Development of a Low-cost and High-efficiency Post-harvest Bulk Handling Machinery System of Onion – Performance Evaluation and Control

Abstract

As post-harvest processes of onions are carried by a 20 kg-net package which results in high-cost and lowefficiency, especially, the insufficient drying and physical damage of onions after harvesting leads to a huge second loss in storage, we had developed a low-cost, high-efficiency post-harvest bulk handling machinery system by collecting onions on a farm using ton-bags, drying with forced air circulation, and sorting/packaging. The post-harvest bulk handling machinery system consisted of 6 devices, and this study designed an automatic feed hopper with a feeding rate control device, an inclined belt conveyor with a two-step chute, and an automatic pallet unloading device for feeding onions into the sorting/packing line. This study also analyzed the performance and control of the total system. The device had 1-ton handling capacity, but the operational condition was set to increase the capacity. The three-step filling method of pallet by the velocity control of the inclined belt conveyor was applied in the post-harvest bulk handling machinery system for the prevention of physical damage. If one worker was set to operate the total system, the time required to complete one palletized load was approximately 5 minutes and 5 seconds. The calculated daily handling capacity was approximately 94 tons, when the daily actual working time was 8 hours. When the developed system was applied to the managerial size of 2,000 ton, the processing cost per ton of the system was decreased by 19.5%, compared with the existing 20 kg-net package-based handling. The developed post-harvest bulk handling machinery system would be a good substitute for the rapid decline and aging of rural labor.