DEVELOPMENT OF A GRADING MACHINE FOR APRICOT FRUITS

Ebaid, M. T.; Atallah, M. M.; Khalil, K. S.

doi:10.21608/mjae.2012.102005

DEVELOPMENT OF A GRADING MACHINE FOR APRICOT FRUITS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Senior Res., Ag. Eng. Res. Inst., Egypt.

² Res., Ag. Eng. Res. Inst., Egypt.

10.21608/mjae.2012.102005

Abstract

The main objective of the present study is to develop, construct and evaluate the performance of a small-scale grading machine to suit grade fresh fruit like apricot (Canino variety).
The performance of the grading machine was carried out to investigate some engineering parameters such as: four different grading speeds 5, 8, 11 and 14 rpm (0.05, 0.08, 0.12 and 0.15 m/s), fruit batch of 5, 10, 15 and 20 kg and two type of grading cylinder (PVC and rubber coated cylinder) using constant grading tilt angle of 7^o on grading efficiency, fruit damage and grading productivity.
Physical and mechanical properties of apricot fruits (Canino variety) under study, was studied to evaluate the performance of developed a small-scale grading machine.
The optimum conditions of grading machine to be operated at the maximum efficiency are: Grading speed of. 8 rpm. (0.08 m/s), fruit batch of 10 kg and rubber coated cylinder. Achieved grading efficiency of 98.41 %, fruit damage of zero %, and productivity of 610.17 kg/h. Operation costs was 7.37 L.E./h and 12.1 L.E./Mg.

Main Subjects

Agricultural Power and Machinery Engineering

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