Fuel consumption and CO2 emission analysis in different strip tillage scenarios

Abstract

The objective of this work was to assess the influence of the row cleaner attack angle, the gap between discs, the working depth of a narrow tine and the strip tillage machine's working speed on tractor fuel consumption and on greenhouse effect-related CO2 gas emissions into the environment. This research was carried out by changing the row cleaner disc attack angle from 10.0° to 22.5°, the gap between discs from 105 to 135 mm, the working depth from 0 to 200 mm, and the working speed from 1.4 to 3.1 m s−1 in 44 different scenarios. The working speed of the strip tillage machine and the working depth of the narrow tine had the greatest influence on the hourly fuel consumption. The results indicate that increasing the working depth from 0 to 200 mm increases the hourly tractor fuel consumption from 10.3 to 24.3% depending on the working speed. An analysis of the experimental scenarios indicates that the lowest fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per hectare were achieved at a working speed of 2.5 m s−1. The greenhouse effect-related CO2 gas emissions were highest in scenarios with a working speed of 1.4 m s−1. CO2 emissions from tractors increased approximately 20% on average with a working depth increase from 0 to 200 mm. The attack angle of row cleaner discs 10.0°, gap between row cleaner discs 105 mm, working speed 2.5 m s−1, strip width 135 mm were the most optimal parameters for lowest fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from tractor not depending on the working depth of narrow tine.