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In order to increase the precision rate of ear picking and decrease the rate of cob damage, this paper investigates and evaluates the impact of ear picking rollers on corn stalk attitude. It then designs an ear picking roller with a straightforward structure and good ear picking effect. This is because the ear picking process and ear picking attitude are more closely correlated. To ascertain the relationship curve between the influencing factors that cause plant push back and the stalk forward tilt angle, as well as the optimal value range of the stalk feeding speed and cutting table tilt angle, virtual simulation tests are conducted using ADAMS software. The front end of the stalk pulling roller is optimized to be tapered in order to minimize the degree of forward tilt of the stalks. The optimal range of values for the bottom angle of the front end of the stalk pulling roller is 73.1°-81°. The ideal value of the bottom angle of the stem-pulling roller's front end and the parameter combination with the least amount of plant forward tilt were found using a response surface optimization test design. At a machine travel speed of 0.85 m/s, the cutting table inclination is 27.5° and the stalk tilting angle is at its lowest, which is roughly 2.5°. Through testing, it was confirmed that the conical stem pulling roller's design could successfully lessen cob damage and the forward tilt of the stalk.

In this research, ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction of sugarcane peel polysaccharides and optimization of process conditions were used to investigate their properties and antioxidant activities. The effects of liquid-material ratio, ultrasonic temperature, ultrasonic time, and cellulase dosage on the extraction rate of SPP were investigated by one-way experiments and response surface analysis to determine the optimal process conditions. Meanwhile, structural characterization (FT-IR and NMR analyses) and antioxidant activity studies (DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging rates) were carried out to determine the total sugar content of SPP. The results showed that the optimal conditions for SPP extraction by the ultrasound-assisted enzymatic method were 40 mL/g liquid-material ratio, 50 °C ultrasound temperature, 40 min ultrasound time, 5% cellulase enzyme dosage, and the yield of SPP was 5.38% and the total sugar content was 75.52% under these conditions. The extracted SPP showed some scavenging ability for both DPPH and hydroxyl radicals, and the scavenging rate for both was 54.63% and 33.91%, respectively, when the mass concentration of the SPP solution was 4 mg/mL. The present study demonstrated that ultrasound-assisted enzymes can effectively extract SPP with antioxidant activity, which provides a theoretical basis for developing and utilizing sugarcane peel polysaccharides and has potential application value.

The present study was undertaken with the aim of evaluating the ginger essential oil potential and its urea-loading efficacy in the preparation of control-releasing chitosan microspheres. The ginger oil for hydro-distillation was extracted by applying Clevenger apparatus, chemical composition was characterized by FTIR, and the GC-MS was used to identify the oil compounds. Urea-loaded chitosan microsphere formulations were formulated through modified emulsification and cross-linking procedure. The various factors and levels related to preparation of urea-loaded chitosan microspheres were evaluated using response surface test. The present study was also an effort to observe the yield and content of nitrogen. Additionally, FTIR and SEM were applied to characterize the microspheres. The results show the yield of ginger oil as 6.0%. Main compounds identified by GC-MS were gingerol, decanal, isoshogaol, octanal, and others. FTIR also showed that some typical bands appeared in ginger oil. The nitrogen content % in urea-loaded microspheres showed a significantly higher value in proportion to higher oil volume and cross-linking. However, by decreasing the amount of urea and enhancing acetic acid, nitrogen content was decreased. The lower oil concentrations improved the microsphere surface structure and morphology. Response surface analysis showed that the optimum preparation conditions are as follows: 2.094% of Span 80, 2.302% of acetic acid, and cross-linking agent ratio of formaldehyde to glutaraldehyde 1:8.15. Under these conditions, the theoretical value of nitrogen content of urea-loaded chitosan microspheres was 4.683%. According to release test, the urea diffused uniformly in the microspheres after 48 h. It is concluded that the use of ginger oil in control release of fertilizers is the right option in the formulations of control-releasing micro-fertilizers.

In order to solve the problem of the threshing performance of a large combine harvester being reduced due to the non-adjustable diameter of the threshing drum, a variable-diameter threshing drum with movable radial plates based on the principle of concentric regulation was studied. It was mainly composed of a mechanism for adjusting the diameter by moving the radial plates, six fixed threshing tooth rods, six retractable threshing tooth rods and the single piston rod hollow hydraulic cylinder. The threshing gap can be adjusted by a stepless change of the drum diameter. By using RecurDyn simulation and field performance tests, the adjustable ranges of diameter and gap of the movable variable-diameter threshing drum were 670~710 mm and 10~30 mm. Based on the feed amount of the combine, the rotation speed of the threshing drum and the threshing gap (the diameter of the drum) as the influencing parameters, and the grain entrainment loss rate, grain un-threshed rate and grain breakage rate as the evaluation indexes, the three-factor and three-level response surface tests were carried out, and the result data were analyzed using Design-Expert 13.0. The optimal threshing gap and rotation speed of the threshing drum were determined under different feeding quantities. A comparative test was carried out to adjust and fix the threshing gap and rotation speed of the threshing drum in real time according to the change in feeding amount. The results showed that when the working parameter combination under different feeding amounts was adjusted in real time, the entrainment loss rate was 0.65%, the un-threshed rate was 0.063% and the breakage rate was 0.47%. Compared with the threshing gap and the rotation speed of the threshing drum being fixed, the entrainment loss rate, the un-threshed rate and the breakage rate were reduced by 44.9%, 27.6% and 34.1%, respectively. A threshing drum with variable diameter was provided for a large multi-crop harvesting combine to realize the concentric stepless adjustment of the threshing gap.

The leaves of spinach are delicate and easily injured during harvesting. To reduce the spinach damage rate and increase the conveyance success rate, an orderly harvester was designed and manufactured, and the key conveying parameters of the harvester were optimized by simulation and experiments. The compression damage stress of spinach was determined by compression tests. Then, a finite element simulation model for spinach clamping was established, and the influence of different clamping heights on the spinach deformation and equivalent stress were simulated and analyzed. Finally, response surface Box–Behnken experiments were conducted to optimize the combinations of the twisting angle, clamping distance, and height difference. The results of the compression tests showed that the compression damage stresses of spinach leaves, stems, and their connection points were 8.04 × 10−2 MPa, 7.85 × 10−2 MPa, and 11.63 × 10−2 MPa, respectively. The optimal clamping height of spinach for orderly conveyance was obtained to be 20 mm according to the finite element simulation. The response surface experimental results indicated that the significance order of factors affecting the extrusion force was the clamping distance, the height difference, and the twisting angle. The significance order of factors affecting the conveyance success rate was the clamping distance, the twisting angle, and the height difference. The optimal parameter combination was ae twisting angle of 60°, clamping distance of 24 mm, and a height difference of 20 cm. The experimental validation of the optimization results from the finite element simulation and response surface tests demonstrated that the extrusion force and conveyance success rate were 2.37 N and 94%, respectively, with a conveying damage rate of 3% for spinach, meeting the requirements for the low-damage and orderly harvesting of spinach.

In order to solve the problem encountered by traditional potato–stem separation devices, that is, they cannot meet the requirements when installed in small-scale harvesters, a new type of vertical differential roller potato–stem separation device was developed. The device features a compact structure and simultaneously possesses both separating and conveying functions. Through the analysis of the separation force between potato and stem, the structure and parameters of the separation device were determined. The simulation and the field test of the potato–stem separation process were carried out with the vertical differential roller speed, the vertical differential roller gap width and the conveyor chain speed as the influencing factors. The simulation test analysed the influence law of different working parameters on the performance of potato–stem separation. The field test revealed the order of the effects of various factors on the impurity rate and skin-breaking rate, concluding that the optimal combination of operational parameters was a vertical differential roller rotational speed of 6 s−1, a vertical differential roller gap width of 7 mm, and a conveyor chain speed of 1.4 m·s−1. This experiment fills the research gap in the study of potato–stem separation devices suitable for small-scale potato harvesters and promotes the development of compact potato harvesters.

There are millions of tons of fresh soy sauce residue (SSR) by-products created by China’s soy sauce industry every year. Most of the SSR is directly discarded; this not only wastes resources, but also pollutes the environment. As it is rich in dietary fiber, which is beneficial to human health, skimmed SSR was used as a raw material to obtain soluble dietary fiber (SDF) in this study. Firstly, the process of ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic extraction of SDF was optimized through single factor experiments and a response surface test. The extraction rate of the SDF from SSR reached 76.8 ± 0.8% under the optimum extracting conditions of a cellulase/hemicellulase (w/w) 1/1 mixture, an enzyme addition amount of 5.7%, a material–liquid ratio (w/v) of 1/20 g/mL, and a reaction time of 30 min. Then, the physicochemical properties of the SDF extracted using enzymatic and chemical methods were compared; we found that the SDF obtained through ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction had a much better appearance and physicochemical properties than that extracted by acid or alkali, with a lighter color, higher extraction rate, higher water-holding capacity, higher oil-holding capacity, higher swelling capacity, and solubility. The microstructure was more uniform and porous. This study will provide theoretical guidance and technical support for the recycling and utilization of SSR, which is beneficial for improving its economic value.

To address the issues of limited one-time loading capacity, single functionality, and low automation level in existing square straw bale pickers, a large automated square straw bale pick-up-and-stack truck that integrates picking, stacking, transporting, and bundling functions has been developed, combining the technical advantages of one-time field removal and storage of bales. We innovatively designed a side-pulling traction mechanism that can realize the rapid transition between the transporting state and working state of the machine; a picking device that can complete the continuous action of forking, lifting, turning positioning, and de-forking; and a bundling device that can realize the adjustment of the attitude of square straw bales. Response surface tests were conducted on the prototype to determine the key structural and operational parameters, using the bundle completion rate and regular bale rate as evaluation indicators. Regression and significance tests were performed on the machine’s forward speed, chassis frame offset, and the ground clearance of the fork tine to determine the influence and priority of these factors on the evaluation indicators. Through multi-objective function optimization of the regression model, the optimal parameter combination was found to be a machine forward speed of 15.5 km/h, a chassis frame offset of 2126 mm, and a fork tine ground clearance of 225 mm, resulting in a bundle completion rate of 98.85% and a regular bale rate of 96.96%. Subsequent field tests with the optimized parameters showed that at a machine forward speed of 15.5 km/h, a chassis frame offset of 2126 mm, and a fork tine ground clearance of 225 mm, the bundle completion rate was 98.37% and the regular bale rate was 95.83%, meeting the relevant design requirements. This study can provide a reference for the design and development of straw collection and storage machinery.

In order to solve the problem of poor uniformity of wheat strip sowing, this paper designs a positive-negative pressure wheat wide-seedling-strip-seeding precision seed metering device, which adopts the roller structure with the principle of combined positive-negative pressure. Through theoretical analysis and relevant data, the structure of the seed metering device and the structure of the positive-negative pressure air chamber were designed. The internal flow field conditions were simulated by Fluent software under different structural parameters. The design of the seed holes was completed by analyzing the pressure cloud diagram and the flow velocity vector diagram, and the optimal combination of parameters was obtained and the influence law of negative pressure on the flow field was obtained. The effect of rotational speed on the flow field was studied by EDEM-Fluent coupling technique. In this paper, a three-factor and three-level response surface test was conducted on a JPS-12 test bench with Liangxin-99 wheat as the research object. The experiment was conducted with the rotational speed of seed metering device, the negative pressure of seed suction and the seeding height as factors, and the qualified index, the reseeding index and the miss-seeding index as evaluation indicators. Through the test, the optimal structure and working parameters of the seed metering device were determined as follows: the diameter of the seed hole was 2 mm, and the number of seed holes per row was 28, negative pressure was -3.5 kPa, rotational speed of seed metering device was 19 r/min, and seeding height was 180 mm. Validation test was carried out on the optimized seed metering device: the qualified index was 80.62%, the reseeding index was 9.22%, and the miss-seeding index was 10.16%, which reached the parameter indicator in JB/T 10293-2013 Technical conditions of single seed (precision) seeder and met the agronomic requirements for wheat wide-seedling-strip-seeding.