Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05G—MIXTURES OF FERTILISERS COVERED INDIVIDUALLY BY DIFFERENT SUBCLASSES OF CLASS C05; MIXTURES OF ONE OR MORE FERTILISERS WITH MATERIALS NOT HAVING A SPECIFIC FERTILISING ACTIVITY, e.g. PESTICIDES, SOIL-CONDITIONERS, WETTING AGENTS; FERTILISERS CHARACTERISED BY THEIR FORM
  • C05G5/00—Fertilisers characterised by their form
  • C05G5/40—Fertilisers incorporated into a matrix
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05G—MIXTURES OF FERTILISERS COVERED INDIVIDUALLY BY DIFFERENT SUBCLASSES OF CLASS C05; MIXTURES OF ONE OR MORE FERTILISERS WITH MATERIALS NOT HAVING A SPECIFIC FERTILISING ACTIVITY, e.g. PESTICIDES, SOIL-CONDITIONERS, WETTING AGENTS; FERTILISERS CHARACTERISED BY THEIR FORM
  • C05G3/00—Mixtures of one or more fertilisers with additives not having a specially fertilising activity
  • C05G3/80—Soil conditioners

Definitions

• the present invention regards an additive for compost for ornamental plants and agricultural production plants.
• polymers capable of storing decidedly high amounts of water and subsequently releasing it gradually.
• These polymers belong for example the superabsorbent polymers the so-called SAP, and are for example the salified acrylic acid/acrylamide cross-linked copolymers.
• These polymers generally made up of a series of polymer chains arranged parallel to each other and linked to each other by a cross-linking agent, have a network structure. When water comes into contact with one of these chains it is incorporated in the molecule by osmosis and spreads rapidly inside the polymer network where it is stored. Such polymers can store water up to 200 times the weight of the polymer.
• the water absorption thereof proportionally increases with the reduction of the size of the relative particles, such size should be smaller than 3 mm and preferably comprised between 0.3 and 0.5 mm.
• US2004/0011102 solves the above problem with a soil conditioning composite comprising a pelletized matrix of lignocellulose and a soil conditioning material interdispersed within said matrix in amounts of from 0.1% to 20% by weight of the composite.
• the soil conditioning material comprises as essential component a SAP polymer and optionally other components such as gypsum, calcium salts and fertilizers.
• an additive for compost for ornamental plants and/or agricultural production plants in the form of granules comprising as essential components: a) between 5 and 65% by weight on the total weight of the composition of a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) for agriculture b) between 35 and 70% by weight on the total weight of the composition of a hygroscopic material essentially of vegetable origin, c) between 20 and 40% by weight on the total weight of the composition of a natural plasticizer of mineral or vegetable origin .
• SAP superabsorbent polymer
• the granules according to the present invention are in fact prepared with two different type of processes of which the first one is carried out in the absence of water whereas the second one is carried out in amounts of water not exceeding 20%.
• the granules according to the present invention do not contain further synthetic polymeric material besides the SAP. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
• ornamental plants is used to indicate all types of ornamental plants including trees, while the term “agricultural production plants” is used to indicate cereal plants, fruit plants and trees, garden plants etc.
• the Applicant means that the components subsequently listed (a) - (c) are the sole necessary to obtain the required granules compactness and water absorption features, rendering them particularly suitable for the intended use .
• the above wording therefore excludes the presence of further synthetic polymeric material such as polyvinylalcohols and polyvinylpyrrolidone .
• granule form is used to indicate a product in form of granulate or pellets, preferably cylindrically shaped.
• the term "superabsorbent polymer SAP for agriculture" used as component (a) in the compositions object of the present invention is used to indicate a polymer capable of absorbing water of at least 100 but preferably up to 150-200 times the initial weight and capable of gradually releasing up to 95% of the adsorbed water.
• These polymers are generally formed by cross-linked polyacrylic acid in salified form and they can possibly contain acrylamide repeating units therein.
• these polymers are salified with alkali metals and even more preferably the latter are selected from among sodium and potassium.
• SAP polymers available in the market under the commercial names STOCKOSORBTM, AQUASORBTM, LUQUASORBTM, etc are used for the objects of the present invention.
• the component (b) i.e. the hygroscopic material is in particular a cellulosic material such as for example cereal fibres and more preferably bran, corn cob, but also and more preferably peat, rice husk, and according to a particularly preferred solution it is formed by a peat and rice husk mixture.
• a cellulosic material such as for example cereal fibres and more preferably bran, corn cob, but also and more preferably peat, rice husk, and according to a particularly preferred solution it is formed by a peat and rice husk mixture.
• the plasticizer of vegetable origin or component (c) of the composition subject of the present invention is preferably selected from among starch, flour, corn cob while the plasticizer of mineral origin is selected from bentonite, zeolite, rock flour in micronised form. According to a particularly preferred solution it is bentonite.
• the composition of the present invention may also contain fertilisers and/or pesticides, and other additives usually employed in the agricultural industry and/or for ornamental plants .
• composition of the present invention may contain an amount of water not exceeding 20% - 30%.
• a particularly preferred additive according to the present invention comprises: between 20 and 30% of component (a), between 40 and 60% of component (b) and between 20 and 30% of component (c) .
• Further object of the present invention are methods for preparing the above mentioned granules.
• the first process comprises the following steps: I) mixing components (a), (b) and (c) , and
• a second process for preparing said additives instead comprises the following stages:
• the extrusion in the abovementioned process or stage (B) is preferably performed through the process described in WO2005/011956 that when specifically applied to the composition of the invention comprises the following stages:
• the temperature of the cycle is such that the inlet temperature is 90 0 C- 110 0 C during the first step and 90°C at the exit of the extruder .
• the granulate obtained by means of pelleting is less compact and homogeneous with respect to the one obtained by means of extrusion, hence it disintegrates more easily and thus it is capable of absorbing water faster, but also releasing it within shorter periods of time, with respect to the product coming from extrusion which is more compact, which thus takes more time to absorb water but also takes more time to release it.
• the abovementioned processes allow obtaining granulate with different characteristics depending on the needs of the farming soil on which it is to be applied.
• the additive for compost in form of granulate is added to the soil in the order of 10-20% on the total weight of the soil to be subjected to farming.
• the product exiting from the extruder is cut in such a manner that the length of the cylinder is 4-6 mm.
• EXAMPLE 2 granulate obtained by pelleting. 20% of salified polyacrylate/polyacrylamide cross-linked copolymer, 40% of bran and 40% of starch are mixed in a mixer to obtain a homogeneous composition and subsequently introduced into a machine for pelleting animal foodstuffs comprising a pressing group usually made up of one or more rollers which compress the abovementioned composition previously mixed on a die supply line from which the product exits in form of pellets, (diameter 2-5 mm and length 4 -8 mm) .
• 20% of salified polyacrylate/polyacrylamide cross-linked copolymer, 60% of peat and rice husk and 20% of bentonite are mixed in a mixer to obtain a homogeneous composition and subsequently introduced into a machine for pelleting animal foodstuffs comprising a pressing group usually made up of one or more rollers which compress the abovementioned composition previously mixed on a die supply line from which the product exits in form of pellets, (diameter 2-5 mm and length 4 - 8 mm) .

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Pest Control & Pesticides (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Soil Sciences (AREA)
• Fertilizers (AREA)
• Agricultural Chemicals And Associated Chemicals (AREA)

Priority Applications (8)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Citations (9)

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• 2009
  • 2009-03-04 EP EP09425084A patent/EP2226309A1/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2010
  • 2010-02-19 BR BRPI1009561A patent/BRPI1009561A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2010-02-19 AU AU2010220489A patent/AU2010220489B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2010-02-19 EP EP14175197.4A patent/EP2801561A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2010-02-19 DK DK10704824.1T patent/DK2403814T3/da active
  • 2010-02-19 RU RU2011140136/13A patent/RU2531607C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2010-02-19 US US13/203,931 patent/US9193636B2/en active Active
  • 2010-02-19 WO PCT/EP2010/052104 patent/WO2010100040A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2010-02-19 ES ES10704824.1T patent/ES2502967T3/es active Active
  • 2010-02-19 EP EP10704824.1A patent/EP2403814B1/en active Active
  • 2010-02-19 DE DE202010018275.1U patent/DE202010018275U1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2010-02-19 PT PT107048241T patent/PT2403814E/pt unknown
• 2011
  • 2011-08-15 IL IL214660A patent/IL214660A/en active IP Right Grant

Patent Citations (9)

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