A new steaming system by the company MSD Corp. (Möschle-Seifert-Dämpftechnik) saved over 50% of energy in heating oil savings on the 11th of September, 2017, near Bruchsal, Germany. The big advantage lies in stripe-steaming with spike-covers. This way, only the planting area that is relevant for cultivation is treated with superheated steam. Using the spike-covers, a steam depth penetration of a little more than 30cm in the dam-base was achieved.
The system is designed as a semi-automatic solution. The spike-covers for sandwich-steaming are mounted to a hydraulic, lift- and lowerable carrier vehicle, which also has the steam generator installed. The result is a compact steaming unit, that can process three bank-rows at the same time, 30-40cm deep. The steaming time is dependent on the efficiency of the steam generator as well as the size of the covers and the desired steaming depth.
Video available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/huE-L2H-FhY
In any case, this solution facilitates highly efficient energy consumption. With a steam consumption of under 40kg of steam per cubic meter of earth during testing, this sandwich-steaming system with spike-covers can minimize heating oil consumption, converted to square meters, under 0,4 liters by square meter at a steam depth of a little more than 30 cm.
After steaming, the rows can be planted on the next day. The district administration of Karlsruhe will observe and monitor the growth and gain of the strawberry culture over the next three years. Results as good as from last years steaming tests are expected. We already reported on this: Click here for the article – An interview about the positive effects of superheated steam with strawberry cultures is found here.
