초록
Direct seeding of rice-seed pellets is expected to be an alternative for solving problems in current direct seeding cultivation of rice. but mass production of rice-seed pellets is prerequisite for practical application. Design. construction and performance evaluation of an experimental rice seed pelleting machine were carried out for mass production of rice-seed pellets. The pelleting machine intended to make a ball type rice-seed pellet, which have 3∼5 rice seeds and diameter of which is 12 mm. Pellet materials ; rice seeds, soil, and binder were mixed and kneaded by the mixer. The designed rice seed pelleting machine fed pellet materials by screw conveyor to forming rolls and made rice-seed pellets. Capacity, ratio of perfect rice-seed pellets, seed and pellet material loss were investigated as mixing ratio of soil to rice seed and feeding rate of pellet materials. The pelleting machine showed up to 37,000 pellets/h of pelleting rate, 61∼71% of weight ratio of perfect rice-seed pellets to pellet materials supplied, 17∼48% of seed loss ratio. Average weight and average diameter of the pellets were 1.66 g and 12.0 mm. respectively. More than 3 rice seeds were included in most pellets at 6 : 1 of mixing ratio of soil to rice seed. And compression strength of the pellets was in the range of 88-130 N. To improve performance of the pelleting machine, improvements of the forming rolls, feeding mechanism, and discharging mechanism for reducing loss of pellet materials and seeds damage are needed.
