Pre-Fractionation as a Way to Improve the Efficiency of Grain-Cleaning Systems

Abstract

In most ordinary farms, the seed production share in the structure of the post-harvest processing and storage cost reaches 40 %, which is largely determined by the low productivity and operating quality of grain cleaners of existing grain-cleaning units. In farms, the required quality is achieved by repeatedly passing seed through grain cleaners, which leads to increased production costs, losses, and seed damage. Designing grain-cleaning lines based on the conventional flow sheet construction principles does not allow reducing the seed material damage and the production cost and leads to the cost of units increasing almost directly proportional to their productivity.One way to solve the issue of improving the grain-cleaning system efficiency while reducing material and labor costs is the development and implementation of the grain mixture pre-fractionation technology based on the physical and mechanical characteristics of particles. Fractionation on an inclined plane with a curved surface (trampoline) increases the efficiency of grain cleaners by 20–30 % due to obtaining fractions of different quality before further processing.