Experimental Investigation of Traction Power Transfer Indices of Farm-Tractors for Efficient Energy Utilization in Soil Tillage and Cultivation Operations

Abstract

Farm tractors in cultivation consume a big amount of fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Improving traction performance and power transfer indices of wheeled tractors and field terrain soil with higher traction (pull ability) at optimal travel reduction (TR) can optimize energy utilization. This study compares the traction performance, fuel consumption, and field productivity, of a farm tractor equipped with a new drive wheel “rigid lugged wheel (RLW)” and conventional tire wheel (CTW) in field tillage operations. Tractor with RLW resulted 24.6 kN drawbar pull and 6.6 km.h−1 travel speed at 80% tractive efficiency and 15.6% TR. While with CTW, the drawbar pull and the travel speed were 23.2 kN and 6.0 km h−1 respectively at 68% tractive efficiency and 36.3% TR. The RLW resulted in improved traction performance with similar equipment weight. Tractor with RLW also resulted 220.5% lower TR, 14.8% higher field productivity, and 15.4% lower fuel consumption. RLW can control equipment weight and field traffic intensity with the improved traction performance of wheeled tractors and will make the field operations more energy-efficient and economical. For enhanced field drivability of RLW, further work is required to test for diverse field conditions and differently sized tractors.

Effect of Soil Conditioning on Soil Penetration Resistance and Traction Power Demand of Ploughing

“…Penetrometers are very suitable tools for checking the quality of tillage and for quantifying the effects of soil amendments and conditioners (Sinóros-Szabó & Szőllősi 1999;Tuba 2013;Tuba et al 2020). The energy demand of soil cultivation is generally characterised by fuel consumption, though it is also possible to determine the soil resistance against the actually used cultivation tool, which means the traction power or pull force required to move the tractor (Al-Jalil et al 2001;Forgács & Czimbalmos 2008;Md-Tahir et al 2021). The moisture content of the cultivated soil layers must be considered as it is in negative correlation with the penetration resistance of heavy textured soils (Campbell & O'Sullivan 1991).…”

EFFiTILL: An Efficient Tillage System for Tractors Fuel Consumption Reduction and GHG Emissions Mitigation

“…An efficient and sustainable crop production system involves lower energy use and reduced carbon emission [20]. For this reason, traction power indices during the application of tillage and cultivation operations have been assessed [21].…”

Determining conditions for providing maximum traction efficiency of tractor as part of a soil tillage unit

“…The peculiarities of the management of these units have not received adequate coverage in the technical literature when evaluating their energy savings and pose new challenges in solving this scientific problem. Work [16] considers a system that can control the weight of the equipment and the intensity of movement in the field thanks to the improved traction characteristics of wheeled tractors. However, incomplete work and the need for additional research are noted.…”