Experimental determination of the wear resistance of devices used for cutting the stalks of agricultural plants

The paper presents researches on the wear resistance of the blades integrated in the combine cutter for the harvesting of agricultural plants. The wear of the combine cutters causes production losses at harvesting both during operation and stopping machines to change the blades. Experimental determination of wear was made for blades on cutting attachment of three types of combines studied. The parameters determined in the wear study were the hardness, mass and roughness of both the new blades and the blades used for 100 hours of harvest operation. The analysis of the data on the degree of wear of the blades both quantitatively by determining the mass and qualitatively by studying the roughness of the used surfaces under identical conditions of operation, presents differential losses for the three combines that correlate with the blade hardness

Researches regarding the design and achievement of a fertilization machine in aggregate with a motoculture for greenhouses and solariums

The experiments were focused on the design and execution of the equipment for the administration of solid chemical fertilizers within the disciplines of Mechanization of the Ion Ionescu de la Brad University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Iasi. The determination of uniformity administration of solid chemical fertilizers was achieved using the gravitational method. Experience have shown that the equipment satisfies the qualitative requirements and qualities of fertilizer uniformity using a high precision method for determining the distribution of the fertilizer

Influence of the wetting process in the conventional system on the qualitative indices of wheat for milling

The wheat conditioning determines a series of transformations of the mechano-structural and biochemical properties of the grains. Proper wetting of the wheat grain on the outside succeeds in the peeling process in removing the upper layers of its coating without water entering the endosperm, so that in the end high quality flours will be obtained. In this study, two influencing factors were followed: the temperature in the grain mass and the rest time of grains after wetting, finally obtaining a multifactorial experience with 72 experimental variants. The experiments, performed in the present paper, revealed a close connection between the rest time of grains and their humidity after the hydrothermal treatment. Also, the three temperature ranges (10°C - 15°C, 15°C - 20°C and 20°C - 25°C) of the cereal mass for which the study was performed, had a direct influence on the water speed penetration from the outside of the grains to the inside. By establishing individually, the optimal conditioning recipe for each batch of wheat with different characteristics, the wetting period is significantly reduced in the technological process of preparing wheat grains for milling

Studies regarding energy consumption variation and drying time for corn seed in laboratory conditions

The drying process for grain seeds ensures optimal conditions for storage and stops microbiological processes. In order to improve the drying process of corn seeds an was installation designed and built, aiming for the dehydration of cereal seeds in laboratory conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal operating parameters of the drying process in order to maximize the technological effect, namely to minimize the drying time and the energy consumption. To achieve this goal, corn seeds with humidities between 16-25% were subjected successively to be dried, in three adjoining cells with 50 mm thickness each. During the research the structural and functional parameters for the dehydration rig were modified, namely the velocity and temperature of the drying agent, until the corn moisture reached 14%, aiming to assess their influence over the duration and energy consumption per product unit. The experimental research displayed variations between 0.006 and 0.03 kWh/kg for energy consumption, and between 2 and 150 minutes for the drying time. A total number of 80 experimental variants were studied during the research, the lowest values of the drying time being recorded at a speed of the drying agent of 2.5 m/s with a temperature of 80 °C and the minimum values of energy consumption at the speed of 2 m/s with a temperature of 80 oC. The research proved that the functional and technical parameters have a major influence over the process duration and energy consumption

Researches regarding the optimization of the opperating process of wheat debranning for grinding

Debranning is an operation which removes parts or the entire outer layer of wheat seeds, resulting in the removal of dust particles adhering to the surface of the grain and it also clears the wheat kernels hair. The debranning operation of cereals has a large influence on the grinding work process, on the content of minerals of the flour, on germs separation and broken kernels content; for these reasons the purpose of this paper is to optimize the constructive and functional parameters of the wheat debranning installation, namely to maximize the technological work process. In order to achieve the objective of this paper, a test rig was designed and built in order to study and optimize the operating process for wheat kernels debranning; the technological line consists of: horizontal debranning machine with frusto active bodies made of Eureka type braided wire and an aspiration system. In order to study the influence of debranning operation on the quality indices of wheat seeds, several structural and functional parameters of the machine were varied and the variations of the following indices were observed: broken kernels content, ash content and the amount of peeled coating. As a result of the laboratory investigations it was found that the percentage of broken grains, the ash content and the amount of peeled coating varies with the rotor speed and the distance between the two frusto jackets. The percentage of broken grains is directly proportional to the inner jacket speed and inversely proportional to the distance between the two conical drums made of braided wire. The experimental tests showed that the percentage of ash was affected by the rotor speed and the distance between the two drums of the debranning machine. Corroborating the results regarding the content of broken grains, percentage of ash and the amount of peeledcoating led us to the conclusion that the optimum operating regime of the machine was obtained when the distance between the tapered drums was d = 10 mm, the rotor speed was 150 rev/min and 250 rev/min respectively

Performance assessments and the effect on barley seed quality regarding a new developed grain dryer

Convective dryers are widely used in various fields, such as for drying pasta, fruit, vegetables, agricultural plant seeds etc. Several variants of dryers have been designed so far, such as: dryers with intermediate heating of the drying agent, dryers with partial recirculation of the drying agent, closed circuit dryers and those ones with combined technical solutions. None of the above solves the problem regarding the drying agent flow uniformity. In the case of existing world-wide tower dryers, drying is more intense towards the end of the drying agent mixing chamber. To overcome this shortcoming, an innovative cylindrical tower dryer was conceived, which evens the drying agent parameters. The dryer contains a conical device mounted inside the perforated cylinder above the burner. This device is based on the Coandă effect according to which, a fluid jet has the tendency to stay attached to a convex surface. The device has been designed after Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations (CFD), after which optimum setting adjustments have been made to achieve uniformity of the speed and temperature profiles across the entire interior surface of the perforated cylinder, regardless the porosity of the seed layer. Experiments were conducted using barley seeds with three initial moisture contents, five air temperatures (40oC to 80oC) and four fan speeds (1 m/s to 2.5 m/s). The obtained results showed a reduction of protein loss of up to 1.77%, a reduction of germination capacity loss of up to 9.87%, a decrease of the energy consumption of up to 10-15% and a decrease of the drying time of up to 20%, compared to the results obtained with a conventional tower dryer. The advantages of using the new developed dryer are: drying process uniformity, energy consumption and drying time reduction, seed quality improvement, construction cost reduction and material economy

Research on heat transfer during the drying process of agricultural seeds

Development of computers and software made possible CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modeling of heat transfer phenomena in drying process of agricultural seeds. Validation of the mathematical model of the heat transfer process in a porous medium was achieved by measuring the seed temperature at several points of the seed layer in a dryer. The CFD simulation obtained the temperature profile in the seed layer on the three thicknesses studied. Simulation and experiment allow optimization of the drying process by increasing the quality of dried seeds with low energy consumption. The results of the simulation and experimental data give a dry layer optimum thickness of the 100 mm for all tested seeds

The importance of traceability in the beer brewing process within the brewing microproduction workshop

Transparency in identifying the origin of food is a necessity. After a number of recalls and incidents related to food insecurity around the world, consumer awareness of food security issues has increased. In this scenario, food traceability appears as an important tool. The importance of the present paper derives from the approach to a highly current research area, namely the guarantee of food safety, food quality and the continuous concern of alcoholic beverage producers to obtain safe and healthy products. The main objectives and activities consist of: (1) making an exhaustive documentation of the national and international legislation (especially that of the EU) related to the topic addressed; (2) establishing the manufacturing recipe, the raw and auxiliary materials and the optimal technological parameters for beer manufacturing, the development of manufacturing technological norms for the companies in the field (internal quality standards); (3) planning and tracking the production process; (4) physico-chemical characterization of the raw and auxiliary materials that enter the manufacturing process of the analyzed products. This analysis can be useful for the creation and development of new guidelines to improve the production process of beer, aiming at a higher degree of satisfaction of breweries and increasing the degree of safety of foods in the brewery chain

The development of value-added yogurt based on pumpkin peel powder as a bioactive powder

This study aimed to explore the utilization of pumpkin by-products as a bioactive powder in the development of value-added yogurt. Pumpkin peel resulting from food processing contains antioxidant components like phenolics, flavonoids, and carotenoids, compounds characterized by high bioactivity. This study investigated the potential of incorporating pumpkin peel powder (PPP) into yogurt to enhance its nutritional value and sensory attributes. Results indicated that the incorporation of PPP into yogurt resulted in improvements in nutritional composition, particularly in terms of β-carotene and bioactive compounds. Additionally, the addition of PPP positively influenced the textural properties of the yogurt. The sensory evaluation revealed that the incorporation of pumpkin peel had no negative impact on the overall acceptability of the yogurt, with some samples (YPP2) even exhibiting preferred sensory characteristics compared to the control. The utilization of PPP as a bioactive powder in yogurt presents a promising strategy for reducing food waste and creating innovative, value-added dairy products. The development of such products can not only contribute to sustainable food production but also provide consumers with more diverse food choices with enhanced characteristics