Research of crushing sunflower stalks when mowing with a cutting device with a vertical axis of rotation

Abstract

Annotation Purpose. The purpose is to increase the efficiency of the process of cutting sunflower stalks with a cutting device with a vertical axis of rotation for harvesting for energy purposes. Methods. The methods of scientific planning of experiments and regression analysis were used to search for optimal conditions. Modeling and statistical processing of the results was performed using a personal computer and mathematical software products with the help of computer program packages: Microsoft Excel and StatSoft Statistica. Results. The results of research on the process of cutting sunflower stalks with a cutting device with a vertical axis of rotation for harvesting for energy purposes are presented. The dependence of the influence of the angular speed of rotation of the knives and the height of the folding blade of the knives on the degree of crushing of sunflower stalks by a cutting device with a vertical axis of rotation was obtained. Conclusions. It was established that the angular speed of rotation of the knives of the cutting machine has a decisive influence on the degree of grinding of sunflower stalks. With an increase in the angular speed of rotation of the knives from 105 s-1 to 185 s-1, the content in the mown mass of sunflower stalks over 100 mm in size decreases from 68–69 % to 39–51 % at the various modes in which the research was conducted. A significant influence of the height of the folding blade of the knives on the degree of grinding of sunflower stems was noted when the angular speed of rotation of the knives was increased to 145–185 s-1. Thus, with a significant angular speed of rotation of the knives of 185 s-1 and an increase in the height of the blade from 20 mm to 32 mm, a decrease in the content of sunflower stems over 100 mm in the mown stem mass was established from 51 % to 39 %. Keywords: sunflower stalks, mowing, grinding, cutting device, knives, shovels.