Abstract
Research interest in pneumatic conveying technologies in processes such as peanut harvesting and shelling has grown rapidly in recent years. However, the use of pneumatic conveyors in this application suffers from high pod damage rates and duct obstruction. To address these issues, we analyzed the critical speed of pneumatic transport for conveying the peanut pods and measured the angle of friction and coefficient of restitution of peanut pods on a variety of material surfaces. Based on the results of these tests, optimizations and improvements were made to the separator bowl, air supply duct, and conveying duct. A pneumatic conveying experiment was then performed using peanut pods. In the factorial experiment, it was found that increases in fan speed increase the pod damage rate and transport efficiency, while increases in the thickness of the cushioning/anti-obstruction layer decrease the rate of pod damage and transport efficiency. Pod damage rates were significantly affected by fan speed, the thickness of the cushioning/obstruction prevention layer, and interaction between these factors, while transport efficiency was only significantly affected by fan speed. It is proved by the machine verification test, the optimal parameters for the pneumatic transport of Baisha peanut pods with a moisture content of 7.24% was a fan speed of 2700 r/min and a cushioning/anti-obstruction layer thickness of 6 mm. A pod damage rate of 5.19% and transport efficiency of 92.03% were achieved using these parameters, which are sufficient for meeting the requirements of industrial applications. Keywords: pneumatic transport, material properties, peanut pods, damage rate, transport efficiency DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201303.4609 Citation: Gao X M, Xie H X, Gu F W, Wei H, Liu M J, Yan J C, et al. Optimization and experiment of key components in pneumatic peanut pod conveyor. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(3): 100–107.
Highlights
When shelled materials such as peanuts are harvested and subjected to postharvest processes such as shelling and drying, these materials are generally transported using scraper conveyors and conveyor belts
Pneumatic conveying systems tend to result in high pod damage rates and are susceptible to duct obstruction, which leads to operational inefficiencies that reduce the transport efficiency[1,2,3,4,5]
Theoretical and experimental studies have yet to be performed in a systematic manner on the pneumatic transport of peanut pods
Summary
When shelled materials such as peanuts are harvested and subjected to postharvest processes such as shelling and drying, these materials are generally transported using scraper conveyors and conveyor belts These methods of transport are inflexible in their direction of transport and have low transport efficiencies. This study was conducted on the basis of previous research that considered the effects of peanut species and moisture content on pneumatic transport and the intrinsic physical properties of peanut pods in these transport processes[1]. The results of these experiments were used to modify and optimize an experimental pneumatic conveyor for peanut pods. The findings of this study will serve as a useful reference for theoretical studies regarding the pneumatic transport of shelled agricultural materials such as peanut pods
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