Abstract
Drum mixers ensure a high level of uniformity when mixing the components of feed additives. However, the issues on theoretical and experimental substantiation of the structural and kinematic parameters of drum mixers have not been scientifically explored in detail. The aim of this study is to improve the efficiency of producing feed mixtures by ensuring the optimal angular rotation velocity of a drum mixer.To determine the radial speed of a particle’s motion along a drum blade, we solved a homogeneous differential equation. The numerical value for angular velocity was determined by a computer simulation method. We experimentally studied the uniformity of redistribution of feed components in a mixture of fodder using the designed experimental drum mixer. The mixer included a chamber, a rectangular frame, a supporting frame, and a drive. The mixing chamber included a loading/unloading window with a closed lid. Radial blades were installed inside the chamber along its entire length and evenly along the perimeter.Experiments were conducted using a drum mixer with a drum radius of 0.17 m, which included radial blades with a width of 25 mm, with a chamber’s fill factor of 0.5. It was established that the drum mixer ensures the maximum scattering of a material’s particles on the surface of the working segment at the drum’s angular rotation velocity of 9.69 rad/s.The results of experimental research have established that at rotation frequency of the laboratory plant’s drum of 9.42 rad/s the uniformity of mixture is 92.5‒93 %, which meets acting zootechnical requirements for all types of mixed fodder. In this case, a maximum deviation of the theoretical and experimental data was about 9 %. The results obtained suggest the possibility of determining a numerical value for the angular velocity of drum mixers by using the proposed method of computer simulation.
Highlights
Among animal feed, a leading role belongs to mixed fodder, which is a concentrated source of nutrients and a means to balance rations in accordance with standards of animal nutrition
Our analysis has revealed the presence of theoretical models whose application makes it possible to model the parameters of work of a drum mixer with a smooth inner surface
We have built a system of equations that describe operation of a drum mixer with installed blades while providing for the effective mixing of a mixture’s components
Summary
A leading role belongs to mixed fodder, which is a concentrated source of nutrients and a means to balance rations in accordance with standards of animal nutrition. In this case, the cost of mixed fodder manufactured directly at farms is 15–25 % lower than that from specialized enterprises [1]. Given the difference in the ratio of components in mixed fodder, there is a need to apply mixing in stages, starting with components that have the least concentration with a transition at the subsequent stage to mixing the components with the greatest concentration Based on these conditions, the farm-based mixed fodder plants must be supplemented with stirrers that would make it possible to ensure the mixing of components in stages. It is required to improve the mechanized technology for stagewise mixing of components in mixed fodder and to substantiate the structural-technological parameters for mi xers, which could make it possible to produce mixed fodder with a high uniformity in component distribution
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