STUDIES ON EFFECT OF BLADE SHAPE AND SPEED OF ROTARY PUDDLER ON PUDDLING QUALITY
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Date
2011
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PAU
Abstract
A study was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana to evaluate the
performance of commonly used rotary blades of different shapes in terms of power
requirement, pudding quality on selected soils and to find out the best combination of blade
shape and rotary speed of rotary puddler. Experiments were conducted on three blade
shapes (J, C and L) at three rotor speeds (245, 263 and 280 rpm) in two types of soils S1
(Clay 10.2%, Silt 17.2% and Sand 72.6%) and S2 (Clay 21.4%, Silt 15.5% and Sand 63.1%)
to study the effect of blade shape and rotor speed on puddling index, infiltration rate, PTO
power requirement and fuel consumption. The treatment combinations were compared with
control (Puddling with cultivator x 2 + Planker x 1). For measuring puddling index, soil
water suspension samples were taken in graduated glass tube after the operation of rotavator
and were kept undisturbed for 48 hours. Infiltration rate was measured by fixing the
measuring scales in the field after puddling which gave the amount of water infiltrated into
the soil. PTO power requirement was measured by installing a torque transducer on the PTO
shaft. Fuel flow meter was installed in the fuel line of the tractor to measure fuel
consumption. The results for each dependent parameter (puddling index, infiltration rate,
power requirement and fuel consumption) were analyzed on the basis of Randomized Block
Design (RBD) test using software “SAS 9.2 Version”. J shape blades gave maximum
puddling index (70.22 and 73.78 %) and minimum infiltration rate (0.04 and 0.01 mm/h) at
280 rpm rotor speed in comparison to C and L blades and control for both soils S1 and S2
respectively. J shape blades required minimum PTO power (18.89 and 19.10 kW) and
consumed minimum fuel (16.35 and 16.40 l/ha) at 245 rpm rotor speed as compared to C
and L blades and control for both soils S1 and S2 respectively. J shape blades deposited
maximum clay content (21.07 and 28.27 %) and minimum sand content (60.97 and 54.03%)
in top 10 mm layer of soils S1 and S2 respectively. J shape blades at rotor speed of 280 rpm
gave better results for puddling index, infiltration rate, PTO power requirement and fuel
consumption as compared to C, L and control for both soils S1 and S2 respectively. So, J
shape blade at 280 rpm rotor speed can be considered as the best combination for puddling.
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