Especially for the requirements of the strawberry industry, with the partner companies MSD Corp., the Marten Barel Consultancy BV of the Netherlands, in cooperation with the Norwegian engineering office, an additional steaming system was birthed.
The new steaming system runs continuously. Using injectors, the steam is introduced at a depth of 10 to 30cm. At the same time air is siphoned out of the ground to achieve a quick penetration with the steam.
The test run took place at the strawberry farm Osterloh, between Bremen and Osnabrück, in the middle of June. Here, superheated steam using the steam boiler type S 2000 by MSD was generated and used. The new steaming system comes very close to the energy efficiency and speed of cover-steaming. Heating-oil consumption per square meter at a steam depth of 10cm is approximately 0,35liters. It is remarkable that the fuel-consumption per additional 10cm of depth is linear and doesn’t increase, according to first evaluations. At a steam depth of 10cm the machine has an area output of approximately 430 square meters.
At the Interspa Praxis in September an optimized version of the steaming device is expected to be presented. Additionally, the audience will have the possibility to inspect steaming results, in particular the effect on plant growth and gain of steamed areas.
