Baudet, L.

Misra, M.

Shyy, Y.

English

Scholars Junction - Mississippi State University Institutional Repository

Mississippi State University Scholars Junction Proceedings of the Short Course for Seedsmen MAFES (Mississippi Agricultural and Foresty Experiment Station) 4-1-1986 Soybean Seed Handling M. Misra L. Baudet Y. Shyy Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/seedsmen-short-course Recommended Citation Misra, M.; Baudet, L.; and Shyy, Y., "Soybean Seed Handling" (1986). Proceedings of the Short Course for Seedsmen. 454. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/seedsmen-short-course/454 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the MAFES (Mississippi Agricultural and Foresty Experiment Station) at Scholars Junction. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Short Course for Seedsmen by an authorized administrator of Scholars Junction. For more information, please contact scholcomm@msstate.libanswers.com. SOYBEAN SEED HANDLING M. Misra , L. Baudet , andY. Shyy1 Introduction and Objective Improper handling of soybean seed can substantially reduce seed quality . Many commercial conveyors are available for bul k handling of seed . These conveyors were designed for grain and information on the damage caused by these conveyors in seed handling is limited. The objective of this research was to compare several seed handling systems with respect to their effect upon soybean seed quality. The u1 timate goal is to pro vi de the soybean seed producer with i nforma-tion upon which to base the purchase of new system and optimi ze the operation of those already in hand. Description of Conveyors A survey was conducted to determine the types of conveyors being used by approved soybean seed conditioners in Iowa. A total of 74 questionnaires were sent with 66 conditioners responding . This survey indicated that 25 . 8% of the conditioners use steel- flighting augers, 24 . 2% use belt conveyors, 19.7% use augers with rubber- flighting intakes , 15 . 2% use pneumatic conveyors , 10.6% use flight conveyors , 3% use other conveyors and 1. 5% do not use any conveyors for bulk handling of soybean seed . Based on the survey information , six conveyors were included in the experimental design. These conveyors were: 1 . Steel- flighting Auger: A steel- flighting auger (Figure 1) is the most common device on the farm for bulk handling of seed. It implements a rotating helix inside a tube for lifting of t he seed . Because the helix and the tube are made of metal , mechanical da~age t o seed can occur . 2. Auger with Rubber Intake: The main feat ure of this auger is a two- foot rubber intake section (Figure 2) . Originally a safety feature , the rubber intake offers some protection against seed damage. 3. Pneumatic Conveyor: Seeds in this device are conveyed by a moving air stream . The seeds are conveyed through the intake pipe lAssociate Professor , Research Assistant and Research Associate , re-spectively , Iowa State University , Ames , Iowa. 36 L Figure 1 . An auger is often used on the farm to fill bulk storage. Figure 2. Auger with rubber intake. 37 (Figure 3) to the st:parator 0yclon'= and into an airlock . From th~ airlock, th'= s~~ds drop into the discharge pipe and conveyed to the discharge cyclone . 4. The Belt Conveyor: In this conveyor, a rubber belt trav~l­ling through a steel tube carries the seeds (Figures 4a and 4b). Sine~ the seeds are carried on the belt , damage to seeds can be rn1n1mized . 5. The Rubber- flight Conveyor: Thjs conveyor r~s rubber flights molded on a rubber belt (Figure 5) to prev~nt the roll back of seeds during handling . The flight conveyor can therefore be operat~d at higher angles of inclination than tht: belt conveyor without increasing the belt speed . 6. The Steel-core Bristle Auger: This aug~r uses nylon bristles 1 nstead of :netal flightings to :nove the seed (Figure 6). The nylon bristles are attached to a steel core . The steel core provides strength to keep the material movjng and the bristl~s provide a sweeping action to minimize seed damage during handling. Experimental Procedure The total experimental design included six conveyors, two angles of inclination (300 and 150) , two volume controls (full capacity and half capacity) , two consecutive passes througr, ~a cr. conveyor , and two seedlots. Seedlot 1 consisted of 1200 bushels of Pella soybean S<:!ed grown in Madrid, Iowa by the University Far:n Service. Tr.e seeds wer"! harvested in October , 1984 at an average seed moisture of 14.3% and put in 20 bushel plastic liMd bulk bags for tr.e handling exper1ments. Seedlot 2 was a proprietary vari"!ty and was a surplus production from the previous year. The seedlot was at 10.7% moisture , was cleaned by the condltioner and stored in 60-pound S"=ed bags . A thousand of th"!se bags were transported to the warehouse for the s~ed handling ex peri-ments . Two bins, made of wood and angle iron wer'= us~d for thj s research (Figure 7) . One of the bins was susp~nd~d from a forklift to provide the d~sired angl~ of inclination . Each bin was equippP.d with a 4 lnch x 16 inch slide gat!'! at the bottom. Pri or to the <experiments, the slide gatP.s were calibrated to control the vol~~~ of seed flow into the conveyor. The conveyor transferred seed from one bin to the other . The time for each conveying run was recorded using a chrono-meter . The capacity of each conveyor was calculated by dividing the weight of seeds conveyed by the time recorded. During conveying, samples were taken fro~ the inlet a nd exit end of th"! conveyor. Each sample of approxi~ately 2 kilograms of soybeans was obtained by cutting across the stream of seed flow sever3l ti:nes with a contai n<:!r . For the second pass, sa:npl es were taken only at tr.e 38 MACHINE INTAKE AIRLOCK Figure 3 . The Pneumatic Convevor DISCHARGE CYCLONE SEPARATION CYCLONE Figure 4(a). The Belt Conveyor Figure 4(b) . Cl ose- up of t he belt in thP tube oi the Bel t Conveyor 39 40 Figure 5 . The Rubber- flight Convevor STEEL CORE BRISTLE FLIGHTING Figure 6 . The Steel- core Bristle Au~er 2 SEEDLOTS WITH DIFFERENT MOISTURE CONTENT 6 CONVEYORS - STEEL FLIGHTING AUGER RUBBER INTAKE AUGER PNEUMATIC CONVEYOR BELT CONVEYOR NYLON BRUSH CONVEYOR FLIGHT CONVEYOR 2 ANGLES OF INCLINATION - '30° 15° 2 VOLUME CONTROL~ - FULL CAPACITY HALF CAPACITY 2 CONSECUTIVE PASSES THROUGH EACH CONVEYOR 2 REPLICATIONS BIN 1 Figure 7. The Experimental Set- up .1:'-t-' 42 exit end of the conv~yor , since the sample at the inl~t for the second pass is the same sample as collected at the exit end during the first pass. The seed quality of the sa~ples was evaluated tn terms of germination , seedcoat damage, and splits. The germination tests were conducted by the Iowa State Seed Laboratory according to the "RUles f'or Testing Seeds" of the Association of Official Seed Analysts . Four replications of 100 seeds were planted in a kimpak substrate, germinated at 25oc for 7 days , and the percentage norma1 seedlings recorded . The sodium hypochlorite soak procedure was used to determine seedcoat damage . In this procedure , two replications of 100 seeds were soaked tn a 1% sodi~~ hypochlorite solution for ten minutes. The seeds with seed coat damage swelled visibly and were counted. Splits were obtai ned by passing the sample through a 10/64- in . slotted hand sieve . The material that fell through the sieve often contained weed seeds and small undamaged seeds in addition to splits. These materials (other than splits) were removed by hand and the percentage of splits was calculated on the basis of weight of actual splits. Data analysis was made by the Statistical Analysis System '...!Sing a Completely Randomized Block experimental design. Results and Discussion Significant differences in capacity (maximum delivery) were found for various types of conveyors and angles of inclination (Figure 8). The flight conveyor, on the average , had the highest capacity (2373 Bu/hr) followed in order by the belt conveyor ( 2255 Bu/hr), the steel flighting auger ( 21 66 Bu/hr ) , the pneumatic conveyor ( 2092 Bu/hr) , the steel- flighting auger with rubber intake (2053 Bu/hr), and the nylon bristle auger (1883 Bu/hr) . For all conv~yors, the capacities declined at 30° angle of inclination compared t o 150 angle of inclination . The capacity of the belt conveyor was reduced by 46% when the belt conveyor was operated at 300 angle of inclination. The pneu~atic conveyor capacity was reduced only 3% by increasing the angle of Inclination from 15° to 30o. After two consecutive passes, the steel- flighting auger produced the highest increase in splits (0 .56% ) f ollowed in order by the rubber intake auger (0.24%) and the pneumatic conveyor (0 . 2%) (Tabl e 1) . Tt:e nylon brush conveyor produced only a very small increase 1 n splits (0.02%) and the remaining two conveyors , i . e. the belt conveyor and the flight conveyor did not produce any increase in splits i n two consec~­tive passes. The steel flighting auger also produced the highest seed coat damage ( 4 . 3%) in two consecutive passes. The rubber 1 ntake auger and the pneumatic conveyor inflicted about equal seed coat damage (2. 8%) in two consecutive passes . The corresponding seed coat da~age for the nylon brush conveyor , the flight conveyor and the belt conveyor were 1.59% , 0 . 66% and 0 . 38% , respectively. The steel flighting auger , the ll: ]: ' : ) Il l . ~-t • • • ll -c: IL ... ' ll ~"l:il1U r-' :tlll'l' t · _.,.... ... " / .. ,.. . . ·' ·' .· _, .. l'l' • . c::..l . r ~~1 r··,- .. ' .· . ,~. I I /> .·t .... ~~UUll 1 ~illll 1000 u~----~ -·----- -· · ~- -·.:. ~ - ·· _.._.. ----·· - -· . ( ~ ANGLE 30 v .r .":/1 L ~. ~ !: ..r_j ANGLE 15 Figure 8. Effect of conveyor type and angle of incl inati on on capacity. ~ w Table 1 . Average splits , germination and seedco at damage for various types of conveyo r s; averaged across seedlots , a ngles of inclination and volume flow. Types of conveyo r S tee 1 flight ing auger Rubber-intake auger Initia l ( 1) 0.1 47a 0 . 157a Pneumatic con veyor 0 . 140a Be 1t conveyo r 0 . 117a Ny 1 on brush con veyor 0. 136a F 1 i g h t conveyor 0.14la Splits After lst pass ( 1) 0 . 41 8a 0.28lb 0.246b 0.117c 0.151( 0 .14 6c After 2nd pass ( 1) 0.704a 0.397b 0.3 40b 0. 11 6c 0.159( 0.142( Germinati on After After Initial ( 1) 1st pass ( 1) 93 . 1a•b 91.9b 90.9c 90.1b • c 9l.lc•b 89.6c 92.0c •b 91.8b 92.1c • b 91 . 2b • c 94. 7 a 94 . 2a 2nd pass (t) Init i a l ( 1) 90.6b•c•d 6.53a 88.5d 7. 28 a 88 . 5c•d 7.84a 9l.lb • c 7. 50 a 92.3a • b 7. 63 a · 94. 3a 7 . 12 a Seed Coat Da mage After After l st pass ( t) 9.13a,b 2nd pass ( 1) 10.8a 9.00a•b• c lO . la•b 9. 7 1 a l 0 .7 a • b 7.25d 7.88c 8.19b•c•d 9.22b•c 7 . 78c •d 8 . 03( *Hea ns with the same letters within columns do not differ significantly at the 5 percent le vel . .1:'-.1:'-45 rubber intake aug~r and the pneumatic conv<:!yor r~dUc<:!d th~ g<:!rmination by very similar amounts (2 . 5%) in two cons~cutive passes. The r~maining three conveyors, 1. e . the nylon brush conveyor , th~ belt conveyor , and the flight conveyor , lnduced no significant decr~ase ln g~rmJnation during conveying (Table 1). A significant interaction of conveyor type and angle of inclina-tion was round for splits produced during conv~yanc~ of s~~dlot 2 (Table:! 2) . At st~eper angle of inclination for se~dlot 2, the steel flighting auger produced 1.49% splits in two consecutiv~ passes which is very und~sirable and must be avoided. The rubber intake auger also produced more splits (0 . 66%) at st~ep~r angle comparced to 150 angl~ of inclina-tion (0 . 4%) . The pn~~~atic conveyor show~d a r~v~rse tr~nd , which can not be fully explained. A possible explanation may be that. the seeds were slowed down in the exit cyclone du~ to the additional l~ngtt:. of pipe needed for incr~asing the height of discharg~. The thre~ remaining conv~yors 1. e . the belt conv~yor , the nylon brush conv~yor and the flight conveyor dtd not produce any appreciable amount of breakage to soybeans in any angle of inclination . The 1 nt~raction of conv~yor type with volu:ne flow is sr.own in Table 3. For s~edlot 2 the ste~l flighting auger produced a substantial increas~ in splits ( 1. 225%) in half volume flow condition. Tr.e rubber intake auger and the pneumatic conveyor also produced more splits when operated at half volume capacity as compared to full vol~~e flow condition . The rem·ainjng three conveyors i. e. tr.~ belt conveyor, tr.ce nylon brush conveyor and the flight conveyor were not influenc~d by t~<:! volume flow i:-1 term of br~akage. The pn~urnatic conv<:!yor caused a signif'icant decrease in germination in the half vol~~e condi tioh for se~dlot 2 (Table 3). The se~dlot , after two cons~cuti v~ passes, had a germination of 82.9%. Further analysis indicat~d this decr~as~ occurr~d in both angles of inclination. Further r~s~arch is recomm~nded to confirm this aspect. of pneumatic oonvceytng becaus~ of its slgni:'icance in r~commending proper operational proc~dur~ to th~ produc~r ~or maintaining s~ed quality . Conclusions The conclusions deriv~d from the first y~ar of r~search ar~ : 1 . The flight conveyor had th~ higl':~st. capacity follm•~d , in order, by the belt conv~yor , tt:.e ste~l flighting aug~r , th~ pneumatic conv~yor, the rubber intak~ aug~r, and th~ nylon brush auger. 2 . The capacity of each conveyor decr~ased at a steeper angle of inclination . This decr~as~ was most pronounced in tr.e b~lt conv~yor and l~ast noticeable for the pne~~atic conv~yor . Table 2. Effect of conveyor type and angle of inclination on splits and germination of soybean -'=' seed. (J'\ Splits (1) Germination (1) Seedlot 1 Seedlot 2 Seedlot 1 Seedlot 2 Angle of Type of incl in at ion After After After After After After After After conveyor (Degrees) 1st pass 2nd pass 1st pass 2nd pass 1st pass 2nd pass 1st pass 2nd pass Steel 15 0.001 0.050 0.427 o. 73 94.4 92.7 92.1 92.1 f1 ighting 30 0.012 0. 097 0.783 1. 49 89.3 87.8 90.8 88.7 auger Rubber 15 0.017 0.015 0.230 0.397 88 . 9 87 . 4 89.4 87.6 intake 30 0. 031 0.026 0.357 0.660 93.5 92.4 89.9 89.1 auger Pneumatic 15 0.074 0. 137 0.200 0.353 93.6 93.5 86.9 86.2 conveyor 30 0.098 0. 146 0.285 91.0 91.8 88.0 84.0 Belt 15 -0.032 -0 . 010 0. 061 0.058 92.6 93 . 5 93.0 92.3 conveyor 30 0.043 0.021 0.065 0.068 92.1 90.9 89 . 3 87.8 Nylon 15 0.007 -o. oo4 0.092 0.019 93.4 93.8 90.2 91.7 brush 30 0.012 0. 023 0.095 0. 108 91.6 93 . 2 899.5 90.4 conveyor Flight 15 0.004 0.003 0.071 0. 062 96.7 94.6 90 . 7 91.0 conveyor 30 -0.025 -0.014 0.078 0. 061 94 . 3 95.8 93 . 6 93.7 Table 3. Effect of conveyor type and volume of flow on splits and germination of soybean seed . Splits (%) Germination (%) Seedlot 1 Seedlot 2 Seedlot 1 Seedlot 2 Type of Volume After After After After After After After After conveyor flow 1st pass 2nd pass 1st pass 2nd pass 1st pass 2nd pass 1st pass 2nd pass Steel Fu 11 - .021 0.012 0. 516 0.995 91.2 89 , 8 92.2 90 . 9 flighting Half 0,034 0.135 0.694 1.225 92.5 90.6 90.6 89.9 auger Rubber Full 0.042 0.032 0. 256 0.486 92.3 92 . 3 88 . 5 87.3 intake Half 0. 006 0.009 0.331 0. 571 90.1 87.5 90 . 8 88.4 auger Pneumatic Full 0. 074 0.099 0.144 0.259 92.2 92.3 90 . 9 87.3 conveyor Half 0. 109 0.184 0.221 0.379 92 . 3 93.1 84 . 0 82.9 Belt Fu 11 0.019 0. 022 0. 079 0.080 92 . 6 94,1 91.2 90 . 4 conveyor Half -0 . 008 -0 . 011 0.069 0.072 92.1 90.3 91.2 89 . 6 Nyl on Full 0.020 0.032 0. 102 0. 111 91.8 94.0 89.1 90.5 brush Half -0.001 -0. 011 0. 085 0.106 93.3 93 . 0 90.6 91.5 conveyor Flight Full -0.016 - .008 0.067 0.059 95.9 94.5 92.3 92 . 9 conveyor Half -0.002 0 0.082 0.065 95.1 95 . 8 92.0 91.9 p.. ......, 48 3. The belt conveyor, the flight conveyor and the nylon brush auger did not cause significant damage to seed during conveying . 4. The steel flighting auger , the rubber intake auger and the pneumatic conveyor produced significant seed damage during conveying if : a. the conveyor was not kept full, b . the angle of inclination was steep , c. the seed moisture was not ideal, d. a combination of a , b and c. 

Soybean Seed Handling

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Soybean Seed Handling

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