Development and Evaluation of Pneumatic Packing Machine for Paddy

Abstract

In the present scenario of the state of Kerala, it is difficult to carry out rice cultivation due to high labour cost and shortage of labour and because of this, the paddy fields are being converted into filled up land. Mechanization of the different operations is the only possible solution to sustain rice cultivation in the state. A wide range of machinery are available to carry out the different operations involved in paddy cultivation except packing of harvested paddy. So it is decided to develop a model of pneumatic packing machine for paddy at KCAET, Tavanur. The conventional method of packing paddy requires a number of labours for filling of paddy into sacks, weighing each sacks separately, and to stitch it. The concept of pneumatic conveying of grains is a simple and easy to achieve technique. The system involves minimum number of components and could be fabricated easily. The development of a packaging system for paddy is derived from this concept. Based on the conceptual design a packing machine was developed and it consisted of a Main frame assembly, Vacuum pressure turbine blower, Cyclone separator, Sack holder and a Digital platform balance. The suction pressure developed by the blower is used to convey the paddy from the heap to the cyclone separator through flexible conduits. The turbine blower was powered with a 1 HP electric motor. A cyclone separator is used to separate the paddy grains and the air. A sack provided beneath the cyclone separator collects the paddy coming out of the separator. A simple sack holding mechanism at the bottom permits easy holding and removal of sacks. The sack holder is placed above a digital platform balance and thus it will initiate the weighing of paddy during the packing itself. The air and dust particles will be expelled out to the atmosphere through the outlet port of turbine blower. The developed model of pneumatic packing machine for paddy is evaluated for it performance and indicated a fairly satisfactory performance. The average power consumption of the prime mover is 792.25 W which is equivalent to 1 hp. On an average, the developed model is capable of filling 23 sacks per hour. Cost analysis of the developed machine reveals that the cost of packing one sack of 50 kg paddy comes to Rs 2.62. The packing machine is beneficial for reducing the time, labour, cost and energy of packing to a great extent. From the experimental results, it is obvious that the newly developed machine is technically and economically suitable for packing the harvested paddy from the field.