Analysis of Telematics Data of Combine Harvesters and Evaluation of Potential to Reduce Environmental Pollution

Abstract

The combine harvester (CH) is one of the most important machines with the most powerful engine used in the agricultural sector. It consumes significant amounts of diesel fuel and harms ambient air by releasing emissions. This study examines the telematics data of CHs (models with axial threshing apparatus) collected between 2017 and 2020. The time spent in various operating modes of CH, the fuel consumption, and the negative impact on the ambient air (expressed in global warming potential–(GWP)) were calculated. Field tests using the same CH model were also performed to confirm the collected telematics data’s values. Possibilities to minimize fuel consumption and air pollution by selecting the correct use of technological operations are evaluated. Telematics data analysis results showed that the CH spends ~18% and ~13% of the time in the idle and transport modes, respectively. It was also found that ~12% of diesel fuel was consumed outside the direct harvesting mode, amounting to 4.7 t year−1 of GWP per machine. Dual telematics/field studies showed that the optimal use of the CH in idle and transport modes could reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment in terms of GWP by 1.3 t year−1 for one machine. Field tests have also shown that the GWP per ton of wheat harvest highly depended on the CH driving speed during harvesting. The optimum speed was determined as 4 km h−1, and the wheat grain and straw feed rate was determined as 24 kg s−1.