Abstract
A power operated detrasher was developed for removal of green top as well as dry trash from the harvested sugarcane stalks. It consisted of mechanisms for cane feeding, detrashing and delivery. It separates the top from the cane by breaking it from the natural weak point at the joint of immature top with mature cane stalks. It can be transported on three point linkage of the tractor and operated by an electric motor, diesel engine or tractor PTO. Performance of the equipment was evaluated by feeding different varieties of harvested canes, with their tops first, to the detrashing rollers through the feeding chute. The trash left on the cane after passing through the detrasher varied from 1.5 to 6.6 %. Trash removal efficiency varied from 77.5 to 94.5 % depending upon the variety. The output of the detrasher was 2.4 t/h. There was a saving of about 17 % in cost of operation and 84 % in labour requirement using the detrasher as compared to manual method.
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Acknowledgments
Authors are thankful to the technicians of Division of Agricultural Engineering, Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow for their help and support in fabrication and testing of the prototype.
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Singh, A.K., Solomon, S. Development of a Sugarcane Detrasher. Sugar Tech 17, 189–194 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-014-0306-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-014-0306-5