Theoretical and experimental studies of the pneumatic scarifier

The article is devoted to the study of seed material movement and its scarification in a pneumatic scarifier of the proposed design. When growing scarce seeds of legumes of high-protein fodder crops for livestock nutrition, one of the main problems is presence of hard surface film which inhibits seed germination, decreases the number of high-quality seed shoots and increases seed consumption during sowing. To prevent delays and reduce the time necessary for shoots to grow, as well as to reduce losses of sown seeds due to the fact that some of them could not germinate in a timely manner, the design of a pneumatic scarifier was proposed. Since the intensity of scarification depends on seeds interaction with the scarifier working elements, the proposed model of the pneumatic scarifier contributes to an increase in this intensity. According to the results of theoretical and practical studies, the use of pneumatic scarifiers positively affects qualitative and quantitative rates of germination, and improving these rates is a very topical issue. The use of pneumatic machines for scarification is the most common technique in the preliminary preparation of seed material. In the article we proposed a model of a pneumatic machine for seed scarification. The pneumatic scarifier is a technical device in which the seeds picked up by the air flow enter the working chamber with abrasive surfaces, formed by the bottom of the disk, the spiral turns and the lid. Air flow and centrifugal force press the seeds against the walls, and they get scarified by interacting with the rough surfaces of the working elements of the scarifier, then they move to the center of the working chamber. In the center of the working chamber, the seeds enter the storage chamber through the outlet. After that, they enter the packing container through the outlet in the storage chamber.