Rotor Power and Losses of an Axial-Flow Combine

Abstract

ABSTRACT The power required by the rotor of an axial-flow combine and the grain losses were determined for barley in a laboratory for different rotor speeds, concave clearances, helix angles of the transport vanes, feed rates, and moisture contents. Though the power was largely a function of the last three, it was prodigious for a combination of the minimum vane angle at high feed rates of high moisture barley with the minimum concave clearance. The losses were affected by the rotor speed, vane angle and feed rate, and to a lesser extent by the moisture content and the concave clearance.