Determination of the optimal working performance matching through theoretical analysis and experimental study for a screw conveyor

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of screw speed, feeding head speed, and the nature and type of granular material on the productivity and power consumption of a screw conveyor, and then determine the optimal speed. This experiment contains two parts. Part one was designed with 11 levels of screw speed (100-600r/min, interval 50r/min), three levels of feeding head speed (60,80 and 100r/min), and two kinds of granular materials (fine sand and soybeans). Part two was designed with 11 levels of screw speed (20-140r/min, interval 20r/min), three levels of feeding head speed (300,400 and 500r/min), and two kinds of granular materials (fine sand and soybeans). The results indicated that with the increase of the screw speed, the conveying performance will not always get better; with the rise of the feeding head speed, the conveying performance will get better. Due to the higher bulk density of sand, the productivity of conveying sand is higher for granular materials. Finally, for sand, the result indicates when the screw speed is 400r/min, and the feeding head speed is 120r/min, the conveying performance of sand determined by the productivity and power consumption is the best; for soybean, when the screw speed is 300r/min, and the feeding head speed is 140r/min, the conveying performance is the best.