Empirical Modelling of Power Requirements in Olive Pruning Residue Shredding: Effects of Varying Moisture Content and Rotary Speeds

Abstract

Pruning residues, which occur every year in orchards and have many different utilization potentials, are an important issue for fruit producers. The shredding process is indispensable and critical for the utilization of these residues. The performance of the shredding process is affected by the operating parameters of the shredding machine as well as the moisture content of the residues to be shredded. In this study, olive pruning residues with three different moisture contents were shredded at three different rotor speeds in the developed shredding system. We determined how the power requirement of the shredder changed under different conditions, and empirical models were developed. The experiments showed that the average power requirement of the shredder ranged from 7.32 to 10.81 kW, and it was found that residues with low moisture content decreased the power values, while higher rotor speeds increased the power requirement. The developed final model has a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.376, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.441, and a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.859. The model serves as a reliable tool for estimating power requirements in the shredding of olive pruning residues, enabling the selection of the optimal rotor speed based on moisture content.