Design:

MULTIVODE™ is an irrigation appliance shaped as a multi-layer composite (packed in a roll) designed to store and deliver irrigation water using hydrogel particles of fraction 0.5 to 2.00 mm. It consists of two non-woven polyester fabric layers: upper one is thicker and with lower density of fibers and bottom layer is thinner with higher density of fibers. In between them are hydrogel particles seeded onto upper side of the bottom layer – together with a possible addition of fertiliser stripe or fertiliser paste (N-P-K with Magnesium additive). The two layers are tied together with special spring-like ties (Picture 1).

How it works:

When the water is poured onto MULTIVODE™ product, the hydrogel particles grow (up to 200x of original dry particle volume and the spring ties designed for this purpose, enable this growing and the layers´distance increasing. When the water from hydrogel evaporates, the spring ties shrink and the layers´ distance reduces.

MULTIVODE™ is good for lawn and other green surfaces creation as an irrigation and fertiliser-base layer. Thanks to its hydrogel content the water is gathered for longer time and fertiliser is dissolved more consistently (Picture 2). MULTIVODE™ should be covered with sufficiently thick layer of soil depending on plants grown.

Novelty/Improvement:

As the hydrogel is in between the two polyester layers, MULTIVODE™ is removable from ground together with hydrogel and so hydrogel itself doesn´t contaminate the soil for a long time – this is an improvement in comparison to current hydrogel usage where hydrogel is simply mixed with soil. Also integration of separation layer, hydrogel and fertiliser into one product is remarkable.

Typical applications:

green roofs
house-yards
grassing of playgrounds, golf-greens, post-construction areas
recultivation of industrial wastelands, landfills
excellent as an under-layer for hydroseeding

Potential benefit:

It is possible to produce a line of MULTIVODE™ products featuring various thicknesses and densities of polyester layers and amount of hydrogel present. This together with fertiliser control would allow to tailor optimal make-up of MULTIVODE™ product vs. growing targeted plants, regarding also to where it is placed in land. So the application of hydrogel in grassing would be better managed.

Manufacturing MULTIVODE™:

Proposed way of production is on an automated line consisting of two sets of wheels where bottom polyester layer enriched with hydrogel (seeded on it with a distributor) and/or with fertiliser stripes or paste, and an upper polyester layer are put together and pierced for ties application. After, the layers are tied together with plastic spring ties from up and bottom which are heat-welded together in their centers (Picture 3), this is performed on the second set of wheels.

MULTIVODE™ compared to existing products:

There is no such integrated product like MULTIVODE™ regarding to its composition, on today´s market. The production is expected to be very easy and production cost at automated production relatively low, but initial costs for developing and validation of production technology.

Market potential:

The use of MULTIVODE™ is really broad at grassing and recultivation with planting, seeding, hydroseeding of various areas worldwide.