DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUGER TYPE GROWBAG FILLING SYSTEM

Abstract

The research paper depicts the design and development of auger type growbag filling unit for easy filling of growbags. India is an agriculture-based country. Majority of the population primarily depends on agriculture. Our farmers follow the same traditional way for ages. There is a need of mechanization in the agriculture sector. This results in higher productivity and precision in agriculture. Growbag cultivation is getting popular in our state due to urbanisation. It necessitated easy method of filling growbags as per the favourable agronomic conditions for crop growth. A growbag filling unit was hence developed and tested for filling growbags of different size. The unit consists of an electric motor (1 hp), a feeding chute, a screw auger with small hopper, driving and driven pulley, V-belt and main frame. Potting mixture is discharged through the feeding chute and conveyed through the screw auger by the rotational and horizontal motion of the auger blade. The developed prototype was tested in laboratory, in order to optimize the operational parameters viz. machine and material parameters in the ratio of S:C:FYM as 1:1:1. Dried soil, coir pith and FYM mixed and filled in the growbags. The properties such as bulk density (1.11 g·cm-3), particle density(1.47 g·cm-3), porosity (24.49 per cent), fineness modulus (5.45), pH (6.74), angle of repose (45.54°), electrical conductivity (2.12 dS·m-1) and uniformity (1.29 per cent- maximum deviation) of the potting mixture were observed at the ratio1:1:1 (S:C:FYM) at the moisture content of 15 per cent. Performance parameters such as time of operation (39 seconds, medium size bag), capacity of the unit (414.37 kg·h-1), number of bags filled (92, medium size bags), average variation (4.47%) and energy consumption (0.0289 kWh) were obtained with an overall efficiency of 77 per cent. Total cost of unit including miscellaneous costs is Rs. 20,352/- and the operational cost was found to be around Rs. 140/- per hour.