Agricultural Drift Reduction Composition with Mineral Acid and Amine Surfactant
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Solution Overview
Problem
Herbicide spray drift causes unintended application on non-target areas, leading to crop damage, contamination, and health risks, and is exacerbated by hard water conditions that reduce herbicide efficacy, requiring separate additions of water conditioning adjuvants and drift reduction agents.
Innovation Solution
A combination water conditioning adjuvant and drift reduction composition comprising a concentrated mineral acid and an amine surfactant, combined with a phospholipid-based drift reduction agent, stabilizing the mixture to prevent adverse reactions and providing effective droplet size increase and herbicide efficacy in hard water conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate water conditioning adjuvants and drift reduction agents are added to herbicide formulations, then herbicide efficacy under hard water conditions is improved and spray drift is reduced, but the complexity of the formulation process and application procedure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines water conditioning adjuvant functionality and drift reduction agent functionality into a single integrated composition. This composition contains both the amine surfactant (which conditions hard water) and the phospholipid drift reduction agent in one formulation, eliminating the need for separate additions of multiple products and simplifying the application process while maintaining both herbicide efficacy and drift reduction benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The single composition serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a water conditioning adjuvant to maintain herbicide efficacy in hard water, serves as a drift reduction agent to increase droplet size and reduce spray drift, and provides surfactant properties for proper spray solution formation. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for multiple separate products
2Reliability
If concentrated mineral acid is added to phospholipid-based drift reduction agents, then water conditioning capability is enhanced, but adverse chemical reactions may occur that destabilize the formulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an amine surfactant as an intermediary substance that mediates between the concentrated mineral acid and the phospholipid drift reduction agent. The amine surfactant is compatible with both components, allowing the mineral acid to provide water conditioning benefits while the phospholipid maintains drift reduction functionality, preventing direct adverse reactions between the acid and phospholipid
Solution Approach 2:
The patent carefully controls the concentration and ratio parameters of the mineral acid, amine surfactant, and phospholipid components to optimize formulation stability. By adjusting these compositional parameters, the formulation achieves both water conditioning capability and chemical stability, preventing degradation or precipitation of components
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The composition effectively reduces spray drift and enhances herbicide efficacy under hard water conditions, offering a convenient single formulation that matches or exceeds commercial standards for both water conditioning and drift reduction.
Implementation Method 1
Hard water ions can bind with salts of certain herbicides and with some surfactants to form insoluble salts and reduce the effectiveness of herbicides and surfactants
Implementation Method 2
Spray drift can be reduced by increasing droplet size of the spray, as wind moves larger droplets less than smaller droplets
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of agricultural chemicals and, more particularly, to compositions which can be added to agricultural chemicals for the purpose of improving efficacy and reducing drift of sprayed chemicals away from target areas. Further disclosed are processes for preparing combination water conditioning adjuvant and drift reduction compositions as well as methods of drift reduction utilizing such compositions.