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Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC

space SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS OF VINNITSA NATIONAL AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY

Issue №: 2 (129)

Published: 2025.08.29
DOI: 10.37128/2520-6168-2025-2


Description:
The journal solves the problems of creation and improvement of machinery and technologies for agriculture: 131 - Applied Mechanics, 132 - Materials Science, 133 - Industrial Engineering, 141 - Power Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electromechanics, 208 - Agricultural Engineering.

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RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF A CASTOR SEED CLEANING MACHINE

DOI: 10.37128/2520-6168-2025-2-6
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Elchyn ALIIEV – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Senior Researcher, Professor of the Department of Technical Systems Engineering of Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University (St. S. Efremova, 25, Dnipro, Ukraine, 49000, e-mail: aliev@meta.ua, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4006-8803). 
Valentyn HOLOVCHENKO – Recipient of the Third Educational and Scientific Level, Junior Research Associate of the Department of Technical Systems Engineering of Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University (St. S. Efremova, 25, Dnipro, Ukraine, 49000, e-mail: golovchenkov@i.ua, https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9719-126X). 

Annotation


The study addresses the pressing issue of improving the efficiency of post-harvest processing of castor (Ricinus communis), particularly the cleaning of its seeds. Castor is a valuable industrial crop, the seeds of which contain up to 50% oil that is widely used across various industries. Despite the growing demand for castor oil, the widespread introduction of this crop into agricultural production is hindered by the lack of effective technical means for seed cleaning, which would take into account its specific physical and mechanical properties. Existing grain cleaning machines are insufficiently effective for processing castor seeds, resulting in significant losses of planting material and reduced oil yield.
The aim of the research is to develop an experimental prototype of a machine for cleaning castor seeds and to determine the optimal operating parameters. The study presents the design and working principle of the experimental setup, which consists of a mechanical seed separation unit, an aerodynamic cleaning system, and a control system with a frequency converter. To evaluate the performance of the machine, experimental studies were conducted in which the following parameters were varied: the distance between the crushing cones, their rotational speed, and the air flow velocity.
As a result of the experimental studies of the processes of seed separation and cleaning, the dependencies of the main operational indicators of the developed machine – productivity Q, power consumption P, specific energy consumption E, share of unhulled fruits ξf, and content of valuable seed in the receiver ψs-s – on the design and operating parameters (distance between the return and crushing cones δ, rotational speed of the crushing cone n, and air flow velocity V) were determined. Statistical analysis of the obtained regression equations allowed for the assessment of the influence of each studied factor on the output indicators, identification of the most significant parameters, and development of adequate mathematical models.
Parameter optimization was carried out using the scalar ranking method with minimization of a multiplicative objective function in the Wolfram Cloud environment. This made it possible to determine the optimal values of control parameters (δ = 10.8 mm; n = 563 rpm; V = 3.6 m/s) that provide the best combination of energy efficiency and technological quality of the process (E = 0.0394 MJ/kg; Q = 163.4 kg/h; P = 1861 W; ξf = 0.099; ψs-s = 0.958). The obtained results confirm the efficiency of the proposed machine design and the feasibility of its further implementation in industrial conditions for cleaning castor seeds.

Keywords: castor, seed cleaning, fruits, post-harvest processing, agricultural machinery, energy efficiency, crushing cone, aerodynamic cleaning, experimental research, regression analysis, parameter optimization, productivity, rotational speed, air flow velocity.

List of references

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2.    Alexopoulou, E., Papatheohari, Y., Zanetti, F., Tsiotas, K., Papamichael, I., Christou, M., Namatov, I., & Monti, A. (2015). Comparative studies on several castor (Ricinus communis L.) hybrids: Growth, yields, seed oil and biomass characterization. Ind. Crops Prod., 75, 8–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.07.015 [in English].
3.    Román-Figueroa, C., Cea, M., Paneque, M., & González, M.E. (2020). Oil Content and Fatty Acid Composition in Castor Bean Naturalized Accessions under Mediterranean Conditions in Chile. Agronomy, 10, 1145. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081145 [in English].
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10.    Balami, A.A., Adgidzi, D., Kenneth, C.A., & Lamuwa, G. (2012). Performance Evaluation of a Dehusking and Shelling Machine for Castor Fruits and Seeds. IOSR Journal of Engineering (IOSRJEN), 2 (10), 44–48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9790/3021-021014448 [in English].
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About journal

Topics of the journal:

131 - Applied Mechanics

132 - Materials Science

133 - Industry engineering

141 - Power engineering, electrical engineering and electromechanics

208 - Agricultural engineering

The magazine "Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC" is included in the list of scientific professional editions of Ukraine on technical sciences

(Category "Б", Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated 02.07.2020 №886)

Old version of site: http://tetapk.vsau.edu.ua, http://techjournal.vsau.org

According to the decision of National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine from 25.04.2024 No. 1337 the scientific journal «Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC» has the ID of the Media R30-05173.

The journal "Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC" is indexed according to the following databases and catalogs:

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Key information:
ISSN (print): 2520-6168
DOI: 10.37128/2520-6168

Certificate of state registration of mass media: No. 21906-11806 P dated 03/12/2016.

Founder of the journal: Vinnytsia National Agrarian University

Editor-in-chief: Olexii TOKARCHUK - Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, VNAU (Vinnytsia)

Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Vitalii YAROPUD - Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, VNAU (Vinnytsia)

Executive Secretary: Yuriy POLIEVODA - Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, VNAU (Vinnytsia)

Members of the Editorial Board:

Oleg TSURKAN – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Full Professor, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Ukraine)

Volodymyr BULGAKOV – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Full Professor, Acad. NAAS, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (Ukraine)

Rostislav ISKOVICH-LOTOTSKY  – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Full Professor, Vinnytsia National Technical University (Ukraine)

Yuliia SALENKO – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Full Professor, Kremenchuk Mykhailo Ostrohradskyi National University (Ukraine)

Igor KUPCHUK – Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Ukraine)    

Serhii SHARHORODSKYI – Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Ukraine)

Valerii HRANIAK – Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Ukraine)

Anatoly SPIRIN – Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Ukraine)

Olena SOLONA  – Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Ukraine)

Igor TVERDOKHLIB – Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Ukraine)

Yaroslav IVANCHUK – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Full Professor, Vinnytsia National Technical University (Ukraine)

Foreign members of the editorial board

Jordan Todorov MAXIMOV – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Full Professor, Technical University of Gabrovo (Bulgaria)   

Audrius ŽUNDA – Ph.D., Associate Professor, Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas, Lithuania)

 

Type of publication: journal

Kind of publication: scientific

Publication status: domestic

Year of foundation: 1997

Periodicity: 4 times per year

Volume: 18-20 conv. print. sheet (А4)

ISSN: 2520-6168 (print version), (online version)

Language of publication: (mixed languages) Ukrainian, English

The sphere of distribution and category of readers: national, foreign, faculty, scientists, entrepreneurs.

The periodical edition is included to the List of scientific professional publications of Ukraine on technical sciences, approved by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in 05.16.2016, No. 515.

The journal "Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC" is included in the "Catalog of Ukrainian Publications".

Subscription to the journal can be issued in each post office. The subscription index is 99720.

History of journal:

It was founded in 1997 under the title "Bulletin of the Vinnitsa State Agricultural Institute." According to the Decree of the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine of September 11, 1997, this publication received the status of a professional in which it is allowed to publish the main results of dissertation researches.

In 2001-2014 the journal published under the title “Collection of scientific works of Vinnytsia National Agrarian University. Series: Technical Sciences "(Certificate of State Registration of Mass Media KV No. 16644-5116 PR of 04/30/2010).

Since 2015 journal has title "Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC" (Certificate of State Registration of Mass Media No. 21906-11806 P dated 03/12/2016).