Killing Weed Seeds with Exhaust Gas from a Combine Harvester

Jakobsen, Klaus; Jensen, Jakob A.; Bitarafan, Zahra; Andreasen, Christian

doi:10.3390/agronomy9090544

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…P. rhoeas and V. arvensis were the most sensitive species, both having small seeds, while C. cyanus and E. cicutarium were the least sensitive having the largest seeds (Tables 1 and 3, Figures 2-4). Jakobsen et al [12] also found that C. cyanus were less sensitive to a short pulse of heat than the other tested species with smaller seed weight. Large seeds might be more protected against a pulse of high temperature because it takes a longer time to distribute the heat in a large seed than in a small one [22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Jakobsen et al [12] investigated whether exhaust gas from a combine harvester could be used to kill weed seeds. The idea was to explore the potential to develop a system implemented in the combine harvester that could expose the chaff and weed seeds to the large air pressure and waste heat energy from the exhaust gas before the material was returned to the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jakobsen et al [12] found that seeds treated with 110 • C exhaust gas gave varying results depending on the duration of exposure and the weed species, while the germination of all seeds exposed to exhaust gas with a temperature of 140 • C for 2 s was repressed. They concluded that the method seemed promising.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploiting Waste Heat from Combine Harvesters to Damage Harvested Weed Seeds and Reduce Weed Infestation

et al. 2018

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Weeds are mainly controlled with herbicides in intensive crop production, but this has resulted in increasing problems with herbicide-resistant weeds and public concerns about the unwanted side-effects of herbicide use. Therefore, there is a need for new alternative methods to reduce weed problems. One way to reduce weed infestation could be to collect or kill weed seeds produced in the growing season. Crop and weeds are harvested simultaneously with the combine harvester, but most of the weed seeds are returned with the chaff to the field creating new problems in future growing seasons. During the harvesting process, the harvester produces heat. Under normal harvest conditions, the exhaust gas temperature measured directly behind the turbocharger of the engine of a combine harvester may reach between 400 • C and 480 • C depending of the size of the engine. These high temperatures indicate that there is a potential for developing a system which perhaps could be utilized to kill or damage the weeds seeds. We investigate how much heat is needed to damage weed seeds significantly and focuses on the germination patterns over time in response to these treatments. We investigated if heat treatment of weed seeds could kill the seeds or reduce seed vigour or kill the seeds before they are returned to the field. The aim is to avoid harvested viable weed seeds being added to the soil seed bank. During the threshing and cleaning process in the combine harvester, most weed seeds and chaff are separated from the crop grains. After this separation, we imagine that the weed seeds could be exposed to a high temperature before they are returned to the field. Seeds of nine common weed species were treated with temperatures of 50 • C, 100 • C, 150 • C, 200 • C, and 250 • C for 0, 2, 5, 10, and 20 s, respectively. Afterwards, the seeds were germinated for fourteen days. Seeds were differently affected by the heat treatments. We found that 50 • C and 100 • C was insufficient to harm the seeds of all species significantly at all durations. Heating with a temperature of 50 • C and 100 • C showed a slight tendency to break the dormancy of Alopecurus myosuroides Huds. and Papaver rhoeas L., but the results were not statistically significant. Seeds treated with 150 • C gave varying results depending on the duration and the weed species. The germination of A. myosuroides was significantly repressed when seeds were exposed to 250 • C for 5 s. Most species were significantly damaged when they were exposed to 250 • C for more than 10 s. Our results showed that there is a potential to explore how the waste heat energy produced by combine harvesters can be exploited to either kill or reduce the vigour of weed seeds before they are returned to the field with the chaff.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploiting Waste Heat from Combine Harvesters to Damage Harvested Weed Seeds and Reduce Weed Infestation

et al. 2018

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“…We have now shown that a large proportion of seeds produced during the growing season of common weed species potentially can be collected and removed or destroyed [43][44][45] by a combine harvester at crop harvest. The next step will be to test how large a fraction of this potential a combine harvest actually collects, as it depends on several factors such as harvest height and the number of seeds dropping to the soil surface under the harvesting process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harvest Weed Seed Control: Seed Production and Retention of Fallopia convolvulus, Sinapis arvensis, Spergula arvensis and Stellaria media at Spring Oat Maturity

Bitarafan

Andreasen

2019

Agronomy

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If seeds retained on weeds at crop harvest could be collected and removed by the combine harvester, weed infestation could be reduced in the following years. We estimated the proportion of weed seeds that could be removed at oat harvest. The seed production and shedding pattern of Fallopia convolvulus, Sinapis arvensis, Spergula arvensis and Stellaria media, were assessed in two spring oat fields in Denmark during 2018 and 2019. Ten randomly chosen plants of each species were surrounded by a porous net before flowering. The start time of seed shedding was recorded, and the seeds were collected from the nets and counted weekly until oat harvest. Just before harvest, the retained seeds on the weed plants were counted. The ratio between harvestable seeds and shed seeds during the growing season was determined. On average 260, 195, 411 and 316 seeds plant −1 were produced by F. convolvulus, Sinapis arvensis, Spergula arvensis and S. media, respectively, of which in average 44%, 67%, 45% and 56% of the seeds were retained on the plants at harvest. There was a strong, positive correlation between the weed biomass and the total seed production.Agronomy 2020, 10, 46 2 of 10 pods shatter readily, and some seeds are harvested with the crop [5]. Sinapis arvensis flowers six weeks after emergence with the peak in June and July in northern latitudes, but it can continue flowering until the frost starts [6]. The average number of seeds plant −1 reported for plants grown without competition varied from 2000 to 3500 [7], and in dense plant populations, from 10 to 590 [8]. Seed longevity of up to 75 years has been reported [7].Stellaria media is native to Europe, and exists as one of the most distributed weeds in the world. It is one of the most common weeds in spring and winter cereals in northern Europe. It quickly colonizes disturbed fields [9], but it is considered as a weak competitor [10]. The number of seeds plant −1 has been reported to be in the range of 500 [11] to 2500 [12]. It has numerous, small, easily dispersed seeds, and can flower and set seed throughout the year [13].Spergula arvensis is a weed of cereals in almost all areas of the world. The plant flowers from June to November and will shatter mature seeds from July onward. Flowering and seeding continue until the plant dies. A large plant may have 500 capsules and releases 7500 seeds. Capsules produced early in the season may contain 25 seeds, but later capsules may only contain five [2].Sinapis arvensis and Spergula arvensis can only reproduce by seeds, while F. convolvulus and S. media also can reproduce by creeping roots and creeping stems rooting at the nodes, respectively [14]. The soil seed bank is the primary source of weed infestations. Thus, information on their seed production and shedding pattern is necessary for applying proper weed management strategies. Weed seeds disperse when the seeds ripen, detach and fall to the ground [15]. Late season production of weed seeds has gained particular attention because of the development of herbicide-resistant...

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“…If the moisture content of the harvested material is high, the temperature may not be high enough to heat the seeds until the core reached 80 • C. Too high moisture contents would lead only to surface evaporation without affecting the germination ability of the weed seeds. However, a temperature of 75−85 • C may release the dormancy of some weed species [39] and make them sensitive to weed control before the new crop emerged instead of being incorporated into the soil seed bank. Long-term surveys are necessary to evaluate the impact of weed seed harvest control on the soil seed bank of the different weed species.…”

Section: Thermal Treatment Of Seedsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of New Harvesting Methods to Reduce Weeds on Arable Fields and Collect a New Feedstock

et al. 2019

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During harvesting, grain, straw, and chaff with weed seeds are separated. The chaff is returned to the fields, resulting in weed problems in the subsequent crops. We estimated the fraction of weed seeds a combine harvester could potentially harvest and used various methods to collect the chaff and treat it with heat to kill weed seeds or reduce weed seed germination. Chaff with weed seeds was placed on top of the straw and afterwards baled with the straw as a method to remove weed seeds from the field. We exposed chaff with weed seeds to exhaust gas with various temperatures and durations to study whether this heating method could be used to reduce the input of viable weed seeds to the soil during harvesting. By collecting the shed weed seeds during the growing season, we estimated that a combine harvester could potentially harvest 41%, 11%, and 100% of the seeds produced in the growing season by Bromus hordeaceus, Cirsium arvense, and Galium aparine, respectively. When the chaff was placed on top of the straw, 45% of the weed seeds stayed in the chaff fraction on top of the straw swath after one day, 35% got into the straw swath, and 20% past through the swath to the ground. Therefore, baling straw with chaff placed on the top only had a limited effect on reducing weed seed infestation. The study showed that thermal weed seed control during harvesting could potentially be applicable and incorporated in an integrated weed management approach.

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Killing Weed Seeds with Exhaust Gas from a Combine Harvester

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Exploiting Waste Heat from Combine Harvesters to Damage Harvested Weed Seeds and Reduce Weed Infestation

Exploiting Waste Heat from Combine Harvesters to Damage Harvested Weed Seeds and Reduce Weed Infestation

Harvest Weed Seed Control: Seed Production and Retention of Fallopia convolvulus, Sinapis arvensis, Spergula arvensis and Stellaria media at Spring Oat Maturity

Evaluation of New Harvesting Methods to Reduce Weeds on Arable Fields and Collect a New Feedstock

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