INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering

29-36

Authors: Hud, Victor; Rogatynsky, Roman; Hevko, Ivan; Lyashuk, Oleg; Pіk, Andriy; Huryk, Oleg

The article presents the results of resonant oscillations theoretical research of the telescopic screw - granular material system caused by external periodic forces. In the theoretical part a mathematical model of bending vibrations of an elastic body is described, which rotates along a fixed axis with a constant angular velocity, provided that it moves with a constant relative linear velocity along the elastic body. In the experimental part, according to the obtained equations, it has been established for the various kinematic characteristics of the system, a telescopic screw-granular media of amplitude passing through resonance at the frequency of external periodic perturbation.The results of experimental research and recommendations for the selection of constructive kinematic for telescopic screw conveyor have been presented.

45-52

Authors: Rogovskii; Ivan; Titova, Luidmyla; Trokhaniak, Viktor; Haponenko, Oleksandr; Ohiienko, Mykola; Kulik, Vasyl

The roller for seeds of different sizes, a variable-size pneumatic cylinder precision seed metering device was designed, which could realize the precision seeding of different diameter seeds without changing the roller. The structure and working principle of seed metering device were explained, and the structural parameters of the main components of the seed meter were determined. The ANSYS was used to analyse the influence of the size of the negative pressure inlet pipe and the shape of the eyelet on the airflow velocity in a negative pressure chamber. Based on the above optimal structure, the orthogonal experiment of seed metering device was carried out. Testing results showed: under the negative pressure of 4 kPa, roller speed of 16.93r/min and the wind speed of 11.48m/s, the seed metering device had the best seeding effect. The qualification rate of the seed metering device was 92.37%, the miss-seeding rate was 3.74% and the over-seeding rate was 3.88%.

61-70

Authors: Bulan, Ramayanty; Devianti; Ayu, Ega Septi; Sitorus, Agustami

The physical and mechanical properties of fresh arecanut fruit have not been comprehensively and thoroughly investigated scientifically yet. This made the researchers and engineers not to be precise in designing the fresh arecanut handling machine. Thus, the present study was aimed to investigate some engineering properties of arecanut fruit in three moisture viz. 67.66%, w.b. (underripe stages), 64.86%, w.b. (ripe stages), and 33.90%, w.b. (overripe stages). In general, the results of the study show that the geometric and arithmetic mean diameter, surface area, bulk and true density, porosity, angle of repose, compression force and static coefficient of friction at different surfaces (stainless steel, plywood, and glass) of arecanut fruit were found to increase 2.16%, 2.70%, 4.26%, 0.02%, 42.16%, 42.41%, 9.97%, 17.04%, 20.30%, and 22.04% respectively at decrease of moisture content from 67.66%, w.b. to 33.90%, w.b. However, sphericity, aspect ratio, thousand fruit mass, and bulk density of the arecanut fruit were found to decrease 2.31%, 3.31%, 34.54%, and, 50.24%, respectively at a decrease of moisture content from 67.66% (w.b.) to 33.90% (w.b.). Some engineering properties of arecanut fruit indicate something slightly different from the arecanut kernels so that this data can help the researcher or engineer to design the fresh arecanut fruit handling machine more precisely.

79-88

Authors: Hidayat, Dadang Dayat; Sudaryanto, Arie; Kurniawan, Yose Rizal; Indriati, Ashri; Sagita, Diang

The roller for seeds of different sizes, a variable-size pneumatic cylinder precision seed metering device was designed, which could realize the precision seeding of different diameter seeds without changing the roller. The structure and working principle of seed metering device were explained, and the structural parameters of the main components of the seed meter were determined. The ANSYS was used to analyse the influence of the size of the negative pressure inlet pipe and the shape of the eyelet on the airflow velocity in a negative pressure chamber. Based on the above optimal structure, the orthogonal experiment of seed metering device was carried out. Testing results showed: under the negative pressure of 4 kPa, roller speed of 16.93r/min and the wind speed of 11.48m/s, the seed metering device had the best seeding effect. The qualification rate of the seed metering device was 92.37%, the miss-seeding rate was 3.74% and the over-seeding rate was 3.88%.

107-114

Authors: A.S., Dorokhov; A.G., Aksenov; A.V., Sibirev; N.V., Sazonov

One feature of harvesting seed onions is that the impurities of the onion-soil pile coming from the digging executive devices to the separating executive devices contain soil lumps that are similar in size with the seed onion bulbs and hard to separate at the slotted (bar elevators, screens) executive devices (M. Tauseef Asghar, 2014). This problem is most urgent when collecting seed onions from the rolls, because together with the bulbs the separating executive devices receive the soil layer loosened by the digging executive devices during the first phase of harvesting seed onions, the fractional composition core of which is soil lumps similar to bulbs and hardly separable on slotted executive devices. This circumstance is explained by the fact that after the soil layer is undercut together with the saleable produce, a significant amount of soil lumps, hardly separable on the separating executive devices and causing damage to root crops and bulbs during their interaction, arrives to the separating executive device. In addition, separation of soil lumps on slotted executive devices (bar conveyors and screens) occurs according to dimensional properties and this does not solve the existing problem – separation of soil lumps comparable in size with seed onion bulbs. Consequently, to ensure qualitative indicators of harvesting seed onions, namely, the separation completeness of the bulbs from soil impurities, it is necessary to ensure a reduction or complete elimination of the flow of soil lumps to the separating executive devices at the second harvesting phase.

123-128

Authors: Matache, M.G.; Cristea, M.; Găgeanu, I.; Zapciu, A.; Tudor, E.; Carpus, E.; Popa, L.D.

Taking into consideration the current trend to mitigate the agriculture’s negative impact on the environment, this implies using new technologies and equipment for performing agricultural works. Currently, the most used equipment in agriculture is the agricultural tractor with heat engine. One alternative is represented by electric motors, usually powered by batteries. The main advantage for the environment is that zero emissions are released into the atmosphere during agricultural works. Another advantage consists of the nominal torque which could be sustained from almost zero revolutions of the electric motors resulting in lower loads on the batteries with a proper mechanical transmission. Ploughing represents the agricultural work which exploits most of the performances of an agricultural tractor, in terms of fuel consumption and engine wear. Within this paper are presented the tests performed on an electric tractor during ploughing works, at different depths and with different working speeds, in order to assess its autonomy and efficiency with a single battery charge. The electrical parameters of the tractor were recorded during tests, as well as the tractor draft force. The results were used to establish the optimal working regime of the electric tractor during ploughing works.

137-146

Authors: Вerezovsky, Yu.; Kuzmina, T.; Lialina, N.; Yedynovych, M.; Lobov, O.;

The paper is devoted to solving problems related to developing scientific bases for resource-saving technologies in bast crops complex processing. The work contains theoretical and experimental research in processing flax and hemp raw materials. The work objective is to find ways to improve the production conditions for processing bast fibre plants and to solve the problems of ameliorating the qualitative and quantitative bast fibre characteristics by improving the technological features of stem material processing and structural design application to the joint connections of the devices for processing bast-fibre raw materials. The paper also analyses current trends in the flax and hemp processing industry development, investigates the technical and technological features of processing bast-fibre crop stems and assesses the directions for increasing their processing efficiency.

155-162

Authors: Elnemr, Moataz

A field experiment was conducted with the purpose of testing and evaluating the use of a closed-loop, real-time control system which was developed by (Elnemr M.K., 2017) for application to a poor hydraulic performance drip irrigation system with sandy loam soil cultivated with cucumber crop. This control system collects soil moisture data through three sensors distributed along each third of the lateral. The control system was based on calculating the average soil moisture content (MC) of the three readings and using it as an indicator to start or stop irrigation process according to the requirements of the plant. The control system will start the pump after the depletion of allowed MC percentage of available water which is one of the required inputs to operate the control system. The irrigation process continues until reaching the field capacity (FC) value. The study compared two management methods for the irrigation system. First one was using the proposed control system (Aum) and the other one was manual operation based on calculating water requirement from climatic data (Clm). Using the proposed control system led to increase cucumber crop production by 23.8% of Clm productivity. The control system led to save water and seasonal irrigation time. This led to increase water productivity and energy use efficiency of Aum if compared to Clm by 41.71% and 110% respectively. Despite the added cost to the irrigation system because of the control system, the benefit/cost ratio for Aum was higher by 24.39% due to the decrease in energy and labour costs in addition to the increase in crop production. The study recommended using the researched control system with drip irrigation systems which show poor hydraulic performance to reduce negative effects on crop production and to reach more efficient use for both water and energy with keeping the opportunity to increase benefit/cost ratio. Further studies should be done on the system with drip irrigation system that work under acceptable ranges of hydraulic performance. Also, further studies should be done to investigate the most effective and suitable distribution of the sensors along lateral.

173-182

Authors: Wang, Jiawei; Li, Zhiwei; Hussain, Saddam; Lu, Qi; Song, Haiyan; Zheng, Decong

In order to study the distribution of buckwheat threshing outputs, on the self-designed internal and external rotary roller buckwheat threshing device test bench, the feeding amount was 0.5 kg/s, the internal roller speed was 380 r/min, and the external roller speed was +50 r/min (same direction as the internal roller), 0 r/min and -50 r/min (reverse direction compared to the internal roller) for threshing test. By analysing the overall condition of the threshing outputs, the content of each component in the threshing outputs, and the axial distribution of the threshing roller, it was found that the receiving box below the rasp bar roller mainly contained grains and chaff, leaves and petals, and the receiving box below the spike tooth roller mainly contained short stalks. Under the three conditions, the proportion of chaff in the threshing outputs was 40-45%, the proportion of leaves and petals was 23-29%, the proportion of grains was 13-19%, the proportion of short stalks was 14-16%. Grains, chaff, leaves and petals were mainly concentrated at the front, and short stalks were mainly distributed at the rear of the threshing roller, providing a theoretical basis for the design of the cleaning system.

193-200

Authors: Stoica, Dorel; Voicu, Gheorghe; Popa, Lucreţia; Constantin, Gabriel; Tudor, Paula

The objective of this paper is to present the efficiency of the separation process on a sieve with a conical separation surface, with a vertical shaft and having vibrational motion. Separation intensity curves of rape seeds through circular sieve apertures were drawn by regression analysis of the quantities of material separated at different distances from the central axis of the sieve, using the Gaussian distribution law. The coefficients of the regression equation and the correlation coefficient of the distribution function with experimental data show a high degree of correlation between them. The movement of the material on the sieve and the separation process, in general, was assessed by the position of the distribution curve maximum, depending on the material flow rate.

211-220

Authors: Feng, Huimin; Gao, Nana; Li, You; Fu, Weiqiang; Guo, Yuming

To improve the fertilization accuracy and distribution uniformity of nitrogen fertilizer, control method of working parameters coordinate match was proposed in this paper. Take minimum coefficient of variation as criterion, the nearly-optimal set of exposure length and rotational speed was solved based on regression models with known values of target fertilizer amount and operating speed, the interfaces were built to rapidly calculate related parameters. The static and dynamic experiments were conducted to verify the reliability and accuracy of regression models and control method; the results showed that under static conditions, the biggest difference value of fertilizer amount is 0.22g per revolution; under dynamic conditions, the deviation of fertilizer amount is less than 4.01%, the maximum deviation of rotational speed is 2.74%. Those results indicate that the control method is practical and feasible for fertilization operation.

233-240

Authors: Ichwana, Ichwana; Nasution, Zulkifli, Arip Munawar, Agus

Groundwater quality in agricultural area is highly affected by human activities. To determine groundwater quality, several methods are widely applied. Yet, most of them are based on standard laboratory analysis which is normally time consuming, expensive, and involve chemical materials from which may cause another environmental pollution. Thus, a rapid, effective and simple alternative method is required to assess groundwater quality. Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIRS) is considered to be employed due to its advantages. The main purpose of the present study, is to evaluate the feasibility of FT-NIRS technology in assessing groundwater quality parameters: total dissolved solids (TDS) and Sulfate concentration (SC). Transmission spectra data were acquired for groundwater samples from 8 different wells in wavelength range from 1000 to 2500 nm. Spectra data were corrected by multiplicative signal correction (MSC), while TDS and SC prediction models were established by using partial least squares regression (PLSR) and validated by full cross validation method. Obtained results showed that FTIR is able to detect and predict TDS and SC rapidly. Achieved maximum correlation coefficient (r) and RPD index were 0.86; 1.82 for TDS and 0.83; 1.76 for SC prediction respectively. It may be concluded that FT-NIRS combined with proper multivariate approach, can be used to assess groundwater quality parameters rapidly and simultaneously.

253-260

Authors: Gao, Qiang; Lu, Zhixiong; Xue, Jinlin; Gao, Huisong

This paper proposed a structural design scheme of the hydraulic device of the electro-hydraulic controlled hitch system of a YM554A horticultural tractor with hydraulic device model, and the designed hydraulic device was simulated and tested to verify its performance. Results show that the motion of hydraulic actuator is stable with good response for tillage depth control, while the maximum lifting force of 10.62kN and the static settlement value of 13mm all meet the standard requirements. And the oil pressure changes rapidly with a large fluctuation with the plough position changed from transportation state to tillage state, but it quickly stabilizes, and as the tillage depth becomes larger, the oil pressure drops but remains basically stable with the maximum oil pressure change of 0.35MPa.

269-274

Authors: Milko, D.O.; Sclyar, O.H.; Sclyar, R.V.; Pedchenкo, G.P.; Zhuravel, D.P.; Bratishko, V.V.

In modern manufacturing of livestock production, the outstanding value is allocated for a food supply. The main criterion for evaluating the quality of feed components is the nutrient content of the feed ration. However, in the process of the storage, the maintenance of the nutritious substances decreases for various reasons that are leading to decreasing livestock efficiency and increasing the cost. The results of the use of a two-phase compaction of the forage vegetable components on the example of the alfalfa are given in the article. The dependence coefficient of the nutritional preservation on density of the alfalfa put on storage are also presented in this article. The applied method and the results obtained can be used in the development and design offices to create new equipment based on the two-phase compaction of the fodder vegetable component mixes by preparing them for storage. The application of this method brings to decreasing losses of nutrients in the storage process which reduces the components cost in total with increasing additional weights and the milk productivity.

287-294

Authors: Dumitrescu, C.; Rădoi, R.; Cristescu, C.; Dumitrescu, L.

The article presents an experimental model of a modular structure system for the production of thermal energy and the results of conducting specific tests. The experimental model uses two renewable energy sources - solar energy and energy generated by burning biomass - to provide thermal energy for an increased duration, regardless of the atmospheric factors. Properly sized, the system can be designed as a series product, in a variety of powers, to be used by heat suppliers, and also by individuals, especially the ones from remote areas, who want to ensure their thermal energy independence by using renewable energy.

303-310

Authors: Kehayov, Dimitar; Atanasov, Atanas

An approach to modeling herbicide installation for the treatment of peach plantations is proposed. The height of the stem was determined for 4 varieties of peaches. Considering this parameter, the maximum height of the herbicide system and the nozzles on it are indicated. Simulated modelling of the sprayed fluid along the working width of each nozzle was performed. The irregularity of spraying was determined depending on the distance between the nozzles. On the basis of the analysis, the optimal parameters of the spreader system were determined: height - 0.35 m, distance between the spreaders - 0.40 m.