Investigation and substantiation of Miscanthus rhizome digger pin grid design parameters

In the global energy sector there is an increasing need to replace the traditional energy resources with appropriate analogues of the plant origin, which will significantly reduce the consumption of traditional fuels. Ukraine has significant energy potential for the development of the bioenergy industry, in particular, the use of such an effective bioenergy crop as Miscanthus. The technology for growing Miscanthus involves the use of the planting material in the form of rhizomes which must be in a significantly crushed form. The goal of increasing the efficiency of the process of collecting the Miscanthus planting material is to substantiate the machine parameters for mechanized digging of the Miscanthus rhizomes. To do this, based on an analysis of various technological processes for digging up other root crops and devices for soil separation, we have developed a new machine for mechanized collection of Miscanthus rhizomes with their simultaneous disintegration into parts, and rhizomes that are treated by a drum and a pin grid, located above. According to the results of the study it was established that the number of Miscanthus, separated by rhizomes, is 62%, the amount of damage to the planting material is 2.5%. On industrial plantations the use of the developed machine ensures division of Miscanthus rhizomes into parts, and the undivided rhizomes account for only 18.5%; the degree of soil separation is 82.7% with an absolute humidity of 22.6%. The ratio of the Miscanthus rhizomes divided into parts and the rhizomes is 39:61, which indicates that for every hundred crushed parts of miscanthus there are almost 40 pieces, already fully suitable as the planting material. The obtained results allow us to recommend the machine for digging up Miscanthus rhizomes with certain optimal design parameters for mass (serial) production.