Air drill Seeder Distributor Head Evaluation: A Comparison between Laboratory Tests and Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations

Abstract

In this work, a commercial distributor head is evaluated. In parallel, both numerical simulations and laboratory tests, in a bench test belonging to the National University of Rosario, are carried out. This test bench has been built to evaluate components of air drill seeder’s pneumatic transport and distribution system. Soybean (Glycine max) seeds are used in the experimental tests. In Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, soybean seeds are modeled as spherical, rigid, and uniform size particles. The CFD simulations of the air-seed mixture are carried out with the commercial software ANSYS Fluent, and particle trajectories are numerically computed using a Lagrangian approach. A two-way coupling method is used, named Discrete Phase Model (DPM). Results show that numerical simulations are consistent with the laboratory tests, obtained in controlled trials. In both cases, the highest flow rates of seeds are produced in frontal outlets, while rear outlets present the lowest flow.