Debaling Agricultural Materials

The goal of the project is to work together and utilize all the strengths of all team members to design & build a prototype that fulfills the requirements. With the rise of agriculture based feedstocks for biofuels and bio-based products there is a need for debaling agricultural based materials. The problem, then becomes how can we effectively & efficiently turn compressed agricultural materials into a loose, consistent density flow while still maintaining the maximum particle length? The UI-Debalers’ goal is design & build a prototype that fulfills these requirements. The final design will require minimal maintenance & little input from an operator.

=Problem Definition= Currently there is not a machine that can gently and efficiently pull apart agricultural baled products. Previous designs struggle with steady output flow, waste debris creation and the need to have a full time operator. The need to increase productivity of various facilities (dairies, ethanol plants) to keep up with current demand dictates a better system. The UI-Debalers goal is to design and build a prototype that produces a steady output stream without increasing waste debris. The design will only require minimal operator input.

Background
Previous Plans:

1- Hustler Chainless Xr1500: Hustler Chainless Poor output feed (inconsistent flow rate) The material appears to bunch up and then fall out Requires operator to manage output

2- HayBuster H-1030: Hammer Mills Creates a great deal of fines

Deliverables
We desired to use premade components and implement them in new ways. That way, if something were to fail it would be easy to procure the part and fix the machine. Conveyor chains with attachments, stump grinder teeth, sprockets, bearings, etc. Anything that can be bought will be.

Specifications
1- Mechanical device to pull apart and fluff agricultural materials

2- Produce less unusable particles, or fines, than a traditional hammer mill

3- Consistent outfeed of material; less than 15% change of mass flow rate

4- Easily transportable by a semi trailer

5- Prototype and Proof of concept to withstand 100 lb bales

6- Full scale device to withstand 2,000 lb bales

7- Conveyor like infeed system

8- Conveyor outfeed

=Design Considerations= The design that was decided on was what we believed closely emulated human hands pulling a bale apart. When hands pull apart a bale they move linearly not rotating like a shaft. Our design pulls teeth linearly through the face of the bale in an effort to reduce the amount of shear forces generated.

=Project Learning= Looking at conventional debalering machines they are basically the same. One rotating shaft with either teeth or hammers attached. Those designs all pose the same problem to our client. They induce shear forces onto the product stands and cause fines (smaller than ⅛”) to be produced. With this in mind a new way of debaling needed to be designed.

=Final Design=

=Validation= During testing the final prototype, no flakes ejected from the machine during debaling. After adjustment of feed rate, chain speed, and contact angle of the bale, a consistent outfeed (consistent mass flow rate) was achieved. Little to no damage to the material occurred during debaling, and fine particles did not prove to be a concern.



=Team Members=

=Additional Documentation= Project Schedule



Meeting Minutes





























Presentations



Client Interview