As 2023 draws to a close, come and meet us to discuss your project, spray quality and drift reduction with BLISS high-performance aeroconfined spraying!
Find out more about our presence at the various events at the end of 2023 below. Contact us using the contact form if you would like to arrange a meeting with us!
Come and meet us at SITEVI on our stand in the Crop Protection Hall.
Stand B1 C 020 – Hall B1
Reducing the drift of Phytopharmaceutical Products (PPP) is one of the components of the overall reduction in the impact of PPP in viticulture. The stakes are social, environmental and economic. These major concerns are now being taken into account by the public authorities via the ECOPHYTO II plan and by winegrowers, manufacturers and consumers to protect the environment and the population living near vineyards.
The aim is to produce in a controlled way to guarantee harvests by ensuring the health of the plots while limiting or even eliminating environmental impacts, particularly in the air.
There are 3 agronomic strategies for reducing the impact of PPPs on the environment, spread over 3 different timeframes: prophylaxis, observation and reasoning in time T and decision-making, which leads to a change in the choice of technical itinerary initially planned for the plot. However, these methods will not be sufficient without the 4th approach: high-performance equipment in good working order and properly adjusted.
Prophylaxis is the set of methods used to anticipate the appearance of pests and diseases. In viticulture, the proliferation of a large number of bio-aggressors can be considerably reduced by anticipating vine cultivation methods according to a calendar based on their reproduction cycles. Actions such as leaf thinning, de-stemming, debudding and pruning to control vine vigour are therefore part of a prophylactic approach. Avoiding wet areas by draining the soil also helps to limit the risk of contamination.
The technical crop itinerary can be modified according to the observations, so it is possible to reduce PPP doses, replace them with biological products or replace them with techniques that avoid the use of herbicides.
In short, all these agronomic measures help to limit the size of infestation populations, reduce the intensity of epidemics and the number of pathogenic fungi, thereby helping to modulate the risk of resistance.
First and foremost, to limit drift, it is necessary to eliminate its origin, the losses from the sprayer that cause it. Above all, to ensure a quality treatment, it is important to have a treatment device in good working order (I.E. of the technical inspection), to adjust it properly to the different configurations of the plots and grape varieties.
That’s why BLISS downsprays have been specifically designed to provide the conditions for successful vineyard protection while respecting the environment.
BLISS Ecospray optimises treatment efficiency by transforming your sprayer into a high-performance device (whether towed, mounted or on a high-clearance tractor) by adapting high-performance, new-generation “face-by-face” aeroconfined spray pipes.
BLISS Ecospray face-by-face downspouts operate with a laminar air barrier blowing at a speed of >240km/h. They limit drift by eliminating losses at source, with less than 1% loss to the air and less than 5% loss to the ground. They also ensure the health safety of your plots, with over 50% of PPP applied in the heart of the vegetation.
Lightweight, robust and easy to use, they are compatible with most existing vehicles (Bobard 1049, Jaguar CMC, Sprayer IDEAL, Berthoud, etc.).
Produced by BLISS Ecospray, they will be available from June 2022.
The Coanda effect is named after the Romanian engineer Henry Coanda, born in 1886. It is a physical phenomenon described as the attraction of a jet of fluid (liquid or gas) to a convex surface over which it flows. In this way, the fluid follows the surface and undergoes a deviation before detaching from it with a different trajectory to the one it had upstream.
This phenomenon can be described as a “stationary bifurcation in a fluid flow”.
On the other hand, a solid approaching a convex object would have a trajectory related to a ricochet, as in the examples below.
When the air follows the inside walls of our rings between the front and rear blades, there is an induction phenomenon and the Coanda effect accentuates and directs the flows to confine the spraying and improve the quality of application of the products on the vines.
A Coanda effect also occurs when the airflow exits the lip of the downpipe. The outer lip of the downspout is shorter than the inner lip, creating an additional induction effect that causes the air to flow at a slight angle towards the inside of the ring. The design of Bliss Ecospray therefore creates a high-performance laminar blade of air, regular and controlled in its trajectory for optimum spraying and safe treatment of vineyards, with greater economy, ecology and performance in terms of managing sanitary pressure.
This air gap is present all around the ring, so spraying takes place inside the air shield, which is the source of improvements and innovation.
Figure 6 : Turbulence in the heart of the vegetation = better coverage
To mark Research Week from 26 to 30 September 2022, we would like to highlight the inspiring profiles who work at Bliss Ecospray on a daily basis. Here is a portrait of Vincent DE RUDNICKI, co-founder and Scientific Director.
I started out as a mechanical electronics designer. I then went on to study electronics at a university institute of technology, graduating as a DPE engineer. When I joined Cemagref, a research centre for agricultural equipment, in 1982, I immediately came into contact with a team of multi-disciplinary engineers: mechanics, hydraulic engineers, electronics engineers, computer scientists, agronomists, etc. We came up with a number of breakthrough solutions to meet the challenges of agriculture. We came up with a number of ground-breaking solutions to meet the challenges of automating agricultural tasks.
We were lucky enough to be pioneers in digital electronics, imaging, automation, robotics, mechatronics, etc. in the 80s and 2000s, a period when technological development was on an exponential curve. So I immediately started working with industrial partners to design innovative systems: electronic pruning shears. However, I was also confronted with the uses of users in the field (what is known today as UX-Design) and with industrial constraints as well as those inherent in the structuring of research and funding.
After a period developing solutions for robotics and work assistance tools for winegrowers, I worked on the application of phytosanitary treatments and mainly on quantifying the environmental impact. It was in this context that I developed NTIC tools (new information and communication technologies) to measure the conditions of application of the machines as well as the measurement of residues close to the plots and those further away.
This led to the creation of the PICORE traceability and assistance system for winegrowing, a tool to help winegrowers who didn’t have the means to do any better because the impact was so significant. For 5 years, as a scientific adviser to the UMT ECOTECHVITI (IFV-INRAE), I contributed to the development of measurement systems and the evaluation of treatment and measurement equipment by initiating LIDAR studies.
Je me suis également consacré à ma conviction que mesurer n’était pas suffisant : mon engagement de chercheur m’imposait de trouver une solution qui, non pas atténuait les impacts, mais les supprimait à la source, la conception même du système de pulvérisation ! Ainsi, dès 2014 je proposais une collaboration au VINITECH pour développer un robot de traitement confinant totalement la pulvérisation. Face à une demande pressante des viticulteurs, j’ai étudié le développement d'une solution qui réponde aux enjeux sociétaux de réduction des impacts environnementaux et des quantités de produits.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been building models and then tinkering with my motorbikes and cars, and designing lots of things for my hobbies and for friends.
In those pioneering days, mechanical and electronic design opened up the realms of possibility and utopia to me. The passion to imagine is in my genes, night and day.
This week is an opportunity to showcase the work of researchers. The solutions we discover, even the most abstract ones, can lead to concrete results in areas we never thought of before. Hence the usefulness of publications and bibliographic monitoring!
« There’s no point in knowing if you don’t let people know. »
My role today within Bliss Ecospray is to pass on my experience, my knowledge and all the ideas that I wasn’t able to implement. Finally, I hope to have many more years ahead of me to take Bliss Ecospray to its peak and make it a benchmark.
I experienced this inter-age collaboration throughout the rest of my career with PhD students, but also as a teacher at the faculty and at the CNAM. What a satisfaction it was to be approached by former students who remembered your unusual lectures: the message had got through…
What motivates me today is being challenged in my certainties by the impertinence of young people, an impertinence that is usually respectful. It’s important, I’ve always respected my peers and fathers, I owe them everything. Today, I’m continuing with the young, successful Bliss Ecospray team, which is shaking me up and vice versa.
Ce que je refoule toujours à l’énonciation d’une idée, c’est le « oui, mais ! » toujours porteur de négativisme. Voici une liste des “must-do” si vous souhaitez devenir ingénieur :
After a summer full of demonstrations at our partner winegrowers’, find out below about our presence at the various events from September to December 2022. Contact us via the contact form if you would like to make an appointment with us!
September 27th : INRAE is organising its first event dedicated to start-ups, “Startup for planet”, in Paris. Bliss Ecospray will be represented by Yves Matton, co-founder of Technofounders, and will take part in a round table alongside MAELAB, LoValTech, MAbSilico and NovoBiome. 🚀
Program and subscription >
We’d like to highlight the inspiring people who work at Bliss Ecospray on a daily basis. Here is a portrait of François-Xavier LELONG, Production & Industrialisation Manager.
I’ve been working at Bliss Ecospray for a year and a half. From my point of view, working in a young start-up enables me to progress more quickly. I was very interested in working for a start-up dedicated to innovation in the wine industry.
Being in charge of production and industrialisation at Bliss Ecospray involves choosing production materials and suppliers for the purchase of these products. One of the main challenges is to identify and adapt the products to the existing production tools and ensure that their performance is constantly improved. As far as the assembly of components is concerned, you need to be rigorous in setting up dedicated logistics, including goods stock management and team management.
What I particularly like about working for Bliss Ecospray is the autonomy I have in setting up processes and being able to develop them over time.
After finishing my schooling at a scientific high school, I joined a preparatory class in the Paris region (94) before joining an engineering school at Grenoble PHELMA for 3 years. I continued my studies in Finland during my Masters I and II specialising in materials, the environment and innovation.
My first professional experience took place over 2 years with a start-up in the north of France specialising in the automotive sector. After that, I joined the Bliss Ecospray team.
What I love about my job is how close I am to the product. The product is tangible and I help to develop it by reducing production costs and increasing its added value and technical performance – a real and exciting challenge!
I would say that Bliss Ecospray technology is revolutionary because it increases the performance of crop treatments. In other words, we reduce product losses, while maintaining the same treatment capacity as other sprayers. Tests show and prove that we are the best performer on the market.
My advice today for future generations wishing to enter the field of engineering would be to find a sector of activity that appeals to them and to make it an exciting job.
I’ve never doubted my career choice, and I’ve always done the job I dreamed of doing since I was at college. It’s been a gradual process, through my research, but also through my various work placements, experiences and school projects. The industrial world has always fascinated me.
As we all know, biocontrol is not just about using products that are better for the environment, it’s also about combining techniques to optimise your practices. When it comes to spraying, for example, we often think of section cutting or anti-drift nozzles. Reducing the drift of phytosanitary products and providing better coverage of treated leaves is now possible, in winegrowing, thanks to Bliss Ecospray technology.
Created in January 2021, Bliss Ecospray is a start-up marketing a confinement technology using air blades. It meets the needs of winegrowers. It was invented by Vincent de Rudnicki, a researcher at INRAE whose speciality is working on pesticide dispersion. When the two blades of air produced by the nozzles meet, they create a turbulence effect, a sort of shield, which allows the drops of product to penetrate right to the heart of the vegetation.
The Bliss Ecospray aeroconfined system was developed for vines. We can only dream of seeing it used for other crops © Bliss Ecospray
Rather than come up with a solution to reduce the nuisance associated with spraying problems (loss of products into the soil and the air), Vincent de Rudnicki said to himself: “Let’s try to reduce the problems at source” and came up with a model that confines the sprays as soon as they are applied. Inspired by the effects of air in aeronautics, he devised, prototyped and validated an aeroconfined concept: the sprays are encapsulated in a hermetically sealed air bubble. The entire product is plant-oriented.
..
Bliss Ecospray was launched in January 2021 following a meeting between Vincent de Rudnicki, who developed the company’s technology, and Yves Matton and his associates working at startup studio TechnoFounders. Vincent de Rudnicki, a researcher at ISTREA, part of INRAE, has developed a technology for optimising the use of phytosanitary products in wine-growing.
The aim of Bliss Ecospray is to reduce the drift of phytosanitary products used in viticulture. The impact of plant protection products on water and soil is well known and recognised. The wine industry is one of the biggest consumers of these products, but as part of the transition to more sustainable farming practices, it needs to find solutions to reduce or limit the use of these products.
Bliss Ecospray is one of the 26 winners of the i-Lab 2020-2021 Innovation Competition supported by the SATTs. The i-Lab part of the competition promotes the results of public research through the creation of innovative technology companies!
The awards ceremony for the winners of the 2020-2021 Innovation Contest was held on Thursday 8 July 2021. This ceremony, held under the banner of relaunch, was an opportunity to highlight the 243 winners of the 2021 edition of the Innovation Contest in all categories, including 53 winners in all categories supported by the SATTs.
The i-Lab part of the competition promotes the results of public research through the creation of innovative technology companies. Organised by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation in partnership with Bpifrance, i-Lab funds the best research and development projects to finalise an innovative technological product, process or service, with substantial financial support (up to €600K per project, for a total budget of €26 million) and tailored support. In its 23 years of existence, i-Lab has become a key gateway for innovative project leaders and a quality label unanimously recognised by deep-tech investors.
For the 2021 edition, the jury of experts has selected 69 winners from the 399 applications received for the national competition, particularly in the fields of healthcare, digital technology and mechanical engineering. Of these, 26 are supported by the SATTs, including 3 Grand Prize winners.
The startup studio Technofounders and Vincent de RUDNICKI, Research Engineer at IRSTEA / INRAE, unveil their new company Bliss Ecospray: a very high performance confined spraying solution for vineyards.
In order to meet the challenges of protecting the environment and people, Vincent de RUDNICKI, a research engineer at IRSTEA / INRAE, has since 2017 been developing a technological innovation based on high-performance spraying confined by air blades. This innovation drastically reduces the drift of phytosanitary products while improving the quality of coverage of treated leaves.
After several tests on the experimental bench and in the vineyard, the Bliss Ecospray company was created in January 2021 alongside the Technofounders start-up studio, with the aim of industrialising and marketing this innovation.
An innovation for winegrowers who care about the environment
The technological innovation patented and used by Bliss Ecospray exploits the COANDA effect, which is well known in the aeronautical sector, to confine the sprayed product inside a high-density, impenetrable layer of air. The air expelled at very high speed (>200 km/h) all around the nozzles forms a ring from which no drop can escape. The droplets are thus trapped between two invisible transverse screens and form a physical barrier, preventing any “loss” of product into the air or onto the ground. This is known as the drift phenomenon.
Thanks to its innovation, Bliss Ecospray achieves near-perfect coverage with good uniformity. This technology also drastically reduces the drift of phytosanitary products. By preventing the transfer of these products outside the treatment zone, winegrowers can save between 20% and 40% on the use of these products.
Bliss Ecospray downspouts have the advantage of being lightweight, space-saving and, above all, compatible with multi-row operation to optimise treatment times. Bliss Ecospray makes it possible to reduce both energy consumption and the use of plant protection products, while optimising leaf coverage and protecting the environment, whatever the type of spraying. The aim is to provide winegrowers with a tool that offers excellent performance while drastically reducing the risks and nuisances for the environment.
Bright prospects for growth on the horizon
Bliss Ecospray is fully in line with the EcoPhyto II plan supported by the Ministries of Agriculture and Ecology, which aims to halve the use of plant protection products by 2025 and ensure better control of the risks associated with these products. At the SITEVI international trade show in 2019, the team promised to make the technology available on the market within a few years. Now it’s here!
Over the next few months, the aim is to develop an initial system that can be industrialised and to organise demonstrations for interested winegrowers, with a view to offering equipment for sale from 2022. As a result, the Bliss Ecospray teams will be carrying out the first trials under real conditions this summer at wineries interested in developing the technology.
« Bliss Ecospray technology enables us to drastically reduce the nuisances associated with the use of plant protection products, and to move towards a gradual reduction in the use of these products. The technology is easy to use and reliable, and our main objective is to make it available to winegrowers from 2022! »
Yves MATTON, co-founder of Bliss Ecospray