Fertilizer feeding mechanism and experimental study of a spiral grooved-wheel fertilizer feeder

Abstract

Outer grooved-wheel fertilizer feeders are extensively used for the application of solid fertilizers. As a key structure of the fertilizer feeding apparatus, this type of feeder's performance directly affects fertilizer feeding quality. Given that the teeth ridge of the traditional outer straight grooved-wheel fertilizer feeder is parallel to the axis, the teeth ridge and groove appear in a staggered manner during fertilizer feeding, and the fertilizer appears a pulsation phenomenon that affects the uniformity of fertilizer feeding. Therefore, for the fertilizer feeding pulsation problem caused by the structure of the outer straight grooved-wheel fertilizer feeder during fertilizer feeding, the spiral grooved-wheel was used in this study to replace the straight grooved-wheel. Design optimization was performed on the key structural parameters of the spiral grooved-wheel fertilizer feeder, and the uniform fertilizer feeding mechanism of the spiral grooved-wheel was studied using particular discrete element. Then, an experimental comparison and analysis of the fertilizer feeding performance of the two grooved-wheel types were implemented. Results showed that under similar conditions, the fertilizer feeding quantity of the spiral grooved-wheel was higher than that of the straight grooved-wheel when the helix angle was 60.83°. Through this mechanism, the spiral grooved-wheel was always a constant axial teeth ridge section participating in the fertilizer feeding process. The uniformity of fertilizer feeding is improved. The fertilizer feeding uniformity of the spiral grooved-wheel fertilizer feeder is much better than that of the straight grooved-wheel fertilizer feeder when the revolving speed is low. This study is important for mechanical-structural optimization of solid fertilizer feeders and improvement of fertilizer feeding precision.