Plant Nutrient Suspensions And Use Thereof For Fertilising Plants

Abstract

The invention relates to suspensions containing: i) one or more plant nutrients; ii) one or more specific homo- or copolymers; iii) one or more solvents; and iv) optionally one or more additional auxiliary materials. The homo- or copolymers contain recurring structure units of formula (I), wherein R.sub.1 represents hydrogen or methyl, A represents C.sub.2-C.sub.4-alkyls, B represents a C.sub.2-C.sub.4-Alkyl that is different from A, m is a number from 0 to 500, n is a number from 0 to 500, and the sum of m+n is equal to 1 to 1000, and P.sub.a represents hydrogen, an acid group or the salt thereof, or represents the monovalent organic group containing one or two acid groups or the salts thereof. The suspensions according to the invention are advantageously suitable for supplying plants with one or more plant nutrients.

##STR00001##

Claims

1. A suspension comprising i) at least one plant nutrient, ii) at least one copolymer containing 1 to 80 mol % of at least one repeat structural unit of the formula (I) ##STR00019## 0.1 to 80 mol % of at least one repeat structural unit of the formula (II) ##STR00020## 0 to 20 mol % of at least one repeat structural unit of the formula (III) ##STR00021## 0.1 to 80 mol % of at least one repeat structural unit of the formula (IV) ##STR00022## in which R.sub.1, R.sub.2, and R.sub.3 are independently hydrogen or methyl, A is C.sub.2-C.sub.4-alkylene, B is a C.sub.2-C.sub.4-alkylene other than A, m is a number from 0 to 500, n is a number from 0 to 500, and the sum of m+n is 1 to 1000, P.sub.a is hydrogen, is an acidic group or salt thereof or is the monovalent organic radical containing one or two acidic groups or salts thereof, W.sub.b and W.sub.c are independently oxygen or the NH group, Y.sub.a and X.sub.c are independently a monovalent hydrocarbyl radical, especially an aliphatic, aromatic or araliphatic radical optionally containing one or more of the heteroatoms N, O and S, M is hydrogen or a monovalent metal cation, NH.sub.4.sup.+, a primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary ammonium cation, or a combination thereof, or is equivalents of di-, tri- or polyvalent metal cations, and z.sub.a, z.sub.b and z.sub.c are independently hydrogen or (C.sub.1-C.sub.4)-alkyl, with the proviso that the sum total of the repeat structural units of the formula (I), (II), (III) and/or (IV), based on the overall homo- or copolymer, is at least 80 mol %, iii) at least one solvent, and iv) optionally one or more further auxiliaries.

2. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one plant nutrient of component i) comprises trace elements in combination with nitrogen and/or potassium and/or phosphorus.

3. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one plant nutrient of component i) comprises a soluble calcium salt having a solubility of more than 1 g/liter at pH values of 3.0 to 6.5.

4. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, which comprises, as component ii), at least one copolymer selected from the group consisting of copolymers of the formula (CP.sub.1) and copolymers of the formula (CP.sub.2) ##STR00023## where the indices a, b and c state the molar proportion of the respective structural unit, a is 0.01-0.8, b is 0.001-0.8, c is 0.001-0.8, and the sum of a+b+c is 1, A is C.sub.2-C.sub.4-alkylene, B is a C.sub.2-C.sub.4-alkylene other than A, R is hydrogen or methyl, m is a number from 0 to 500, n is a number from 0 to 500, and the sum of m+n is 1 to 1000, X.sub.a is an aromatic or araliphatic radical which has 3 to 30 carbon atoms and optionally contains one or more of the heteroatoms N, O and S, z.sub.a is H or (C.sub.1-C.sub.4)-alkyl, z.sub.b is H or (C.sub.1-C.sub.4)-alkyl, z.sub.c is H or (C.sub.1-C.sub.4)-alkyl, R.sup.1 is hydrogen or methyl, X.sub.b is an aromatic or araliphatic radical which has 3 to 30 carbon atoms and optionally contains one or more of the heteroatoms N, O and S, W is oxygen or the NH group, R.sup.2 is hydrogen or methyl, Y is hydrogen or an aliphatic hydrocarbyl radical which has 1 to 30 carbon atoms and may be linear or branched, or else cyclic, and may contain the heteroatoms O, N and/or S and may also be unsaturated, W.sub.b is oxygen or the NH group, P is H, SO.sub.3M, CH.sub.2COOM, PO.sub.3M.sub.2, ##STR00024## and M is H, a polyvalent metal cation, a divalent metal cation, NH.sub.4.sup.+, a secondary, tertiary or quaternary ammonium ion, or a combination thereof, or is equivalents of di-, tri- or polyvalent metal ions.

5. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, comprising iii) water as the sole solvent, and iv) optionally one or more further auxiliaries.

6. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, which comprises, as component iii), at least one water-immiscible solvent and comprises either no water or comprises water in an amount of not more than 1.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the suspension.

7. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one solvent of component iii) is selected from the group consisting of water, monohydric alcohols, polyhydric alcohols, and mixtures thereof.

8. The suspension as claimed in claim 7, wherein the at least one solvent is selected from the group consisting of ethanol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerol, butanol, octanol, polyethylene glycol, butylene glycol, singly end-capped diols, monomethyl, monoethyl, monopropyl or monobutyl ethers of glycols, polyethylene glycols, and mixtures thereof.

9. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, which comprises one or more further auxiliaries of component iv).

10. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, which comprises, as component iv), at least one copolymer obtainable by copolymerization of glycerol, at least one dicarboxylic acid or a higher polybasic carboxylic acid, and at least one monocarboxylic acid.

11. The suspension as claimed in claim 10, wherein the copolymer is obtainable by copolymerizing glycerol, at least one dicarboxylic acid and at least one monocarboxylic acid of the formula (V)
R.sup.4COOH(V) in which R.sup.4 denotes C.sub.5-C.sub.29-alkyl, C.sub.7-C.sub.29-alkenyl, phenyl or naphthyl.

12. The suspension as claimed in claim 11, which comprises components i), ii) and iii) and a copolymer obtainable by copolymerizing glycerol, phthalic acid and coconut fatty acid as component iv).

13. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, which comprises 30% to 50% by weight of component i), 0.2% to 3% by weight of component ii) and 30% to 60% by weight of component iii), based in each case on the total amount of the suspension.

14. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one pesticide as component v).

15. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, which is free of pesticides.

16. The suspension as claimed in claim 1, which is a suspension concentrate having a proportion of solid substances of at least 20% by weight, based on the total mass of the suspension concentrate.

17. A spray liquor obtainable by diluting the suspension concentrate as claimed in claim 16 with water.

18. A method of fertilizing plants, characterized in that the plants or the habitat thereof are/is brought into contact with a suspension as claimed in claim 1.

19. (canceled)

20. (canceled)

21. A method of fertilizing plants, characterized in that the plants or the habitat thereof are/is brought into contact with a spray liquor as claimed in claim 17

Description

EXAMPLES

[0297] The invention is illustrated hereinafter by examples, but these should in no way be regarded as a restriction.

[0298] The commercial products used are:

TABLE-US-00001 Genapol X-060 ethoxylated alcohol, C11-14-iso-, C13-rich (6EO) from Clariant Dispersogen LFS triethanolammonium salt of an ethoxylated TSP phosphate from Clariant (96% by weight); TSP: tristyrylphenol Kelzan S xanthan gum from CP Kelco (thickener) SILFOAM SRE-PFL silicone defoamer from Wacker-Chemie Calcium formate, 98% Ca formate from Alfa Aesar

[0299] General Method for Production of Suspension Concentrates:

[0300] All components (except for the Kelzan S solution) are predispersed with a dissolver. The subsequent fine grinding is effected in a ball mill until the desired particle size has been attained. Subsequently, the aqueous Kelzan S solution is added and adjusted to the desired final viscosity.

[0301] In the case of the suspoemulsion, the water-immiscible solvent is pre-emulsified together with emulsifier and water separately from the aqueous plant nutrient suspension and likewise added only after the dispersion step.

[0302] The target particle size is a value between 1 and 50 m; the particle sizes are preferably in the range of 5 to 30 m, more preferably between 6 and 20 m.

[0303] The viscosity of the final suspensions at room temperature is typically within a range from 100 to 500 mPas (Brookfield) at 100 rpm, or 900 to 2000 mPas at 20 rpm.

[0304] Testing of the Suspensions:

[0305] The suspensions are stored at 10 C., 0 C., 20 C., 30 C. and 40 C. for at least 4 weeks. Merely a minimal amount of sediment is to be formed here, which must additionally be redispersible.

[0306] After equilibration of the stored samples to room temperature, it is checked by gently agitating the samples whether a solid or redispersible sediment has formed.

Example 1: Suspension with Calcium Formate (450 g/L)

[0307]

TABLE-US-00002 35.43 g calcium formate 2.0 g Genapol X 060 1.0 g copolymer (prepared according to synthesis example 19 from WO 2008/138486 A1) 2.0 g copolymer (prepared according to the method for copolymer II from EP 1 379 129 B1, 70% by weight solution in water) 8.0 g Kelzan S (2% by weight solution in water) 6.0 g 1,2-propylene glycol 0.25 g Silfoam SRE-PFL 45.32 g deionized water

Example 2: Suspension with Calcium Formate (450 g/L)

[0308]

TABLE-US-00003 35.43 g calcium formate 2.0 g Genapol X 060 0.5 g copolymer (prepared according to synthesis example 3 from WO 2008/138485 A1) 2.0 g copolymer (prepared according to the method for copolymer II from EP 1 379 129 B1, 70% by weight solution in water) 5.75 g Kelzan S (2% by weight solution in water) 6.0 g 1,2-propylene glycol 0.25 g Silfoam SRE-PFL 48.07 g deionized water

Example 3: Suspension with Calcium Formate (450 g/L)

[0309]

TABLE-US-00004 35.43 g calcium formate 2.0 g Genapol X 060 0.5 g copolymer (prepared according to synthesis example 19 from WO 2008/138486 A1) 5.75 g Kelzan S (2% by weight solution in water) 6.0 g 1,2-propylene glycol 0.25 g Silfoam SRE-PFL 50.07 g deionized water

Example 4: Suspension with Calcium Formate (450 g/L)

[0310]

TABLE-US-00005 35.43 g calcium formate 2.0 g Genapol X 060 1.0 g copolymer (prepared according to synthesis example 3 from WO 2008/138485 A1) 5.75 g Kelzan S (2% by weight solution in water) 6.0 g 1,2-propylene glycol 0.25 g Silfoam SRE-PFL 49.57 g deionized water

Example 5: Suspension with Calcium Formate (450 g/L); Comparative Example

[0311]

TABLE-US-00006 35.43 g calcium formate 2.0 g Genapol X 060 1.0 g Dispersogen LFS 2.0 g copolymer (prepared according to the method for copolymer II from EP 1 379 129 B1, 70% by weight solution in water) 5.75 g Kelzan S (2% by weight solution in water) 6.0 g 1,2-propylene glycol 0.25 g Silfoam SRE-PFL 47.57 g deionized water

[0312] Results of the Storage Experiment (4 Weeks):

TABLE-US-00007 Example 1 Proportion of the 5 Storage suspension phase after (comparative temperature storage (% by volume) 2 3 4 example) 10 C. 70 70 71 69 64 0 C. 74 68 86 72 21 20 C. 89 95 86 81 44* 30 C. 90 91 95 83 54* 40 C. 82 83 70 75 54 *sediment not redispersible by simple agitation

[0313] Further Examples of Suspensions of the Invention:

Example 6: Plant Nutrient Suspension

[0314]

TABLE-US-00008 17.0 g calcium formate 8.0 g ammonium dihydrogenphosphate 10.0 g potassium nitrate 2.0 g magnesium sulfate heptahydrate 1.0 g iron(II) sulfate 2.0 g copolymer (prepared according to synthesis example 19 from WO 2008/138486 A1) 6.0 g 1,2-propylene glycol 2.0 g Genapol X 060 5.75 g Kelzan S (2% by weight solution in water) 0.25 g Silfoam SRE-PFL 46 g deionized water

Example 7: Plant Nutrient Suspension

[0315]

TABLE-US-00009 18.4 g calcium formate 4.4 g urea 2.2 g potassium nitrate 2.0 g magnesium sulfate 3.2 g magnesium nitrate 1.4 g ammonium nitrate 0.6 g ammonium chloride 3.9 g ammonium dihydrogenphosphate 0.5 g iron DTPA chelate 0.2 g manganese EDTA chelate 0.3 g zinc EDTA chelate 0.04 g potassium borate 0.04 g copper EDTA chelate 0.01 g sodium molybdate 0.01 g cobalt sulfate 1.8 g copolymer (prepared according to synthesis example 19 from WO 2008/138486 A1) 5.0 g 1,2-propylene glycol 2.0 g Genapol X 060 8.0 g Kelzan 2% solution 46.0 g water