Simulation Analysis and Multiobjective Optimization of Pulverization Process of Seed-Used Watermelon Peel Pulverizer Based on EDEM

Abstract

To enhance the utilization of seed-used watermelon peel and mitigate environmental pollution, a hammer-blade seed-used watermelon peel crusher was designed and manufactured, and its structure and working parameters were optimized. Initially, the seed-used watermelon peel crusher and seed-used watermelon peel model were constructed, and the model’s parameters were calibrated. Subsequently, the discrete element method (EDEM2022) was employed to investigate the effects of spindle speed (MSS), the number of hammers (NCB), and feeding volume (FQ) on the pulverizing process. Multivariate nonlinear regression prediction models were developed for the percentage of pulverized particle size less than 8 mm (Psv), pulverizing efficiency (Ge), and power density (Ppd), followed by the analysis of influencing factors and prediction models using ANOVA. The multiobjective optimization of the prediction model utilizing the improved hybrid metacellular genetic algorithm CellDE resulted in solutions of 90.02%, 89.57%, and 8.35 × 10−3 t/(h-kw) for Psv-opt, Ge-opt, and Ppd-opt, respectively. The corresponding optimal interaction values of MSS, NCB, and FQ were determined to be 1500 r/min, 108, and 150 kg/min. Finally, a prototype test was conducted by combining the optimal factor interaction values, yielding statistically calculated values of 96.63%, 92.37%, and 7.76 × 10−3 t/(h-kw) for Psv-pr, Ge-pr, and Ppd-pr, respectively. The results indicate that the optimized values of Psv-opt, Ge-opt, and Ppd-opt models have an error of less than 8% compared to the statistically calculated values of the prototype test and outperform the values of Psv-ori, Ge-ori, and Ppd-ori obtained under the original parameters.