Theoretical research of the process of dosing seeds using an injection air flow

To increase the profitability of agricultural production, it is necessary to improve the processes and operations that form the basis of crop technologies. Sowing is one of the most important operations in the technologies of cultivation of agricultural crops. When sowing row crops (precision sowing), it is necessary that the seeds are individually separated from the total mass of seed in the seed chamber and delivered to the furrow formed by the opener. This is not an easy task, since the seed consists of individual seeds with different dimensional characteristics (the value of the minimum size may differ from the maximum value up to three times) and a fairly diverse form. Seeds with a spherical shape and the same size are dosed in the best way, which is typical for seeds of an insignificant number of crops. A more widespread form of seeds is in the form of an elongated ellipsoid of revolution or close to it. Therefore, the theoretical study of the process of dosing seeds with an elongated ellipsoidal shape, when using an injection air flow, is of significant interest, since it will optimize this process and create a more perfect design of the seed dispenser. The article presents a power analysis of the process of capturing an elongated spheroidal seed by the metering element of the seeding disk of the seeder module, which operates using an injection air flow. The study made it possible to form an expression describing the dependence of the air pressure value required for high-quality fixation of the seed-elongated-ellipsoid shape at the metering element, on the physic mechanical properties of the seed itself, the parameters and operating modes of the pneumatic sowing device. In general, it can beused in the development of sowing devices of precision seeding drills that use a forced air flow for metering seeds.