round granules, pressed granules or as spray-dried
granules, with and without conditioning and with and
without release-influencing coating.
The amount of binding agent used to form the material
30 bridges is from 0.1 to 30~ by weight, preferably from 0.5
to 5% by weight.
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20~868(1
If an epoxy resin is used as the binding agent, various
systems have proved suitable with epoxide equivalents of
170 to 220 and hardeners based on aliphatic and/or
aromatic mono- and polyamines with H-active equivalent
masses of 25 to 900 or based on polymercaptans with
H-active equivalent masses from 160 to 220 or based on
polyaminoamides with H-active equivalent masses of 90 to
2S0 and up to 10 mass parts of reactive diluent from the
group of glycidyl derivatives with epoxide equivalents of
130 to 360. Preferably, as the epoxide system, an epoxy
resin with epoxide equivalents of 180 to 190 mixed with
polymercaptan hardeners with an H-active equivalent mass
of 200 is used, which is hardened under hot air at an air
temperature of 20 to 120C, preferably at a temperature of
40 to 60C.
If a polyurethane is used as the binding agent, various
systems have likewise proved suitable with aromatic and/or
aliphatic polyisocyanate components with two or more
isocyanate groups and polyester polyols and/or polyamides
based on aliphatic and/or aromatic parent substances.
The polyurethane system based on 4,4-diisocyanato-
diphenylmethane and/ polyolethoxyated- and/or propoxylated
substituted, tertiary mono-, di-, tri-polyols and/or
polyamines with a hydroxyl number of 50 to 500, especially
an ethoxylated diamine with a molecular weight of 1000 to
2000 and a hydroxyl number of 120 to 180, has proved to be
very suitable. A hot air current with air temperatures of
20 to 200C, especially between 40 and 80C, can be used
to accelerate the reaction. ~;
A polyurethane system has proved to be particularly
suitable which consists of 4,4-diisocyanato-
diphenylmethane (MDI) and a benzyl ether-hydroxylpolyol.
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2008~80
The invention furthermore relates to a process for the
preparation of the moulded bodies. For this purpose the
nutrients, active substances, plant-treatment agents and
auxiliary substances are mixed with the binding agent,
divided into portions and then hardened by thermal or
chemical means.
The proportioning takes place continuously using moulds,
by the use of an extrusion process or by the direct
contacting of microgranulate to the surface of the single
grains of macrogranulates, such that the moulded bodies
have a weight of 0.01 - 100 g, especially 0.05 to 30 g.
The moulded bodies thus produced are suitable for
specific, appropriate plant nutrition in the form of a
single application in the root region of the culture
plants in question, especially for ornamental plants,
vegetables, woody plants, cultivation of young plants,
reafforestation etc., in pots, tubular films, containers,
field planting holes, natural and synthetic, liquid and
solid substrates.
The moulded bodies according to the invention are used in
single applications with the amount of nutrient, nutrient
combination and nutrient-release rate adapted to the
requirements of the culture. Typical amounts used are
given by way of example in the following table:
Ornamental plant culture
young plants according to nutrient requirement
1 to 3 g/pot and litre
ready products, according to nutrient requirement
2 to 6 g/pot and litre
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Tree nursery cultures
according to nutrient requirement
2 to 5 g/pot and litre
i.e. 20 to 50 g per 10 litre container
~ .
S Market gardening, cultivation of young plants
1.5 to 2 g/pot and litre
Peat-bag method
4 to 5 g/litre, i.e. in tubular films
with 50 litre volume 200 to 250 g and
with 100 litre volume 400 to 500 g
Field planting
in container 30 to 60 g/10 litre
planting-hole preparation according to nutrient
requirement
20 to 50 g/plant
Hydroculture
according to nutrient requirement and for salt~
sensitive cultures 5 g/litre
for cultures with low salt-sensitivity
10 to 20 g/litre
The moulded bodies according to the invention have an
advantage regarding the effective nutrient action with the
simultaneously reduced environmental damage, from the
entry of the nutrient into the ground water, by the
simultaneous use of a specific, local application of a
fertiliser with a nutrient-release rate adapted to the
requirement of the plants. The fertiliser contains a
p~
20(3~
mixture of all the necessary forms of nutrient, all the
main and trace nutrients and nutrient solubilities, which
is important particularly for use in drills and containers
for trees, bushes, ornamental plants and vegetables.
The following examples illustare the moulded bodies
according to the invention and their production, in which
"parts" and % are by weight.
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2008Çi80
11
Example 1
Fertiliser agglomerate for use in planting holes for trees
and woody plants
700 g of a 2-4 mm, coated, round granulate of the nutrient
composition N-P205-K20 14-8-18 with a dissolution period of
9 months is mixed gently and carefully for 20 minutes in a
cone mixer with 300 kg of a 1-3 mm, pressed granulate of
the nutrient composition N-P20s-K20-MgO 21-10-12-7.5 and
trace elements. The fertiliser mixture is transferred
from the cone mixer by means of a star feeder into a
paddle screw mixer. There, 10 kg of a binding-agent
mixture, made up of 50 parts polyol component, comprising
30 parts benzyl ether resin with a hydroxyl content of
16.9 %, 60 parts castor oil and 10 parts diacetone
15 alcohol, and 50 parts of an isocyanate component, ~-
consisting of an industrial polyisocyanate based on
diphenylmethanediisocyanate with an isocyanate content of
30-32 % are slowly added and homogeneously incorporated.
This mixture is transferred via a discharging apparatus to
a mould, with which the fertiliser mixture is shaped into
a strand. This strand is carefully separated with a
cutting wire into agglomerated moulded bodies of 30 g in
weight, which are spontaneously hardened in a gassing duct
with dimethylisopropylamine.
Example 2
Fertiliser agglomerate for pot and container plants
90 parts by weight of a 2.5-5 mm pressed granulate of the ~ ~
composition N-P20s-K20-MgO 22-11-16.5-3 are mixed in a;
paddle screw mixer with 5 parts binding agent comprised of
50 parts of an ethoxylated ethylene diamine with a
molecular weight of 1400 and 50 parts of a polyisocyanate
,
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2~ 8680
12
based on 4,4-diisocyanato-diphenylmethane with an
isocyanate content of 30-32 %, and homogeneously
distributed. Subsequently, 5 parts of a 0.2-1.0 mm
pressed granulate of the composition 2% B, 4% Cu, 2% Fe,
4% Mn, 0.2% Mo and 1% zn are added and homogeneously
incorporated. The mixture is shaped into a strand by
means of a moulding press and cut with a cutting wire into
moulded-body agglomerates of 12 g in weight. The
agglomerates are hardened in a heating tunnel at 50 to
60C.
20(~368~)
13
Example 3
Fertiliser agglomerate for incorporation in culture
substrates
90 parts by weight of a coated round granulate with a
particle-size distribution of 2 to 4 mm diameter with a
nutrient content N2-P205-K20 of 14-14-14 and a
nutrient-release period of 4 months are homogeneously
mixed for 10 minutes in a rotating drum with a built-in
mixing tool with 5 parts by weight of a microgranulate ~ :
coated in a fluidised bed, with a particle-size
distribution of 0.02 to 0.1 mm, with an active substance -- :
composition with the trace elements boron, copper, iron,
manganese, molybdenum and zinc~
boric acid 3.45 parts
15 disodium ethylenediamine-
tetraacetic acid copper chelate 9.05 parts ~ :
: ~ ,
disodium ethylenediamine-
tetraacetic acid iron(II)chelate 14.45 parts
ammonium heptamolybdate 0.20 parts ~ ;
20 disodium ethylenediamine-
tetraacetic acid zinc chelate 2.50 parts
granular auxiliary substances 51.05 parts ~ .
binding agent for coating 8.00 parts
and a coating substance with a nutrient-release time of 4
months. 5 parts by weight of a polyol/isocyanate/binding
agent mixture of a composition described in Example 1 is
,. . . . .. . ..
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14
added while the drum is rotating, to fix the mixture by
forming material bridges. The agglomerates of
macrogranular and microgranulate are spontaneously
hardened by spraying on dimethylethanolamine.
70 parts by weight of the fixated agglomerates thus
produced are added to 30 parts by weight of a pressed
granulate with a particle-size distribution of 2 to 4 mm
and a nutrient composition N-P205-K20-MgO of 21-4-14-7 and
mixed for 10 minutes in a cone mixer. The resulting mixed
granulate has the nutrient composition 15-10-13-2 (NPKMg)
with trace nutrients. It has a nutrient release period of
a total of 4 months which is suitable for the early and
late development phase of plants.
Example 4
Fertiliser agglomerate for rooting cuttings
90 parts by weight of a pressed granulate with a
particle-size distribution of 2-3 mm, consisting of 42
parts of ammonium sulphate with a nitrogen content of 21%,
35 parts of diammonium phosphate with a nitrogen content
of 21% and a phosphorus pentoxide content of 53% and 23
parts of potassium sulphate with a potassium oxide content
of 50% are continuously coated in a fluidised bed
apparatus with 10% by weight of an
MDI-isocyanate/polyol/dimethylaminoethanol mixture, which
is mixed prior to being introduced through the nozzle into
the fluidised bed apparatus by means of a static tube
mixer in the ratio of 48:18:4, and are completely hardened
without the supply of energy.
98 parts by weight of the N-K granulate thus produced with
a nutrient release time of 2-3 months are mixed
homogeneously with 2 parts by weight of a
200868~
microactive-substance granulate also coated in the
fluidised bed apparatus, with a particle-size distribution
of 0.05 to 0.1 mm, comprised of 20 parts of a : ~.
MDI-isocyanate/polyol/dimethylethanol mixture and 80 parts ~ ~:
5 by weight of an active-substance combination with the -
composition~
. ~
20.000000 parts by weight of calcium glycerophosphate
20.000000 ammonium phosphate
32.000000 potassium nitrate ~
12.020000 glucose ~ :
12.020000 saccharose : :
1.202000 succinic acid and
0.242000 citric acid
0.242000 tartaric acid
0.242000 malic acid
0.482000 sodium benzoate :
0.004000 tyrosine
0.012000 inosite
0.02000 ascorbic acid
0.00024 thiamine
0.006000 cysteine
0.000036 kinetin
0.000036 indolylacetic acid
1.390000 aluminium silicate and
0.135808 potassium sulphate
in a coating drum with built-in mixing tools for 10
minutes. For the agglomeration of the micro-active
substance granulate into the N-P-K granulate, to form the
material bridges, 5 parts of an MDI-isocyanate/polyol
mixture were added slowly, homogeneously distributed and
spontaneously completely hardened by gassing with
dimethylisopropylamine.
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2008680
16
Example 5
92 parts of a microgranulate with a particle-size
distribution of 0.1 to 0.3 mm and of the composition
23.5 parts potassium chloride
50.5 parts potassium sulphate and
26.0 parts potassium nitrate,
are continuously coated and hardened in a fluidised bed
apparatus with 8 parts of an MDI-isocyanate/polyol
mixture, which is mixed before entering the nozzle by a
static tube mixer in the ratio 50:50, in which the
eddying air is circulated, for hardening this composition
contains 1 percent by volume of the catalyst triethylamine
and has the coating rate of 0.5 parts
MDI-isocyanate/polyol mixture per minute.
30.5 parts of the NK-microgranulate thus produced, with
the composition 3.31 % nitrogen and 49.83 % potassium
oxide are put into a coating drum, in which there are 66.5
parts of pressed granulate with a particle-size
distribution of 2 to 4 mm, prepared from
14.40 parts diammonium phosphate
17.70 parts of urea
46.00 parts of urea-formaldehyde
condensate
12.40 parts magnesium phosphate
1.20 parts magnesium oxide
5.80 parts phosphoric acid and
2.20 parts of a trace-element mixture,
which is composed of
21.00 parts boric acid -
23.50 parts copper sulphate x 5 hydrate :~
21.50 parts disodium ethylenediamine-
tetraacetic acid
iron(II)chelate
1.50 parts of iron(II)sulphate
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20(~8~8~
17
23.50 parts of manganese sulphate x 1
hydrate
7.50 parts zinc sulphate x 7 hydrate
1.50 parts sodium molybdate x 7
hydrate. -~
The coating drum contains counter-rotating mixing blades
for homogeneous distribution of the granulates. After 10
minutes in operation, 3 parts of the MDI-isocyanate/
mixture homogenised in the static tube mixer in the ratio
10 50 : 50 are added, while the drum is rotating, through a ~ -
dropping screen which covers the whole width of the
fluidised bed, with the peripheral velocity adjusted so
that during the dosing and the subsequent 5 mlnute
post-mixing time, an even distribution of the granulates
takes place. For the final fixation of the NK-components
on the pressed granulate, an air stream saturated with
dimethylisopropylamine catalyst is passed over the .
granulate flow-bed for spontaneous hardening of the
binding agent mixture. The excess catalyst is removed
with compressed air and the hardened agglomerates are
removed from the rotating drum.
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