Loading...
Theses
Browse
13 results
Search Results
ThesisItem Open Access Optimum thresher parameters for high moist paddy(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1993) Hamza, Mollakadavath; KAU; Sivaswami, MThe study undertaken by the newly development 1 hp paddy thresher to optimise its parameters for high moist paddy revealed that the peripheral velocity from 10.80 to 21.72 m/s on the rasp – bar, spike tooth, double directional spiral cylinders didn’t influence much on the threshing efficiency. When the moisture content was increased to 35 per cent, the threshing efficiency was brought down from 98.4 to 92 per cent for rasp – bar cylinder and was increased from 88 per cent to 94 per cent in the case of double directional spiral cylinder. The maximum threshing efficiency of 99 percent was achieved for spike tooth cylinder at 19.2 per cent moisture level. The maximum threshing efficiency of 94% and the maximum output of 340 kg/h were achieved with the double directional spiral cylinder when the moisture content was 35% per cent. The proto – type thresher was found to reduce the cost of threshing to 81 per cent and reduction in labour to 85.16 per cent compared to the manual threshing.ThesisItem Open Access Design, fabrication and testing of a power operated paddy dibbler(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1996) Jayarajan, R; KAU; Jippu, JacobA 2-row power operated paddy dibbler was designed, fabricated and tested at Kelapaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Thavanur. The main components of the dibbler were two seed boxes, plungers reciprocating within the seed tubes, fluted roller seed metering mechanism, dibbler wheels, stationary cam, frame and transport wheels. The seed tubes were fixed radially around the dibbler wheel with 45 mm of it projecting outwards for penetrating the soil. The plunger was actuated by a stationary cam and during its upward stroke it uncovered the farther end of the seed transfer tube and transferred the seeds into the seed tube and then into the holes made in the soil. In the downward stroke the plunger closed the seed transfer tube. Simultaneously the fluted roller transferred the seeds in to the seed transfer tube. The average speed of operation of the dibbler was 1.32 kmph and its field capacity and field efficiency were 0.031 ha/h and 78.18 per cent respectively. The average number of seeds dropped per hill was 5 and the seed rate obtained was 78 kg/ha. The seeds were placed within the confines of the holes made by the seed tube and plunger. There was absolutely no scattering. The depth of placement varied from 3.8 to 4.6 cm. The operating cost of the dibbler was Rs. 502.58/ha. This mechanism offers scope for developing dibblers with more number of rows for being operated more economically.ThesisItem Open Access Modification and performance evaluation of six row rice transplanter for conventional seedlings(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1990) Bainu, T Kuzhively; KAU; Sivaswami, MThe work was carried out at the Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur. The six – row rice transplanter was originally designed for mat type seedlings. Considering the importance of a transplanter using conventional type seedlings, the above transplanter was modified. The modifications were completed in three stages. The performance evaluation of the modified six row rice transplanter was conducted after each stage of modification. The average number of seedlings per hill could be reduced from the average value of six seedlings per hill before modification to 2.27 seedlings per hill after the modifications. The missing hills percentage was brought down from 20.83 per cent to 5.55 per cent and the floating hills percentage was reduced from 10 to 5.55. Percentage of damaged hills was reduced from 23.3 to 8.8. The field capacity of the machine was improved from 0.0139 ha/hr to 0.0162 ha/hr and field efficiency from 48.26 percent to 56.87 per cent. The use of the modified transplanter is profitable if it is operated beyond one hectare per annum. It gives a saving of Rs. 618.00 per hectare compared to the conventional hand transplanting giving a 2. 4 times reduction in total cost. The pay back period of the modified transplanter is 2.24 years when the annual utilization is 2 hectares per annum and 1.13 years when the annual utilization is 3 hectares per annum.ThesisItem Open Access Design development and evaluation of a low cost paddy thresher(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1991) Mathew, John; KAU; Sankaranarayanan, M RThough several high capacity threshers are available in the country for different crops, no thresher is found suitable for small and marginal rice farmers. Hence a low cost portable paddy thresher was developed and tested. The power operated machine consists of base, side frames, front grain shield and wire-loop cylinder. The power from the 0.5 hp motor is transmitted to the cylinder shaft by belt and pully arrangement. The optimum cylinder speed is 400 rpm. The capacity of the thresher at 14.26 per cent moisture content is 451.84 kg paddy per hour and threshing efficiency is 95.08 per cent. The mechanical damage of the grain is negligible. Two labourers are required for the whole operation. The size of the thresher is 635 x 500 x 715 mm having a gross weight of 47 kg. The cost of the thresher was worked out to be around Rs. 3600 and the cost of operation for threshing paddy was Rs. 3.00 per quintal. The unit can be fabricated by local artisans from the readily available materials and can successfully be maintained by small and marginal farmers.ThesisItem Open Access Development and performance evaluation of a rotary tillage attachment to the KAU garden tractor(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1990) Jose, C M; KAU; Sivaswami, MConsidering the advantages of rotary tillers over non-powered tillage tools, and in order to make the KAU garden tractor a versatile farm power unit, a rotary tillage attachment for the garden tractor was developed and tested. The main components of the rotary tillage attachment are mainframe, power transmission system, blade assembly, hitching mechanism and protective cover. The depth of tillage obtained is 10 to 15 cm and the effective width of field coverage is 30 to 32 cm. The actual field capacity of the machine is 0.054 ha per hr and the quantity of fuel required to operate the machine is 0.860 1 per hr. Operator can easily walk behind the rotary tiller and turn the garden tractor to either side. The cost of production of the rotary tillage attachment is Rs. 1500.00 and the total cost of ploughing per hectare using the machine is Rs. 450.00.ThesisItem Open Access Synthetic generation of streamflow data using computer simulation model(Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1993) Leven , K V; KAU; Jobi V, PaulA Study has been made to develop a computer simulation model for the synthetic generation of streamflow data for Chaliyar, one of the larger basins of the state. The data were collected from different river gauging stations for different durations. A suitable mathematical model namely Thomas Fiering Model was developed for the generation of synthetic data. The model was fitted for the observed monthly steamflows. The validity of the model was checked by comparing the statistical parameters of historical and generated data and by comparing the flow duration curves. It is seen that the model preserves various statistical parameters like mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficient. The study reveals that the computer simulation model developed is a very effective tool in the proper management of water resources system.ThesisItem Open Access Development and performance evaluation of a low cost water-wheel for lifting water at low heads(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1992) Jayan, P R; KAU; Sankaranarayanan, M RA low cost water wheel was designed, fabricated and tested in the distributory canal of KCAET farm, Tavanur. The device was operated by the stream current with no additional power source and was tested for different submergence depths varying from 0.12 to 0.25 m. Water wheel with eight cups of 30 cm x 7 cm x 2 cm intake compartment was found to be the most efficient under various operating conditions. A maximum efficiency of 48% was obtained at 0.23 m of submergence depth. The device can lift water without additional operating cost as long at the mean stream velocity is greater than or equal to 0.44 m/sec for the optimum depth of submergence at 23 cm. The corresponding discharge of the system is 19.2 lpm at 0.6 m head. The investment cost of the device is Rs. 800/- and the annual operating cost is Rs. 204/- with low maintenance cost. Though the power output and the discharge capacity were low, it has a two fold advantage of functional reliability and simplicity of design and fabrication at village level. It can successfully be utilised by the small farmers when the cultivating fields are adjuscent to the canal water courses.ThesisItem Open Access Development and testing of a rotary type black pepper cleaner(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1995) Abdul Wahab, V S; KAU; Jippu, JacobA power operated rotary type black pepper cleaner is developed, tested and its performance evaluated. The major parts are an inclined circular disc, an involute shaped scraper, a feeding unit and a collecting tray. The black pepper admixture is fed to the drum sieve through a hopper. By rotating the sieve, feed material fall uniformly over one-half of the area of the inclined rotating disc. Good pepper grains being nearly spherical in shape roll down at one end, whereas foreign materials which cannot roll down as freely, is scraped out at the other end by means of an involute scraper. Both cleaned and uncleaned grains are received in a collecting tray placed below the disc. A 3-phase 0.5 HP variable speed dynodrive motor along with a 10:1 gear reduction unit operates the machine. The important physical properties of black pepper relevant to cleaning process are also studied. The trials are repeated for the surfaces of mica and cotton under different levels of feed rate, angle of inclination and speed. Better performance is obtained in the case of cotton surface. Under these conditions, a cleaning efficiency of 88 per cent is obtained at a feed rate of 12 kg/h, angle of disc 11o and at a speed of 10 rpm. The cost of the machine excluding the power unit comes to Rs. 1’100/-. The operating cost of machine is found to be Rs. 16.45/h. It is recommended for further studies and modifications.ThesisItem Open Access Dynamics of power transmission in tractor mounted paddy reaper(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1996) Sushilendra; KAU; Sivaswami, MA tractor front mounted 2.2 m wide paddy reaper windrower was evaluated to find out the optimum forward speed, cutterbar speed, conveyor belt speed and engine speed for different field conditions to achieve better harvesting and windrowing pattern, Maximum field capacity and field efficiency with less harvesting losses. Three PTO pulleys of 17.78 cm, 19.03 cm and 20.32 cm diameter with internal splines were fabricated and used with an engine speed from 1000 to 2000 rpm with four gears in low range and first gear in high range. In addition to pneumatic tyres, a pair of special cage wheels and a simple collection unit were developed and evaluated. In water submerged fields with special cage wheels and PTO pulley of 17.78 cm diameter better results were observed when reaper was operated at an engine speed of 1500 rpm with third low gear with a forward speed of 0.95 m/s. The optimum cutterbar index and conveyor index were found to be 1.56 and 2.30 respectively. The actual field capacity was 0.38 ha/hr and field efficiency was 54 per cent. The crops were found to throw within 10 cm from the discharge plate with an tiller angle of more than 85 degree with only 1.54 per cent of total loss of grain. When the soil is moist and pneumatic wheels fail to give sufficient traction, the special cage wheels were used with a PTO pulley of 19.03 cm diameter. An engine speed of 1400 rpm with third gear and with a forward speed 0.90 m/s was found to give satisfactory performance. The optimum cutterbar index was 1.66 and conveyor index was 2.45. The reaper had the field capacity of 0.36 ha/hr with field efficiency of 53 per cent. The windrowed crop were found to throw within a distance of 13.5 cm with 85 degree of tillers angle with total grin loss of 1.55 per cent. For dry fields, the reaper with pneumatic wheels was found to operate satisfactorily with 20.32 cm diameter PTO pulley at an engine speed of 1300 rpm with fourth gear and with a forward speed of 1.00 m/s. The optimum cutterbar index was 1.48 and conveyor index was 2.19. The actual field capacity was 0.38 ha/hr and field efficiency was 50.66 per cent. The tillers angle was 85 degrees with total grain loss of 1.62 per cent. It is found that the better field performance was achieved when the reaper is operated at a cutterbar speed of 1.50 m/s and conveyor belt speed of 2.20 m/s. A simple crop collection unit of size 1. 5m x 0.7m x 0.35m was developed with the provision for conveying the windrowed crop directly into the collection box. The unit was field evaluated with reaper. The box was found to fill within 10 m of travel and problems were observed in its manoeuv reability, loading and unloading of box and increased idle time.