Purification of Sunflower Meal in a Vertical Pneumatic Channel Using Column-Type and Battery-Type Air Accelerators

The paper highlights that air (aspiration) separation of meal particles by density and size using an air flow is the most efficient and economically viable method for removing husks from protein in sunflower meal. Reducing husk content and increasing protein concentration enhances the feed value and broadens the application scope of the meal, particularly in highyield livestock farming. (Research purpose) The study aims to improve the efficiency of protein fraction extraction during the purification of sunflower meal in a vertical pneumatic channel equipped with battery-type and column-type air accelerators, as well as input flow deflectors. (Materials and methods) The research was conducted at the Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM using a model of a pneumatic separation channel. The column-type and battery-type air accelerators ensured uniform airflow distribution across the input material layer, improving separation efficiency and enhancing the precision of input material separation. (Results and discussion) The developed model of the vertical pneumatic channel provides a protein yield of at least 75 percent and an impurity removal rate of no less than 70 percent. (Conclusions) The live cross-section coefficient of the accelerator in the model pneumatic channel should be maintained at 50–60 percent, and the height of the battery-type accelerator should range from 55 to 75 millimeters. The recommended installation height of the battery-type accelerator above the input flow deflectors is between 160 and 220 millimeters. The optimal specific load of the processed material is up to 2.0 kilograms per cubic centimeter per hour. At a machine throughput of up to 2 tons per hour, the protein content in the raw material ranges from 35 to 40 percent.

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