Design, Simulation and Experimentation of a Polythene Film Debris Recovery Machine in Soil

Wei Jin,Xuejun Zhang,Jingyi Liu,Shenghe Bai,Chunbao Xu

doi:10.3390/app12031366

Abstract

With the rapid development of planting techniques using plastic film mulching, the content of residual plastic film in soil increases year by year, which pollutes the soil and water, endangers the growth of crops and reduces the quality and yield of agricultural products. Therefore, in order to solve the problem that plastic film with a thickness of 0.008 mm, commonly used in China, is difficult to recycle, this study designed the residue film recycling machine based on the existing research results. After harvesting cotton in Xinjiang, the working performance of the residue film recovery machine of plough layer was measured. Through theoretical optimization and field experiments, the effects of conveyor speed, distance between elastic teeth and type of elastic teeth on residual film recovery were studied. The relationship between the parameters of the residual film recovery machine and the recovery effect of the residual film was analyzed. When the rotational speed and inclination angle of the conveying and separating device were 74 rpm, 35° and 120 rpm, 45°, respectively, under the condition that the distance between C-shaped elastic teeth was 59 mm, the recovery and separation rate of residual plastic film were 88.12% and 83.27%, respectively. Based on the study results, it is recommended to accelerate the development of naturally degradable agricultural plastic film or to popularize and apply thickened film. Relevant local standards and policies have been formulated to address the problem of residual film pollution, and a governance system has been established for the benefit of the government, scientific research institutions, enterprises and farmers. This study provides a reference for mechanized recovery of residual plastic film in soil and treatment of soil pollution.

Highlights

Introduction iationsIn the middle of the 20th century, with the development of the plastic industry, and especially the emergence of agricultural polythene film (PF), some industrially developed countries used agricultural PF to cover the ground
When the soil shovel depth was adjusted to 117 mm, the forward speed of the machine was 1 m/s, the reciprocating motion frequency of the separating device was 255 rpm and the motion amplitude of the separating device was 80 mm; the machine was tested at four conveying device rotational speeds (30, 50, 70 and 90 rpm) and at four distances between the elastic teeth (35, 45, 55 and 65 mm), respectively
According to the test results of the different elastic teeth structures on the recovery rate of PF, the rotating speed of the conveying device, the distance between the elastic teeth and the type of elastic teeth had a significant influence on the recovery rate of residual PF in the soil

Summary

Introduction

In the middle of the 20th century, with the development of the plastic industry, and especially the emergence of agricultural polythene film (PF), some industrially developed countries used agricultural PF to cover the ground. The production of vegetables and other crops achieved good results [1,2]. Agricultural PF mulching technology changes the growing environment of vegetables and other crops, improves the yield and quality of crops and has achieved remarkable production and economic benefits in agricultural production [3,4,5]. Agricultural PF is not clean, resulting in farmland environmental pollution, soil fertility decline, seed emergence rate decreases and other problems which have attracted the attention of some researchers [6,7,8].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion