Experimental research on quality functioning of haulm residue remover from sugar beet epicotyl

Abstract

The modern technology of sugar beet haulm harvesting assumes the so-called double-stage cutting. First, the basic continuous cutting of the haulm residues from the epicotyl is carried out by using rotor haulm-cutting mechanisms. Then there follows clearance or cutting the residues from the epicotyl. This technology allows continuous, superior quality cutting and green matter harvesting. The green matter can be used as cattle fodder or a raw material for the production of biogas and clearance of haulm from root crops, eliminating the loss of sugary mass. We have developed a new structure of the epicotyl remover of haulm residues; the production tests have yielded positive results. The remover comprises two driving horizontal cylinders, on which cleaning elastic blades are fixed with a toggle in the radial direction. The machine’s shafts clasp each row of root crops, and the blades produce elastic bumps to the epicotyl from two opposite sides, thus cleaning effectively the spherical surfaces of the sugar beet epicotyls from the haulm residues. We have also developed new experimental equipment that allows modeling the work of the remover in field conditions, and we further pursue the experimental research of the machinery and tools. We have designed a program and methods to facilitate a field multifactorial experiment with a remover of haulm residues from the epicotyl of sugar beet roots and to determine the relevant quality indicators. The acquired results, processed by a PC, showed that the quality of the technological process that employs a remover with two driving horizontal cylinders to extract the haulm residues from the epicotyl of sugar beet can be improved via an elevated circumferential speed of the remover’s driving cylinders and a reduced height of the fixed blades above the level of the soil surface at a low gradual speed of the machine motion. Based on an analysis of the acquired functional and graphic dependences, we claim that the rational significance of the functioning modes of the studied remover of haulm residues from sugar beet epicotyl, which delivers the highest quality operation in order to remove the haulm residues from the spherical surfaces of the epicotyls of root crops, involves: 1) the speed of the gradual motion of the remover – 1.5...2.5 m·s-1; 2) the circumferential speed of the rotation of the driving cylinders – 55...80 rad·s-1; 3) the height of fixing the blades of the remover over the soil surface level – 0...2.5 cm.