The Use of a Spouted Bed in the Fertilizer Coating of Soybean Seeds

Soybean seeds were coated with fertilizer by the atomization of a fertilizer suspension using a spouted bed. The efficiency of coating adhesion was measured as the coating mass adhering to the seeds and the sprayed solids mass. The change in moisture mass between coated and uncoated seeds was considered in the evaluation of yield. A study of binder concentration and process time was conducted in order to discover conditions under which germination of coated seeds was feasible. Final experiments were done in order to quantify the influences of spouted bed air temperature and fertilizer suspension flowrate on the process yields and the germination capacity of coated seeds. Two empirical equations resulted from the use of Myers' surface technique (1976). These equations predict yield and germination for the range of variables studied.