Development and evaluation of paddy straw size reduction machine for industrial application and energy production

Mahadik,  Akshay Sanjay

Development and evaluation of paddy straw size reduction machine for industrial application and energy production

Date

2023

Authors

Mahadik, Akshay Sanjay

Publisher

Punjab Agricultural University

Abstract

A motor operated paddy straw size reduction machine was designed, developed and evaluated. The machine consisted of a rotating inlet bale drum, an adjustable feeding grate, two rotating drums, three concave sieves, power unit, power transmission unit and discharge unit. A rotating bale drum was provided for feeding the square or rectangular bales to the machine. So, labour requirement was less in the developed machine as the bales were directly fed to the machine. The cutting mechanism was designed to cut the straw effectively. The knives were used for cutting the paddy straw which reduces the energy requirement of the machine. There were two rotating drums used in the cutting mechanism of the machine, where the first rotating drum cuts the straw and passes it to the second rotating drum for further size reduction as per the requirement. Power to the rotating drums were provided from suitable motor. An inclined platform as discharge unit was provided to draw out the chopped paddy straw from the machine. The machine was evaluated in the laboratory conditions at three level of grid size of concave (G1=8 mm, G2=10 mm and G3=12 mm), three levels of number of rows of counter blades (C1=3, C2=2 and C3=1), three levels of rotational speed of drum 1 (A1=851, A2=1020 and A3=1277 rpm) and three levels of rotational speed of drum 2 (B1=851, B2=1020 and B3=1277 rpm). These independent parameters significantly affected the dependent parameters namely energy consumption, output capacity and straw size (10-15 mm, 5-10 mm and 1-5 mm) percentage at 5% level of significance. Minimum energy consumption was 15.88 kWh/t found at combination of 12 mm (G3), one row of counter blades (C3), 851 rpm (A1) and 851 rpm (B1). Maximum output capacity was 668.01 kg/h found at combination of 12 mm (G3), one row of counter blades (C3), 1277 rpm (A3) and 1277 rpm (B3). The best combination of independent parameters for the machine was found at 12 mm of grid size of concave (G3), one row of counter blades (C3), 1020 rpm of rotational speed of drum 1 (A2) and 1020 rpm of rotational speed of drum 2 (B2) with higher output capacity of 575.68 kg/h, lower energy requirement of 18.60 kWh/t, higher straw size (10-15 mm) percentage (28.24%), higher straw size (5-10 mm) percentage (34.88%) and lower straw size (1-5 mm) percentage (16.85%).

Citation

Mahadik, Akshay Sanjay (2023). Development and evaluation of paddy straw size reduction machine for industrial application and energy production (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.