Testing of a feed grain centrifugal shredder

Grinding of feed grain is one of the main operations necessary for the preparation of feed. The proper functioning of the digestive system of animals, their health and productivity depend on the quality of grain grinding. To grind feed grain, most enterprises of the agro-industrial complex use hammer crushers; however, the operating experience has revealed lack of efficacy of their grinding process. In order to increase the efficiency of the feed grain grinding process, the authors propose to use a centrifugal shredder based on a different kinetics with a slightly different process of interaction between the crushed material and active and passive crushing members in comparison with those of hammer crushers. A detailed description is presented and the principle of operation of a centrifugal feed grain shredder is considered. To study the operation of the centrifugal shredder in working environment a production line for feed grain processing was created. The authors present a diagram and a description of the production line operation for feed grain processing in working environment, which includes the following main elements: a feed auger; a centrifugal shredder; an outfeed auger; a mixer; control and regulation devices. The authors describe the experiment conducted in working environment including the sequence and means of control of the selected operating parameters and present formulas to determine the studied parameters, such as: productivity, power consumption, average diameter of crushed particles. The rationale for the choice of the main regime parameters and criteria studied during the experiments is presented. To select the optimal mode of operation of a centrifugal feed grain shredder when grinding barley grain in working environment, an analysis of data obtained during laboratory studies is presented. It was found that with a rotor rotation speed equal to 3500 min-1 and an area of the discharge window of the operational hopper of 0,001458 m2, the greatest productivity of the centrifugal shredder is observed, and in combination with the amount of power intake and the resulting sizes of crushed particles, the best efficiency of the grinding process is achieved. Based on the results of the research conducted in laboratory and working environment, a comparative analysis of the data obtained is presented. The authors conclude that operating a centrifugal shredder at the selected optimal mode and at a rotor speed that is beyond the value necessary for grain destruction is possible. The obtained data analysis indicated the reasons for the discrepancy of the results obtained during experiments in laboratory and working environment.