Design of A Roll Crusher for Sunflower Stems and Substantiation of the Rational Modes of Its Operation

This paper reports a study of the technological process of grinding plant residues of sunflower and the causal relationships of factors that form the system of quality indicators. The necessary prerequisites for determining rational modes and parameters of the roll crusher have been devised. A prototype of the roll crusher was designed and fabricated, in which the cutting knives are arranged along the entire width of the grip in a staggered manner, with the possibility to change the angle of inclination to the axis of drum rotation in the range of 5...20°. It was established that in the case of the right-side arrangement of the cutting edge of knives, the highest total level of the percentage of crushed stems in the range of 101‒150 mm with an additional load weighing 800 kg exceeded by 1.58 times the corresponding indicators of the roll with an additional load of 600 kg. The largest overall value of the percentage of crushed stems in the range of 0‒200 mm when additionally loading the roll with 800 kg was 1.13 times higher than the corresponding indicators of the roll with an additional load of 600 kg. In the range of 0‒200 mm, with an additional load on the roll of 600 kg, at the left-side arrangement of the cutting edge of the knives of the roll, higher total percentage of crushed stems was observed compared to the right-side arrangement. At a speed of 7.45 km/h, 13.6 km/h, the cumulative value of the percentage of crushed stems exceeded the corresponding indicators at the right-side arrangement of knives by 1.09 times, at the speed of 18.6 km/h – by 1.04 times, at the speed of 22 km/h – by 1.04 times, respectively. It has been noted that at the left-side arrangement of the cutting edge of the knives of the roll, the percentage of crushed stems in the range of 51‒100 mm, with an additional load of 600 kg, exceeded the corresponding indicators with an additional load of 800 kg. At the speed of 10.08 km/h, it was exceeded by 1.9 times; at the speed of 13.6 km/h – by 1.44 times; at the speed of 18.6 km/h – by 1.96 times; at the speed of 22 km/h – by 1.99 times, respectivel