A New Spiral Potato Cleaner to Enhance the Removal of Impurities and Soil Clods in Potato Harvesting

Volodymyr Bulgakov,Simone Pascuzzi,Zinoviy Ruzhylo,Francesco Santoro,Semjons Ivanovs,Ivan Fedosiy

doi:10.3390/su12239788

Abstract

Sustainability in the agricultural field suggests the conservation and maintenance of a natural environment of soil. Nevertheless, in the potato production chain, the mechanized harvest is carried out with the concurring removal of impurities and fertile soil. The authors have developed a new spiral potato cleaner which is able to capture and efficiently remove soil lumps of various sizes and shapes, as well as various plant residues. Theoretical and experimental studies have been performed on this soil clod cleaner to determine the structural and kinematic parameters that provide efficient capturing, motion and sifting down of the soil, through the gaps between the helices of its cleaning spirals. An analytical description of the motion of the clod of soil has been made and a system of differential equations has been compiled, whose numerical solution made it possible to determine the indicated reasonable operative parameters of the developed spiral potato cleaner. The results of the experimental research confirmed those ones obtained through the numerical solution of the mathematical model, i.e., rational angular speed ω of the rotation of the spirals from 20.0 to 30.0 rad s−1 and the radius R of spirals between 0.12 and 0.15 m.

Highlights

Sustainability is a key concept in relevant social, economic and political activities, which have to aim at safeguarding the environment and natural resources [1]
The sustainable approach requires the conservation and maintenance of a natural environment of soil, a subject closely related to the technologies used during cultivation and harvesting [2]
Research studies carried out within the potato cultivation sector highlighted the low tendency of the farmers to employ sustainable agricultural techniques [3]

Summary

Introduction

Sustainability is a key concept in relevant social, economic and political activities, which have to aim at safeguarding the environment and natural resources [1]. The sustainable approach requires the conservation and maintenance of a natural environment of soil, a subject closely related to the technologies used during cultivation and harvesting [2]. Research studies carried out within the potato cultivation sector highlighted the low tendency of the farmers to employ sustainable agricultural techniques [3]. An important phase in the potato production chain is the mechanized harvest, which is carried out with the concurring removal of impurities and fertile soil [4,5]. Europe was the greatest potato producer in the world for most of the twentieth century and currently, while accounting for 38.5% of the world’s production, it has been overtaken by Asia (42.4%) [8]. The Ukraine was the third largest potato producer in the world in 2018, with more than 22,503,970 Mg [8]

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