Analysis of energy characteristics of vibration mixing of multicomponent mixtures of agricultural raw materials

Ensuring the efficiency of the use of nutrients of grain, protein, vitamin and mineral feeds in the composition of complete feed mixtures in animal husbandry and crop production, as well as the corresponding reduction in the cost of manufacturing of these products, is the relevance of the presented research and prospects for their development. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to substantiate the effective regime parameters for the preparation of premixes of feed mixtures based on the assessment of the energy parameters of the vibration mixing process. This assessment was carried out by comparing the results of applying vibration, blade, and vibroblade technological operations. Under the conditions of low-frequency vibrations, a decrease in the working resistance of the loosened layer of the mixture is observed, which provided the effect of reducing energy consumption in this process. Therefore, in comparison with conventional vibrating mixers have a higher specific productivity of 5-6 times, provide a reduction in the mixing time by 2-3 times, metal consumption – by 17%, energy consumption – by 30%, capital costs for manufacturing – by 18%, and drive power – by 30-35%, which leads to a reduction in total energy consumption by 3-4 times. As a result, the zone of minimal energy consumption was substantiated, in which the reduction of the resistance of the technological medium allowed radically reducing the friction forces during mixing, while ensuring uniform distribution with the concentration of the components of the mixture required by technological requirements. An increase in the oscillation amplitude is accompanied by a quadratic increase in power consumption, which is conditioned by an increase in energy dissipation in the mass of the mixture in the form of heat. The implementation of reasonable operating mixing modes allowed reducing the energy consumption of the proposed vibro-blade mixing by 2.0-2.5 times compared to conventional blade processing. The practical value of these developments includes the use of vibro-blade working bodies and the vibration-free operation of the drive shaft, which, together with the minimisation of energy consumption for the process, reduces dynamic loads on the support units of the developed mixer