Aerodynamic Properties of Apricot Pits

Year 2016, , 47 - 55, 16.05.2016

Sefa Tarhan Saadettin Yıldırım

https://doi.org/10.13002/jafag904

Abstract

Physical properties of agricultural materials are important for designing and manufacturing their harvest machines on farms and processing equipment in industry. Aerodynamic properties are related to their reaction to moving air as in piles or as a single seed/piece. The pressure drops occurring through apricot pit piles for the superficial air velocities ranging from 0.05 to 2.93 m3·m-2·s-1 were experimentally determined and mathematically modeled by using Modified Shedd’s equation and Hukill-Ives equation. These experiments were replicated three times. The results of curve fitting suggested that both equations could be used adequately to predict the pressure drop of apricot pit piles with a high goodness of fitting (R2>0.92). The terminal velocities of apricot pits, their kernels and hulls were experimentally determined by dropping one sample into upward air flow current inside the transparent cylindrical pipe. These experiments were replicated ten times. The terminal velocity values changed with the weight and projected area of these samples. The average terminal velocities of apricot pits, their kernels, and hulls were 10.99, 10.12, and 7.10 m·s-1, respectively. These results suggest that the apricot kernels can be cleaned easily from their hulls by pneumatic separation.

Keywords

Apricot pit, air resistance, terminal velocity, superficial velocity

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