Improvement of the sunflower seed separation process efficiency on the vibrating surface

Abstract

The study of the sunflower seed separation process during its movement on the vibrating surface has been carried out in two stages. The first (theoretical) stage has been implemented in the software package STAR-CCM + using the corresponding physical models. The second stage is the conduct of experimental research on a pilot sample with a base of vibrating pneumatic PVS table. As a result of numerical simulation and experimental studies of the sunflower seed separation process during its movement on the vibrating surface, we have determined the dependences of the change in the distribution coefficient, productivity and power consumed by the vibrating pneumatic separator from the seed supply, the inclination angles of the vibrating surface, the frequency and amplitude of its oscillation and the velocity of the airflow V. The statistical analysis has shown that the correlation coefficient between the theoretical and experimental dependencies in the variation of the values of the factors in the given range is 0.88-0.92. The technological and constructive scheme of the adaptive vibrating pneumatic separator with rationally defined regime parameters (seed supply, airflow velocity, deck oscillation frequency, deck inclination angle) has been developed basing of the obtained theoretical and experimental dependencies, using the software which is based on the created algorithm, allowing to perform the technological process of sunflower seed mixtures separating by volume density with higher productivity and quality.