DETERMINATION OF AUGER-BLADE MIXER RATIONAL PARAMETERS

The purpose of the study is to improve the equipment for mixing dry crumbled feed with regard to the basic opera-tion condition or parameters. As a result of the issue analysis and the existing mixers structure, it was found that many machines used for the preparation of compound feeds are complex in the structure and not reliable in opera-tion, the feed mixture quality does not always meet the zootechnical requirements; the applied standard and exper-imental mixers of compound feeds because of imperfection of technological process and working parts contained, possess high specific power consumption. The construction of a universal low-speed batch mixer with a fixed rec-tangular case and combined two forcibly mixing working parts mounted horizontally is an advanced study direction for feed mixers improving. The study objectives incorporated the development of structural and technological speci-fication of a low-speed auger-blade mixer of batch action; the assessment of the impact of design parameters above mentioned of the mixer on its performance; to identify the rational structural and operating specification of the auger-blade mixer taking into consideration the cycle duration time. The research methodology provided the theo-retical justification of specification of the mixer taking into account the cycle duration period of the blending. Ex-pressions to determine the performance efficiency along the following stages were provided: involving auger con-veyor, the first and the second mixing transporting and throwing blades. Formulas are obtained for estimation the cycle period from the installation angle of the mixing-transporting blades and the rotation frequency of the working parts. Data obtained and given for estimation the cycle time from the installation angle of the mixing-transporting blades and the speed of the working parts allow to operate during the minimum cycle time, that is, to choose the op-timal angle of installation of the blades and the speed of rotation of the working parts.