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Captan FL
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Captan FL Dust-off trials report

September 21, 1998

Background: Recently customers asked Norac Concepts to determine the level of dust-off of its formulation of Captan FL seed treatment compared to other commercially available seed treatments.

An initial trial was carried out on August 19th 1998 comparing Norac Concepts’ formulation of Captan FL in mixture with Apron versus a Maxim + Apron mixture. Due to the unusually low relative dust-off values observed with Captan FL in the August 19 trial, another series of dust-off trials were performed with a known standard treatment for benchmark purposes. A non-treated sample was also included for comparison purposes. In the August 19th report, the Captan FL + Apron treatment plus the addition of CF-Clear Liquid polymer had a much lower dust-off value than expected versus the Maxim + Apron treatment.


Objective: Confirm the level of dust-off of the Norac Concepts formulation of Captan FL seed treatment compared to other commercially available seed treatments.


Application Method: Syringe injection in a Hege 11 seed treater. 453.6 gram batches of seed were used for each trial. The seeds were rotated in the seed treater until visually uniform color coverage was achieved.


Analysis Method: The dust-off evaluation was conducted with 100 gram batches of treated seed with test replications to check accuracy. Seeds were placed in a baffled plastic cylinder rotating at 50 rpm under 1.2 cu ft per minute airflow. The airflow is required so that any dust generated during the test is directed to a filter paper. The filter paper is placed at the mouth of the plastic cylinder. The filter paper is weighed before and after the test. The weight difference in the filter paper is the amount of dust-off collected during the 5 minute test.

(All rates per expressed per 25 kg of seed)
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
Treatment 3
Treatment 4
2.69 ml Maxim + Apron CB Liquid
5.38 ml Pro-Ized Red Liquid Colorant
187.52 ml Water		50 ml Captan FL (Norac Concepts)
1.88 ml Apron
5.38 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
3.26 ml CF-Clear Liquid
135.07 ml Water		50 ml Captan FL (Norac Concepts)
1.88 ml Apron
5.38 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
138.33 ml Water		32.53 ml Captan 4000 FL (US formulation)
1.88 ml Apron
5.38 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
155.80 ml Water


Results:

Dust-off expressed in g/25 kg of seeds
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
Treatment 3
Treatment 4
Test 1
1.95
0.75
0.85
4.49
Test 2
2.12
0.65
0.67
5.70
Test 3
-
0.62
-
5.18
Average
2.04
0.67
0.76
5.12

Observations: CF-Clear Liquid mixed readily with the all seed treatments. There was no thickening, chunking, or anything else that would be associated with a chemical compatibility problem

As expected, the US Captan 4000 FL formulation plus Apron applied at standard US use rates had a much higher dust-off value than Maxim + Apron treatment. This was the expected result and closely matches many other prior tests conducted in the US.

The unexpected result, but a similar conclusion from the August 19th trials, is that the test with Norac Concepts’ Captan FL + Apron treatment applied at standard Canadian use rates had a much lower dust-off result than Maxim + Apron treatment or the US Captan 4000 FL formulation plus Apron. The addition of CF-Clear polymer to the Norac Concepts’ Captan FL + Apron treatment further lowers the dust-off value by approximately 13% on average.

Another benefit to the addition of CF-Clear Liquid provides long term dust-off control. Over time the particles may have a tendency to fall off the seeds. CF-Clear Liquid provides this means without any additional hassles.

In the laboratory tests, there was over 3X less dust-off with Captan FL + Apron + Polymer and 2.7X less with Captan FL + Apron than with Maxim + Apron. The Norac Concepts formulation of Captan FL + Apron + Polymer had 7.6X less dust and Captan FL + Apron had 6.7 X less dust off than the US formulation of Captan 4000 FL + Apron. Comparison charts are indicated below. Refer to the illustrations below for visual comparisons of the dust off trials.

Conclusion: The laboratory data shows that the treatment with the Norac Concepts formulation of Captan FL + Apron + CF-Clear Liquid polymer provides both better short term and potentially long term dust-off control than Maxim + Apron treatment.

Captan FL low dust-off formulation means less exposure to workers and farmers than other seed treatment formulations. This low dust advantage also means faster throughput in the treatment plant.


Seed plant trial – Hyland Seeds Report – December 28, 1998

Following the laboratory tests conducted on August 19th 1998 and September 21st 1998, a seed plant test was conducted at Hyland Seeds in Blenheim Ontario on November 10 and 11th 1998.

Objective: Confirm the level of dust-off of the Norac Concepts formulation of Captan FL seed treatment and other commercially available seed treatments in a seed processing plant compared to previous laboratory tests.

Procedures and Observations: The tests were run in the sequential order listed below. The seed leaving the treater appeared well covered for all three seed treatment tests. From a treatment coverage perspective, all three seed samples looked identical. The seed samples collected for dust-off analysis were sampled immediately after treatment and bagging.

The seeds were random taken from the bagging line and placed in small plastic bags. For all three tests, commercial processing time and conditions were identical, from the application of the seed treatment, through the bagging line to sample collection.

The seeds were tested for Percentage of Seed Surface Moisture (PSSM) immediately prior to dust-off testing. The PSSM test is conducted with a 10 gram seed sample at 100 oC for 20 minutes utilizing an OHAUS manufactured MB200 Moisture Analyzer.

The dust-off testing procedure is the same one as outlined in the “Analysis Method” of this report.

The treatment rates were determined by establishing how much material was added to each batch initially and then how many bags of seed each batch treated.

(All rates per expressed per 25 kg of seed)
Treatment 1A
Treatment 2A
Treatment 3A
207.56 ml Water
1.49 ml Maxim 4FS Liquid
1.86 ml Apron
4.15 ml Pro-Ized Red Liquid		155.01 ml Water
33.36 ml Captan FL (Norac Concepts)
1.25 ml Apron
3.16 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
150.22 ml Water
33.36 ml Captan FL (Norac Concepts)
1.25 ml Apron
3.16 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
4.79 ml CF-Clear Liquid


Dust-off expressed in g/25 kg of seeds
Treatment 1A
Treatment 2A
Treatment 3A
Test 1
0.55
0.50
0.25
Test 2
0.80
0.40
0.25
Test 3
0.80
0.50
0.20
Average
0.72
0.47
0.23
PSSM
1.90
1.70
1.90


Conclusions: While the treatment rates were not as high as the desired targets, there are commercial data to support the prior laboratory conclusions that Norac Concepts’ Captan FL + Apron treatment has dust-off values below those of Maxim 4FS + Apron treatment.

The addition of the polymer, CF-Clear Liquid, further helped lower initial dust-off. The other benefit to adding CF-Clear Liquid is for long term dust control. Both treatment packages without polymer have nothing formulated in them to help adhere particles on to the seed surface. With CF-Clear Liquid, there is an ingredient in the mix tank to provide long term fungicide adhesion to the seed coat. Theoretically, this will only increase the dust-off gap over time and handling between the treatment with CF-Clear Liquid and the two treatments without polymer.

These data also provide back-up evidence to the practical experience seen at the end of the plant run. This practical evidence came when pouring bags of seed with the various treatments into a plastic container. At that point, it appeared the addition of CF-Clear to the fungicide treatment reduced the visible treatment dust left in the container.

The two laboratory tests and the plant test all confirm that the Norac Concepts formulation of Captan FL has superior dust-off characteristics than other seed treatments tested.

Recommendations:

1) Recommended order of addition is Water, Captan FL, Apron FL, Color Coat Red Liquid, and CF-Clear Liquid.

2) It is recommended, but not necessary, to wait a couple of minutes after the addition of one chemical before adding the next. Allow five minutes mixing after the last ingredient before treating seeds.

3) Based on generally available seed treating equipment consisting of dip cup treaters with many seed processors, it is recommended that a total slurry amount ranging from 130 to 196 ml per 25 kg of seed. The lower slurry amount for treaters with the shorter auger flighting processors, and the higher total slurry amount for systems having hexagonal polishing drum processors.


Chart 1



Chart 2



Legend
Max = Maxim Apr = Apron Cap (N) = Captan FL (Norac Concepts) Cap (US) = Captan 4000 FL (US) P = CF Clear polymer

Illustrations

Dust 1.gif
Treatment 1:
2.69 ml Maxim/Apron CB Liquid
5.38 ml Pro-Ized Red Liquid Colorant
187.52 ml Water

Dust 2.gif
Treatment 2:
50.00 ml Captan FL (Norac Concepts)
1.88 ml Apron
5.38 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
3.26 ml CF-Clear Liquid
135.07 ml Water

Dust 3.gif
Treatment 3:
50.00 ml Captan FL (Norac Concepts)
1.88 ml Apron
5.38 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
138.33 ml Water

Dust 4.gif
Treatment 4:
32.53 ml Captan 4000 FL (US formulation)
1.88 ml Apron
5.38 ml Color Coat Red Liquid
155.80 ml Water


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 NORAC CONCEPTS INC.
P. O. Box 31097, Guelph, Ontario N1H 8K1
Telephone: 519-821-3633 Fax: 519-821-2083



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