UMBILICAL SLURRY HANDLING SYSTEM

THE GROUNDHOG UMBILICAL APPLICATION SYSTEM

The umbilical method of Sludge / Slurry handling involves pumping the liquid from a liquid storage facility (lagoon or tank) using a high-pressure pump unit, via a pipeline, to a tractor mounted applicator unit. Once the system is set up and the pipeline has been laid, the pump is started and the applicator unit is then driven in straight lines, dragging the supply pipe, known as the Drag Hose, up and down the spreading field.

ADVANTAGES OF THIS SLURRY HANDLING SYSTEM

The umbilical application system has numerous advantages over traditional tanker based application methods, the main ones being :

DRASTICALLY INCREASED WORKRATES
Work-rates of 100m³ (20,000 gallons) an hour are typical.
DRASTIC REDUCTION IN FIELD SOIL COMP ACTION
No heavy tanker unit is driven onto the field.
ELLIMINATES DAMAGE OF FIELD ACCESS AREA
Applicator unit is driven In and Out of the field just once.
ELLIMINATES MUD CARRIAGE ONTO FIELD ACCESS ROADS
Applicator unit stays in the field until the field is finished.

THE EQUIPMENT FOR THIS SLURRY HANDLING SYSTEM

Pump Unit
This is a high pressure, high flow-rate pump unit that is used to transfer the pumpable media from the storage facility and up the pipeline. Groundhog pump units can be tractor driven, electric motor driven or diesel engine driven and are available in various output sizes and mounting options.
The Pipeline
This is a mobile, flexible pipeline transport medium running from the pump unit to the applicator unit. This pipeline is made up of multiple lengths of layflat hose (either 200m, 150m or 100m per length) connected end to end, to provide a total pipeline length of typically 1200m. Various combinations of pipeline diameters (6", 5" or 4" I.D.) are used, and carefully calculated pipelines can achieve pumping ranges in excess of 2000 meters.
Hose Reeler Unit
The hose reeler unit is used to deploy and retrieve the layflat flexible pipeline. All Groundhog hose reeler units are powered by the operating tractor hydraulic oil system. Reels are available to carry various multiples of 200m or 150m hoses, with total capacities ranging from 600m to 1800m per machine, and are either tractor 3-point link mounted or tractor towed.
Applicator Unit
This is a tractor 3-point link mounted unit that is connected to the field end of the pipeline and is driven in straight lines across the field to apply the pipeline fed liquid to the field. Available applicators range from Sub-Surface injectors to Splash Plate Type Surface applicators.
Control & Monitoring Units
These are optional units that are used to facilitate and optimise the efficiency of the umbilical system operation.

Various units are available to automate the operation and control of pump units, ranging from manually operated flow bypass systems to full Radio Telemetry pump control units that allow the umbilical system to be operated completely by 1 man.

A range of units are available to monitor and record various parameters while operating the umbilical system. These range from simple volume totalising units to State of the Art Satellite Application Mapping units.

SURFACE SLURRY APPLICATORS

GROUNDHOG Systems offer a comprehensive range of surface spreading equipment to suit the needs of farmers and contractors. All Groundhog Applicators have been developed over the years to give the user unrivalled performance and reliability. They are built to the highest standards to our industry proven Heavy Duty designs.

Splash Plate Slurry Applicators

Groundhog Splash Plate Applicator range allows the operator to surface apply sludges or slurries in a controlled fashion through the use of low level, large bore rubber nozzle units which produce an even, large droplet spread pattern resulting in a drastic reduction in nozzle blockages, odour and wind drift.

PTS 168 - Manual Folding Twin Splash Plate Applicator
Main Features:

168m³(36960 gal) per hour flow capacity
12m nominal spread width
Twin Rubber Cone Nozzles
Manual Folding Telescopic Booms
6" Hydraulic Gate Valve
Full Width Swinging Hose Guide Arm
Unique Hose Moving Shoe

PTP 168 - Hydraulic Folding Twin Splash Plate Applicator
Main Features:

168m³(36960 gal) per hour flow capacity
12m nominal spread width
Twin Rubber Cone Nozzles
Manual Folding Telescopic Booms
6" Hydraulic Gate Valve
Full Width Swinging Hose Guide Arm
Unique Hose Moving Shoe

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Trailing Hose Slurry Applicators

The Groundhog Trailing Hose Applicator range are designed to lay sludges or slurry directly on the ground, thereby reducing nitrogen loss, improving application rate accuracy, and further reducing odour and wind drift problems.

PTH 60 - Trailing Hose Applicator
Main Features:

60-120m³(13200-26400 gal) per hour flow capacity
6m spread width
16 High Wearing Rubber Outlet Hoses
Hydraulically Operated Folding Booms
6" Hydraulic Gate Valve
Full Width Swinging Hose Guide Arm
Unique Hose Moving Shoe

Accessories & Options

Galvanised Finish
A-Frame Mounting

SUB-SURFACE INJECTORS

Groundhog Sub Surface Injectors have been developed over a period of 20 years to give unrivalled performance on both grassland and stubble. All machines incorporate a unique slim-line design injection legs that can achieve injection depth from 4" to 14" that have easily replaceable surface contact parts. Injectors are available as Umbilical or Tanker Mounted Units.

PTH 60 - Trailing Hose
Applicator
Main Features:

Unique Spring Loaded Auto reset leg assemblies
Adjustable spring coulter disks
Easily removable and low cost soil wearing parts eliminating costly downtime.
Full width fully adjustable rear pressure roller.
6" Spring/Hydraulic Line Valve
Cat II/III three-point linkage (Umbilical Models Only)
Heavy Duty Swinging Hose Guide Arm. (Umbilical Models Only)

Model	Width (meters)	Number of legs	Maximum fluidic capacity
PIF 100.4	3	4	100m³ (22.000 gal)/hr
PIF 125.5	3.5	5	125m³ (27.500 gal)/hr
PIF 150.6	4	6	150m³ (33.000 gal)/hr

Accessories & Options

Fluidic Diodes (patent applied for) - Non Restrictive Distribution System to ensure an even more accurate distribution of slurry to all legs (particularly useful when fed via centrifugal or vacuum pumping systems
HYDRASET Hydraulic Levelling System

GROUNDHOG Sludge / Slurry Sub-Soil Injector System

For disposal of sewage sludge and farm slurry to land by sub-soil injection.

Section showing the continuous slurry layer, which avoids striping and is
readily available for plant roots.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE SUB-SOIL INJECTOR

Completely eliminates the environmental and nuisance problems previously associated with sludge and slurry disposal bringing more land into use closer to housing and sewage works.
Higher application rates and significant transport economies.
Un-rivalled nutrient benefit to crops no leaching occurs to atmosphere
Even application with the absolute minimum of surface contamination and none of the surface run-off problems that can occur with top-spreading systems.

PIF 100.4 Mounted on Single Axle Tanker	PIF 100.4 Mounted On Twin Axle High Speed Tanker

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