Design and Performance of Trash Gathering-conveying Unit of Sugarcane Trash Chopping Machine

Abstract

A machine for gathering and chopping the piles of sugarcane trash on the field after harvesting is being designed. As a part of the machine, a gathering-conveying unit was designed. Important data including condition and characteristics of leaves piles were collected and used for designing the unit. The average bulk density of trash on the field was 7.71 kg/m3, the average pressure to compress the piles from 40 cm to 30 cm thickness was 50.65 N/m2, and the pressure to compress the trash from 27 cm to 8 cm thickness was 1166.60 N/m2. The unit was consisted of a gathering reel, a pair of conveyors, cover-frame and power transmission components. The prototype was tested to measure its working performance and its power requirement of each component. Raking level was varied into 6 levels (raking index: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6), and conveying level was varied into 3 levels (conveying index: 1, 1.14 and 1.20) for the experiment. Sugarcane trash having 8 kg/m3 Keywords: sugarcane trash, gathering reel, conveyors, power, performance. in bulk density and 40 cm in height was used and feed to the unit at feeding velocity of 0.3 m/s, for the experiments. The experimental result showed that the gathering reel and the conveyors could work properly. The working capacity of the unit was 1964.76-2101.25 kg/hour. Average rotating power of the reel was 18 Watt, and average rotating power of the conveyor was 98 Watt. After processing 8 kg trash, there was around 1.5-3.7% of trash trapped on the reel, and around 3.13-9.20% of trash trapped on the conveyor.

dengan luas kebun 400 ribu hektar. Penanganan serasah tebu umumnya dilakukan dengan pembakaran baik sebelum panen maupun sesudah panen. Praktek pembakaran ini dalam jangka panjang akan sangat merugikan paling tidak dari dua aspek, yaitu degradasi lahan dan pemborosan energi. Jika dilakukan pembenaman serasah ke dalam tanah dan tidak dilakukan pembakaran maka kualitas tanah di perkebunan tebu tentu akan makin meningkat, sehingga diharapkan produktivitas lahan kebun tebu akan meningkat pula. Pencacahan serasah tebu secara langsung di tanah sulit untuk dilakukan, maka diperlukan sebuah unit pengangkat yang berfungsi untuk mengangkat serasah dan menyalurkannya ke mesin pencacah serasah tebu. Tujuan penelitian ini meliputi: mengidentifikasi kondisi lahan tebu dan karakteristik sifat fisik serasah tebu, merancang unit pengangkat serasah tebu pada mesin pencacah serasah tebu dan melakukan pengujian kinerja unit pengangkat serasah tebu. Penelitian dilakukan dalam beberapa tahapan meliputi: identifikasi masalah, pengukuran karakteristik serasah tebu, analisis rancangan dan gambar teknik, pembuatan prototipe, pengujian fungsional, modifikasi disain, pengujian unjuk kerja dan analisa