Studying and Developing Fraction Technologies for Seed Separation Using Pneumatic Table Separators

Abstract

Abstract This article considers the development of fraction seed separation technologies using pneumatic table separators (PTS). The authors studied the physical and mechanical properties of wheat seeds including their density, dimensions, individual seed weight, friction coefficients, suspension velocity, and the form factor. The authors found some correlations for seed separation parameters using PTS. It was established that PTS separate seeds based on a set of properties, the most important of which is the seed density. The authors established that the efficient separation of difficult-to-separate seed mixes on a PTS requires separating the material before feeding it into the PTS into two equal factions based on the seed length and using the trieur cylinder. Each of the fractions should be processed independently. By creating seed mixes with more homogeneous seed lengths, it is possible to improve the separation efficiency for the mixes that are difficult to separate by 8-15% on average.