Separating Light Impurities from the Combed Heap in the Adapter Case

Introduction. It is possible to increase the separating of loose grain on the lattice bottom of the combine harvester feeder house by removing most of the light impurities from the combed heap using an inertial cleaning system built into the combing adapter body.Aim of the Study. The study is aimed at developing an inertial system for separating light impurities in the combing header body and optimizing its main parameters.Materials and Methods. The object of the study was a large-scale model of a pneumatic cleaning device to simulate the motion of air and components of a combed grain heap inside the combing adapter body. It was a two-factor experiment with three variations of the air flow velocity (4.5; 5.5; 6.5 m/s) and the width of the air channel (0.26; 0.29; 0.32 m). The studies were conducted on a combed heap of Moskovskaya 56 wheat with a moisture content of about 12%. As a parameter for optimization and response function, a portion of the combed heap was selected from the body of the installation with an air flow.Results. According to the results of the experimental studies, it was found that the air flow velocity has a greater effect on separating glumes than the width of the air channel. A simultaneous increase in both factors leads to an improved separation. At the same time, if increasing the air flow velocity ensures a stable increase in the proportion of the combed heap and is limited only by the air velocity at which grain appears in the combed heap along with the glumes, then changing the channel width allows achieving the parameter optimal value.Discussion and Conclusions. The use of an inertial cleaning system makes it possible to remove almost completely light impurities from the combed heap. The optimal parameters of the device are: channel width 0.28...0.3 m, air flow velocity 6...6.5 m/s.