Investigation of the operating modes of a centrifugal mixer of bulk components

The intensification of the development of animal husbandry and poultry farming provides for the development and implementation in production of technologies for preparing feed, ensuring the maximum use of their energy value. One of the most important operations in the technological line for obtaining nutritionally balanced feed is their high-quality mixing. The used designs of bulk components mixers are metal and energy-intensive, have a complex design with insufficiently intense force impact on the mixed materials. In addition, the mixers used at agricultural enterprises do not allow high-quality mixing of feed ingredients with different physical and mechanical properties and a large difference in concentration in the mixture. Analytical studies revealed that centrifugal mixers are the most suitable for performing this technological operation, taking into account the fulfillment of zootechnical requirements. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to determine the rational operating modes of the patented continuous centrifugal mixer for bulk components, which allows effectively mixing the free-flowing components with minimal energy consumption. The research was carried out on a continuous centrifugal mixer for bulk components patented by Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University. For mixing, we used ingredients that are different in bulk density and granulometric composition - wheat and millet groats at a ratio of 95% and 5%. Based on the analysis of the data obtained, it can be concluded that in the investigated range, the angle of installation of the swirlers has the greatest effect on the coefficient of inhomogeneity, while the step of installation of the swirlers does not have a significant effect. The best value of the coefficient of inhomogeneity is 2.7%. It was obtained at an angle of 45°and pitch of the swirlers equal to 600 mm. According to the existing criteria for evaluating the operation of mixers, the mixing inhomogeneity of bulk components ≤3% is count to be excellent. Energy consumption in all experiments remained constant and amounted to 1.81 kWh/t.