Functional dependences of the performance of a mixer with helical blades

The level of livestock development is one of the indicators characterizing the state of economy not only of individual farms, but regions and state as a whole. Therefore, the solution to the problem of the improvement of the quality of feed and modernization of process of its production is relevant and significant for agricultural sector. In order to improve and study the technological process of mixing the grain mixture, a design of a continuous paddle mixing unit was developed. The purpose of the research is to establish functional dependencies on the design and operating parameters of a mixer with helical blades and determine their rational values. The influence of the shaft rotation frequency, the number of its blades and the state of tank fullness on the unevenness of the mixture, productivity and power consumption is determined. The increase in the degree of fullness and shaft speed intensifies the performance of the mixer. The highest mixer performance is provided by 6 blades. The increase in the shaft speed intensifies the power consumption of the mixer. The degree of fullness of the tank and the number of blades also increase power consumption, but to a lesser extent. The best quality of the mixture is provided by 8 blades with a degree of fullness of 2 5 % and a rotation frequency of 40 min-1 with a mixer capacity of about 180 kg/h and a power consumption of 270 watts.