THE WOODWARD CHAFFY SEED CONDITIONER 2000

Abstract

Unprocessed chaffy grass seeds are usually a heterogeneous mix of stems, leaves, chaff, awns, hairs, empty glumes and seed of various size and quality. The objective of this research was to develop a three–phase seed conditioner to uniformly meter, precondition, and classify seed. This objective was accomplished by using variable–speed horizontal augers for seed metering, rubber paddles rotating within a circular scalping screen for preconditioning, and fluidic acceleration utilizing the Coanda principle and momentum discrimination for seed quality classification. The Woodward Chaffy Seed Conditioner 2000 was tested on large lots of Texas bluegrass (Poa arachnifera Torr.) seed. This grass is an extremely difficult species to process due to excessive fuzzy appendages that cause the seed to cling together in large clumps. The unit successfully metered seed material, preconditioned the seed, and then classified the seed into quality classes. The conditioner removed the fuzzy material from around the seed, leaving the glumes intact that greatly improved flow characteristics. The Woodward air–seed shucker was used to determine percentage grain within a seed material sample and to monitor seed quality at various distances from the fluidic classifier. Percentages of grain content increased from 2 to 52% of the conditioned seed material as distance from the exit of the classifier increased from 0.6 to 2.6 m. These data indicated that momentum discrimination was successful for seed quality classification.