Plant protecting and regulating compositions – Plant growth regulating compositions – Organic active compound containing
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-16
2003-04-08
Clardy, S. Mark (Department: 1616)
Plant protecting and regulating compositions
Plant growth regulating compositions
Organic active compound containing
Reexamination Certificate
active
06544930
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for storage and transportation of an agricultural chemical. More particularly, it relates to an article of manufacture useful in warehousing and shipping of the herbicide glyphosate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The agricultural industry presents numerous logistical problems to the supplier of goods consumed in that industry, these problems being unique to agriculture or at least more acute than in most other industries. Individual production units in the agricultural industry (such units are called “farms” herein regardless of whether they fit the traditional image of farms) are more numerous and more geographically dispersed than in any other industry and, even in highly developed countries such as those of North America and Western Europe, are often relatively remote from major transport arteries. For these reasons, transportation costs, both inward and outward, are a significant burden on the industry and improvements in efficiency of transportation are continually sought in order to reduce these costs.
Distribution channels for goods required by the agricultural industry have evolved to deal with the geographical dispersion and large number of farms. In some cases, goods are shipped directly from the point of production to individual farms, but this is rare and is economically feasible only for the largest farms. Generally there is at least one, often more than one, step in the distribution channel between the original supplier and the farm gate. For example, the manufacturer of a good destined for use on a farm supplies a wholesale distribution company, which supplies a retailer or farm cooperative, which in turn supplies the individual farm. Distributors, retailers and cooperatives therefore maintain inventories of such goods, incurring warehousing costs that add to the cost ultimately borne by the farm operation. Improvements in efficiency of storage are therefore also sought, again in order to reduce costs.
Where the good in question is a pesticide, for example a herbicide, the benefits obtainable from improved efficiency of transportation and storage are particularly great. Pesticide products must generally be transported and stored in containers that are more expensive per unit of capacity than those used for many other products such as seeds and fertilizers. Expensive containers are used because of the great importance of container integrity arising from the high price/volume ratio of most pesticides and the fact that many pesticides are potentially hazardous if spilled or leaked.
Typically, therefore, pesticides are stored and transported in as concentrated or compact a form as possible without sacrificing ease of handling by the end-user, who has in most cases to dilute the pesticides in water or another carrier before applying the pesticides to crops, weeds or soil. The larger the amount of pesticidal active ingredient that can be accommodated in a container of given capacity, the lower are the costs of transportation and storage per unit of active ingredient and per unit area of land ultimately to be treated with that active ingredient. That the present state of the art sets an upper limit on the efficiency of packing of pesticides in containers for storage and shipping is well illustrated in the case of the herbicide glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine).
Glyphosate is “the largest selling agrochemical in the global market” with an estimated annual production of 93,420-114,180 tonnes (Wood Mackenzie Agrochemical Service, Agrochemicals Product Database, 1998). It finds uses for control of unwanted vegetation in virtually every agricultural production system, as well as in forestry, industrial, municipal, residential, rights-of-way, amenity and other applications. Glyphosate is an acid that is relatively insoluble in water (1.16% by weight at 25° C.). For this reason it is typically formulated as a water-soluble salt in aqueous solution.
Monobasic, dibasic and tribasic salts of glyphosate can be made. However, it is generally preferred to formulate glyphosate and apply glyphosate to plants in the form of a monobasic salt. The most widely used salt of glyphosate is the mono(isopropylammonium), often abbreviated to IPA, salt. Commercial herbicides of Monsanto Company having the IPA salt of glyphosate as active ingredient include Roundup®, Roundup® Ultra, Roundup® Xtra and Rodeo® herbicides. All such commercial products take the form of concentrated aqueous solutions of glyphosate IPA salt, in most cases together with inert formulation ingredients, principally surfactants. Other glyphosate salts which have been commercially formulated as concentrated aqueous solutions include the mono(trimethylsulfonium), often abbreviated to TMS, salt, used for example in Touchdown® herbicide of Zeneca.
The great diversity of global markets for glyphosate herbicides has led to a corresponding diversity of container types and sizes, and to a number of more complex storage and shipping systems, for concentrated liquid aqueous formulations of glyphosate salts. Containers used for storing and shipping such formulations are typically constructed of a durable plastic such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), although large bulk tanks are often constructed of other materials such as stainless steel.
Small containers, ranging in capacity from about 0.1 liter to about 10 liters, including the standard 2.5 gallon (9.46 liter) containers widely used in the United States, typically take the form of jugs or flasks with a replaceable screw-cap. They are generally designed for single use and are typically not returned to the supplier when empty, instead being disposed of by the end-user in accordance with local agricultural chemical container disposal guidelines, procedures, regulations or laws. Commonly, a plurality of these small containers are packaged within a single box and a plurality of such boxes are shipped on a pallet. During shipment, the small containers (usually within boxes on pallets) can be disposed in an enclosed volume such as provided by a rail boxcar or road truck, the hold of a ship or aircraft, or a modular box container adapted for transport by road, rail and water.
Larger single-use containers, ranging in capacity up to about 200 liters, for example about 50 to about 200 liters, are commonly in the form of drums, and can be shipped in an enclosed volume as described above, one or more per pallet or unpalleted.
Increasing volumes of liquid aqueous glyphosate products are being purchased by end-users in a large refillable container sometimes known as a shuttle, which typically has an integral pump or connector for an external pump to permit transfer of liquid. Shuttles have a capacity of about 200 to about 2000 liters and are commonly shipped on a pallet.
Liquid aqueous glyphosate products are also shipped in bulk, in large tanks having a capacity of up to about 100,000 liters. The liquid is commonly transferred by pumping to a storage tank at a facility operated by a wholesaler, retailer or cooperative, from which it can be further transferred to shuttles or smaller containers for onward distribution. Bulk shipment is also used for concentrated glyphosate salt solutions to be used as a raw material for preparation of formulated herbicidal products contining additional ingredients such as a surfactant.
A modular bulk shipping tank adapted for road, rail and water transportation typically has a capacity of about 15,000 to about 20,000 liters. A tank truck for road transportation typically has a capacity of about 20,000 to about 25,000 liters. A railcar tank typically has a capacity of about 75,000 to about 90,000 liters.
It will be clear from the storage and shipping containers illustratively described above that all have a limited capacity. Furthermore, when containers are shipped or stored in an enclosed volume, that enclosed volume also has a limited capacity.
Storage and shipping costs for most modes of transportation are primarily related to volume, therefore a system that would permit more compact packing
Clardy S. Mark
Monsanto Technology LLC
Schaper Joseph A.
Senniger Powers Leavitt & Roedel
LandOfFree
Compact storage and shipping system for glyphosate herbicide does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Compact storage and shipping system for glyphosate herbicide, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Compact storage and shipping system for glyphosate herbicide will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3068518