Research on the effects of mechanical and physical characteristics on peanut shucking

Abstract

Shucking is one of the necessary parts for the deep process of peanut, and has great impact on the quality of peanut kernel.Taking the shucking force as the evaluation indicator, the effects of mechanical and physical characteristics, which include the loading orientation, loading rate, moisture content, partical size and the number of peanut kernel, on peanut shucking were investigated by means of single factor test. The results show that: 1) the loading orientation and moisture content affect the shucking force significantly, and the needed force is the minimum when the peanut is vertically placed and loaded. With the decrease of moisture content, the needed force decreases gradually.2) the loading rate, particle size and the number of peanut kernel have no great effect on the shucking force, but the deformation and maximum shucking force vary with the loading rate. Additionally, the needed force increases with the number of peanut kernel. The research results can provide some reference for the designment of peanut sheller and selection of the technique parameters. © 2012 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.