Design, Simulation and Experimentation of an Axial Flow Sunflower-Threshing Machine with an Attached Screw Conveyor

Sunflower threshing is one of the most interesting field processes for making the sunflower ready for seed handling, drying, cleaning and oil extraction. One of the biggest problems observed during the sunflower threshing process is the accumulation of threshed crop on the first third of the threshing roller and passing off some unthreshed parts of sunflower heads. To solve the aforementioned problem and optimize the efficiency of the sunflower threshing process, this research was focused on devising and testing a sunflower threshing machine with a close threshing box system equipped with a screw conveyor that evenly distributed the feedstock of sunflower heads on the entire length of the threshing roller. The machine was tested to assess the seed damage rate, unthreshed seed percentage, threshing efficiency, machine productivity, power requirements and specific energy consumption. The evaluation was done under different roller rotational speeds (150, 200, 250 and 300 rpm) and feeding rates (600, 700, 800 and 900 kg/h). The obtained results revealed that the threshing evaluation parameters were affected significantly by the roller rotational speed and feeding rate. The threshing efficiency was observed to rise with the rise in the roller rotational speed, and it also rose with the increasing feed rate up to 800 kg/h and then started to descend. The unthreshed seed percentage decreased with the increase in the roller rotational speed for all feed rates, and it decreased with the increasing feed rate up to 800 kg/h and then started to increase at the higher feed rates. The damaged seed percentage, power requirement and machine productivity increased with the increase of the roller speed and feed rate. The Buckingham π theorem was followed to find an equation to predict the threshing efficiency, resulting in an equation with an R² value of 0.9309. With elimination of the blockage problem and better threshing efficiency, this machine could be a good choice for small- to medium-sized sunflower farms.