Experimental Determination of the Influence of the Peeling Machine Constructive and Operating Parameters on the Criteria of the Peeling Process Efficiency

Introduction. The determination of the optimal technological efficiency of the peeling process, in terms of the number of detached casings and unit costs of the process, is an important task. The purpose of the study is to give reasons for a comprehensive evaluation criterion of the technological efficiency of peeling wheat grain and choose the optimal values of the parameters of grain peeling, taking into account the energy intensity of the process. Materials and Methods. To quantify the technological efficiency of peeling wheat grain, we used the following local efficiency criteria: the relative yield of peeling by-products, the relative decrease in grain ash content, the increase in the number of cracked grains, and a comprehensive criterion of efficiency taking into account local criteria and the specific power consumption. Results. The experiments have shown that the technological feasibility of the peeling process is ensured at the percentage of the flap opening at the outlet of the machine 60‒70%. In this case, the relative yield of waste husk is 3.2‒2.8%, the relative decrease in grain ash content is 0.32‒0.20%, and the increase in the number of cracked grains does not exceed 0.85%. With increasing the degree of the flap opening at the outlet of the machine from 50 to 100%, the specific power consumption decreases from 8.7 to 3.5 kW∙h/t. Discussion and Сonclusion. To assess the technological efficiency of wheat grain peeling a generalized efficiency criterion, which includes local criteria, is proposed. It has been experimentally proved their dependence on the intensity of grain processing in the machine. The optimum combination of the flap opening degree at the outlet of the machine at 67% (productivity 0.7 t/h) and the specific power consumption of 5.8 kW∙h/t was defined. In this case, the efficiency complex criterion, taking into account the process energy intensity of, is 4.5 kg/kW∙h.