Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Effects of concave clearance and rotor speed affecting maize shelling performance

Anuwat Pachanawan — 2024-08-01

Presently, there is a development of a maize shelling machine fitted with a tractor. Therefore, it is necessary to study design factors. This research therefore aimed at studying the suitable of concave clearance and rotor speed for disc pegs. This research assessed the shelling performance of concave clearance and rotor speed by Shelling Efficiency (SE), Total Losses (TL), Grain Breakage (GB) from four levels of concave clearance including 15, 20, 25, and 30 mm and three levels of rotor speed including 6, 10 and 14 m/s. The results showed that the increasing concave clearance affected the TE decreased, but the TL increased, whereas concave clearance did not affect GB. The increasing rotor speed affected the TE and GB increased, but the TL decreased to the drum speed, which the suitable concave clearance, not more than 20 mm and the rotor speed, not less than 10 m/s.

Intelligent Mushroom Cultivation House with Fired Clay Balls to Air Humidification

Ponthep Vengsungnle — 2024-08-19

The objective of this research is to study the effects of mushroom cultivation in a smart mushroom cultivation facility with the fired clay balls that help retain moisture. The study compares the opening of mushroom caps in three systems: system 1, where caps are opened in a greenhouse with regular watering; system 2, where caps are opened in a greenhouse with soil pellets aiding moisture retention; and system 3, which involves caps opening in a greenhouse with soil pellets aiding moisture retention and automated watering controlled by a time-based system. The results of the study indicate that the use of fired clay balls can help reduce the average temperature by 0.87 °C. Incorporating an automatic system further decreases the average temperature by 3.69 °C. Adding the fired clay balls also increases the average humidity by 16.15% RH, and when combined with the automatic system, it results in a 19.76% RH increase. The use of the fired clay balls has no significant impact on water consumption and electricity usage. However, when combined with the automated control system, there is a significant reduction compared to manual watering. The system employing the fired clay balls shows an approximately 11.94% increase in yield, and when combined with the automated system, the yield increases by 22.41%. If farmers cultivate mushrooms with a quantity of at least 2,500 capsules, they can expect a daily profit of approximately 450 Baht, and the payback period is estimated to be 3.54 months.

Research and develop a strawberry color sorting machine using Image Processing techniques.

Sanong Amaroek — 2024-08-21

The objective of this is to research and develop the strawberry sorter by using image processing technology. The machine size is 1,325 x 3,000 x 1,400 mm, a camera’s resolution 752 x 480 pixels is used for color detecting and IV-H1 software is used for image analyzing. The sorting system is automatically operated by PLC programmed control. The machine capable for sorting 4 types of strawberry’s color as white, pink, red and dark red. The test was done at 0.05, 0.08 and 0.1 ms^-1 of sorting speed, the result showed the good condition for strawberry grading at 0.05 ms^-1. The average of sorting accuracy was 93.23%, average working capacity was 3,214 fruits hour^-1, comparing with manual grading it is 2.15 times faster. The manual grading capacity was 1,494 fruits hour^-1. The machine price is 150,000 THB, the operation time is 7 years and the break-even point is 4.81 years.

Performance of a small plowing machine using gasoline power engine

Lakkana Pitak — 2024-09-04

The research aims to create a small grooving machine. To be able to work in a small space or greenhouse. It is designed to have 1 powered wheel for easy turning. And uses a belt to transmit power for transferring power from the engine to the gear room. Use a chain drive in the gearbox to reduce drag and ensure durability. Make a joystick to control the direction of turning. There is a throttle to accelerate or reduce speed. and uses a gasoline engine as power source Because it is cost-effective, lightweight, and convenient to use. in a small area by small grooving machine A 6.5 horsepower engine was used as the power source and tested at 5 engine speeds: 1900, 2200, 2500, 2800, and 3100 rpm in an area of 1,100 square meters. The test results found that Controlling a small grooving machine With a rotational speed of 2500 rpm, the driving speed is 2.40 kilometers per hour. is the appropriate speed Because the work time is 1.04 minutes, the time lost for turning the plot is 0.30 minutes, the groove depth is 16 centimeters, the groove distance is 40 centimeters, and can work 0.72 rai per hour. Work efficiency is 89.42 percent. Oil consumption rate is 0.80 liters per rai.