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ThesisItem Open Access Development and evaluation of a low cost power operated paddy thresher-cum-winnower(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1996) Sureshkumar, P K; KAU; Sankaranarayanan, M RSince threshing is labour intensive and involves considerable human drudgery and as the threshers now available are not suitable for small and marginal farmers, a Low Cost Power Operated Paddy Thresher Cum Winnower has been developed and tested. The machine consists of a threshing unit of wire loop cylinder and cover, a winnowing unit, a grain collecting tray, prime mover, power transmission system and the main frame. The power required to operate the machine is taken from a 2 hp electric motor and is transmitted to the cylinder and blower shafts by V- belt and pulley arrangement. Two labourers can hold the crop against the threshing cylinder. The optimum cylinder speed is 400 rpm. The capacity of the thresher at 16.0 per cent moisture content of the crop is 300 hg per hour. Threshing and cleaning efficiencies are 99.25 and 91.82 per cent respectively. Mechanical damage to the grain is negligible. The labour requirement of the thresher cum winnower is two. The cost of the thresher cum winnower was found out to be around Rs 8000.00 and the cost of operation for threshing and winnowing was Rs 8.50 per quintal. An empirical relation between the energy requirement of the thresher and various crop and thresher parameters is P = 931.035 + 4.683 (MC) – 0.462 (PV) – 1.169 (FR) + 8.251 (G/S ratio) The moisture content of the crop and the Feed Rate have statistically significant effect on power Requirement whereas the cylinder speed and Grain/Straw ratio do not have any statistically significant effect.ThesisItem Open Access Development of a power tiller operated paddy transplanter for conventional seedlings(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1995) Prakash, K V; KAU; Sivaswami, MTransplanting of paddy seedlings is a very tiresome and labour consuming operation and labour shortage is experienced during planting. As a solution to reduce the high cost of cultivation and labour shortage in paddy transplanting, a power tiller operated paddy transplanter is an essential need of hour. The APAU paddy transplanter was evaluated after rectifying the defects at KCAET instructional farm, Tavanur. Based on the field experiences and considering the all problems in APAU paddy transplanter, an improved version of power tiller operated paddy transplanter was developed and fabricated at KCAET Tavanur and tested during September-October 1994. The convensional root washed paddy seedlings ready to manual transplanting were used. When the power tiller is operated at a forward speed of 1.20 km per hr, the transplanter could transplant 2 to 4 seedlings per hill at a spacing of 100 to 120 mm. The average field capacity was found to be 0.13 ha per hr. A saving of Rs.800 per ha which is 50 per cent and reduction of 296 man-hr per ha which is 92.5 per cent was achieved for transplanting operation alone compared to manual transplanting.ThesisItem Open Access Design fabrication and testing of a cashewnut decorticator(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1993) Joby Bastian; KAU; Jippu JacobA manually operated cashewnut decorticator is designed, developed and evaluated. The major parts are top blade assembly, and linkage assembly, 2-blade bottom assembly, and linkage assembly. The whole assembly is fixed on a work table. The steamed cashewnut is placed manually between the top and bottom blades. Upon pressing the pedal the top and bottom blades slit the two long sides of the nut. The two bottom blades are then opened wide with a cam splitting open the shell in to two halves. The kernel is released from the shell. The efficiency in decorticating is 88 per cent while the percentage of the number of kernels damaged is 12. The capacity of the machine is 900 nuts/h. The important physical properties of nuts were also studied. It is kidney shaped. Its mean size is 32.40 mm long, 24.60 mm wide and 17.60mm thick. The average kernel size is 26.00 mm long, 17.20 mm wide and 12 mm thick. The average thickness of the shell is 3.20 mm. The average weight of the nut is 7.0 g while that of the kernel is 2.1 g. considering its performance the mechanism is sound. It is recommended for further studies and modifications.ThesisItem Open Access Development and quality evaluation of thermally processed jackfruit (artocarpus heterophyllus L.)(Department of Post Harvest Technology and Agricultural Processing, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology,Tavanur, 2012) Pritty S, Babu; KAU; Sudheer, K PThesisItem Open Access Design and development of tensio-emitter(Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and technology, Tavanur, 2012) Jishitha, Ravindran; KAU; Vishnu, BTimely application of precise amounts of irrigation water increases crop yield due to the decreased moisture stress to plants. Automatic application of irrigation water ensures timely and precise water application, reduces labour cost and prevents water loss and nutrient leaching. Automatic irrigation usually involves sophisticated and expensive instrumentation requiring external power. An irrigation control system that utilizes only the moisture tension to directly control the water application, without using any external power source is desirable for its simplicity and usability in remote areas. In this study, an attempt was made to develop a simple and cost effective irrigation controller working on the basis of soil moisture tension without any external power source. A Tensio-Emitter was developed after evaluating several designs suitable for the same. The developed Tensio-Emitter consists of a porous cup fixed on a stem and an emitter cum valve assembly. The porous cup acts as a sensor which equilibrates the tension inside the stem to that of the surrounding soil. The emitter cum valve assembly consists of a bottom part to be fixed on the stem containing the porous cup, a flexible diaphragm, a conical part to be attached to the diaphragm and a top part which has as the water inlet and outlet. The dimensions of the emitter cum valve assembly was determined based on the size of the available porous cup, the soil moisture tension available at MAD and the deflection of the diaphragm at the tension corresponding to MAD. The Tensio-Emitter is calibrated by adjusting the conical part such that water flow through the emitter starts when the soil becomes dry and stops when the soil reaches field capacity moisture content. Tensio-Emitter – a simple and cost effective irrigation controller cum emitter which is activated by soil moisture tension - was successfully developed, fabricated and calibrated for use in potted plants. The ability of the developed Tensio-Emitter to automatically control the irrigation according to the soil moisture level was evaluated to be good.ThesisItem Open Access Development and testing of a continuous power operated coconut husker(Department of Farm power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2012) Anu S, Chandran; KAU; Jayan, P RA continuous power operated coconut husking machine for large scale husking of coconuts was developed, tested and its performance evaluated. The major parts are feeding chute, a husking unit, a husk separating unit and power transmission unit. The coconut fed at the feeding chute and in the clearance between the inlet and the drum is slightly compressed and forced to execute rolling or revolutions. In the process, the blade penetrates the husk and punctures it along different planes. The shear force exerted upon the coconut by the blades of the rotating drum and the concave cause to rip open the husk along different planes. The full coconuts with punctured and softened husk fall into the husk separating unit which consists of two knurling rollers. There the softened and punctured husk is separated and the nut emerges at the outlet. The prime mover used is a 3 φ squirrel cage induction motor of 2.2 kW. This rotation is bifurcated to rotate the husking unit and to the separating unit. A speed reduction unit with gear ratio of 30:1 is used to reduce the motor speed from 1440 rpm to 48 rpm. The speed of the motor is also bypassed to the knurling rollers by means of chain drive, by which the speed is reduced from 1440 to 160 rpm through chain and sprockets units. All components are fixed on the frame. The studies show that the minimum and maximum time required for complete husking of a green coconut were 6 s and 22 s and that for a dry coconut was 3 s and 15 s respectively. Thus the mean time required for complete husking of green coconut is 11.6 s and that of dry coconut is 9.5 s. The average capacity of continuous power operated coconut husking machine is much better and found out as 356 nuts per hour compared to the manual method and by husking by commercial model. Also the efficiency, the percentage of nut breaking and the average energy requirement was 82.79 %, 3.83 % and 0.7365 W respectively. The total operating cost of continuous power operated coconut husking machine is Rs. 95.374 per hour and the cost of husking per nut is about Rs. 0.267. Considering its performances, the mechanism developed in this study is promising.ThesisItem Open Access Development and testing of tractor operated bed former for seed bed preparation in Kaipad region(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology,Tavanur, 2012) Rajesh, A N; KAU; Jayan, P RPaddy cultivation in Kerala is mainly done in dry and wet lands. Kuttanadu, pokkali, Kole and Kaipad lands are mainly lying below sea level and needs much attention especially during bund preparation and nursery raising periods. Kaipad is a land lay in Kannur district of the state extending to an area of 600 ha. It is under the tidal effects of sea water carrying severe salinity and high pH. Paddy cultivation in this region is made on seed beds of about 45 cm height to bring down the salinity and acidity of the soil through leaching. However, manual method of mound making is very laborious intensive and has become a deterrent for the farmers to continue rice farming. Keeping this in view, a tractor operated Kaipad bed former was developed to prepare the seed beds and field tested. Also the cost of operation was compared with the conventional and tractor operated ridger. The height of the seed beds was dependent upon the angle of the plough bottom, speed and depth of operation. To optimize these three factors, tests were conducted under dynamic condition in a test plot. The height of the seed bed was observed to be the maximum at 40 degrees of the plough bottom. The maximum height of bed was formed at a speed of 2.0 km hˉ¹ and depth of 20 cm. To reduce the draft of the implement the speed was set at 1.5 km hˉ¹ and depth of operation at 15 cm. The field performance of the bed former based on the optimized machine parameters, the Kaipad bed former was evaluated and compared with the tractor operated ridger and conventional method. The average height and top width of the seed bed obtained with the Kaipad bed former and ridger were 34.7 cm, 18.4 cm and 29.4 cm and 23.2 cm respectively. The minimum draft required for the Kaipad bed former and tractor operated ridger was 402.6 kgf and 398.6 kgf and draw bar power was 8.03 hp and 7.8 hp respectively. The fuel consumption with the tractor operated Kaipad bed former was found as 6.8 l hˉ¹; while it was 6.6 l hˉ¹ with the tractor operated ridger. Field efficiency of the Kaipad bed former was 73.9 percent compared to 70.5 percent for the tractor operated ridger. Wheel slippage was found out as 19.79 percent for Kaipad bed former and 17.7 percentages for tractor operated ridger. With the tractor operated Kaipad bed former, the soil acidity and salinity could be reduced from a pH value of 5.7 to 6.5 and 15.7 mmhos cmˉ¹ to 2.1 mmhos cmˉ¹. Yield obtained from the plots operated with conventional method, tractor operated ridger and Kaipad bed former was respectively 2625 kg haˉ¹, 2766 kg haˉ¹ and 2800 kg haˉ¹. Total cost of operation for mound making by conventional method and tractor operated bed former are respectively Rs.12000 and Rs. 2480. The cost of the tractor operated Kaipad bed former is Rs. 18875.ThesisItem Open Access Investigations on clamping and climbing mechanisms for the design of semi autonomous areca palm climber(Department of Farm power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2017) Supritha; KAU; Shivaji, K PThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of the characteristics of petti and para (axial flow pump)(Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1988) Jose, Abraham; KAU; John Thomas, K‘Petti and Para’ is the most popular pumping equipment used in Kuttanad and Kole lands of Kerala for dewatering agricultural fields. It is a local adaptation of the class of pumps called axial flow or propeller pumps. It is fabricated by local blacksmith using their practical experience and is very popular in low head high discharge requirements especially for drainage purposes. The project was undertaken to evaluate scientifically the ‘Petti and Para’ and to suggest improvement to its design. Field survey had been conducted to study the general characteristics of the existing ‘Petti and Para’ and the energy requirements for punja and additional crop. Field pumping tests were conducted on 15 hp and 20 hp ‘Petti and Para’ using standard methods, to evaluate its characteristics. A small propeller pump was developed talking into consideration the specific requirements of Kuttanad, so that the results could be utilised in bigger units through the principles of similitude. The pump was designed as a high specific speed unit (280 rpm) operating at high rotational speed (1900 rpm), so that its physical dimensions were small. The field survey showed that ‘Petti and Para’ are operating at low speed of 300 rpm. The most common type of ‘Petti and Para’ in use are 10 hp, 15 hp, 20 hp, 30 hp and 50 hp units. A 10 hp unit has an impeller diameter of 44 cm and 50 hp unit has an impeller diameter of 79 cm. The average energy consumption for dewatering during punja crop was 309.8 kwh per hectare and that for additional crop was 444.5 kwh/ha. The efficiency of a 15 hp ‘Petti and Para’ having an impeller diameter 52 cm was about 20%. It could pump water at a rate of 217.75 to 143.60 1/s against a total head of 65 cm to 100 cm. A perfectly maintained 20 hp ‘Petti and Para’ could pump water at a rate of 369.5 to 281.2 1/s under total head of 73.2 to 132.01 cm. The efficiency of the unit varied between 21.47 to 25.96 %. The newly developed propeller pump having an impeller diameter of 145 mm was tested at constant static head of 120 cm. It could pump water at a rate 39.64 to 13.34 1/s against a total head of 183.1 to 283.02 cm. The efficiency of the unit varied between 23.72 to 9.6 Input power varied between 4.076 to 5.21 hp, while utilising a 10 hp induction motor as power unit. Due to lack of time this work is inconclusive. Further elaborate studies are necessary for making specific recommendation for the improvement in the efficiency of ‘Petti and Para’.