Browsing by Author "Sankaranarayanan, M R"

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Design development and evaluation of a low cost paddy thresher
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1991) Mathew John; Sankaranarayanan, M R
Though several high capacity threshers are available in the country for different crops, no thresher is found suitable for small and marginal rice farmers. Hence a low cost portable paddy thresher was developed and tested. The power operated machine consists of base, side frames, front grain shield and wire-loop cylinder. The power from the 0.5 hp motor is transmitted to the cylinder shaft by belt and pully arrangement. The optimum cylinder speed is 400 rpm. The capacity of the thresher at 14.26 per cent moisture content is 451.84 kg paddy per hour and threshing efficiency is 95.08 per cent. The mechanical damage of the grain is negligible. Two labourers are required for the whole operation. The size of the thresher is 635 x 500 x 715 mm having a gross weight of 47 kg. The cost of the thresher was worked out to be around Rs. 3600 and the cost of operation for threshing paddy was Rs. 3.00 per quintal. The unit can be fabricated by local artisans from the readily available materials and can successfully be maintained by small and marginal farmers.
Design, development and evaluation of a power tiller operated bed former
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1991) Shaji James, P; Sankaranarayanan, M R
A power tiller operated Bed Former was developed and evaluated. The main components of the prototype unit of the power tiller operated Bed Former are, a main frame, two pairs of forming boards, a leveling board, a hitching unit and a depth control cum transport wheel. The equipment was found capable of forming seed beds of heights 22 cm, 18 cm and 15 cm at a width range of 60-64 cm. Heights of 18 cm and 15 cm were possible at width ranges of 73-75 cm and 80 – 81 cm. The draft of the implement ranges from 115.59 kgf to 169.69 kgf. The power utilization of the implement varies from 0.586 hp to 0.771 hp and the wheel slip between 46.76 per cent and 77.1 per cent. The mean effective field capacity of the implement is 0.0996 ha/hr and the mean field efficiency is 46.3 per cent. The total cost of production of the unit is Rs. 2000/- and the cost of operation per hectare is Rs. 777/-. The amount that can be saved by using the implement is Rs. 1473/- per hectare.
Development and evaluation of a low cost power operated paddy thresher-cum-winnower
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1996) Sureshkumar, P K; Sankaranarayanan, M R
Since threshing is labour intensive and involves considerable human drudgery and as the threshers now available are not suitable for small and marginal farmers, a Low Cost Power Operated Paddy Thresher Cum Winnower has been developed and tested. The machine consists of a threshing unit of wire loop cylinder and cover, a winnowing unit, a grain collecting tray, prime mover, power transmission system and the main frame. The power required to operate the machine is taken from a 2 hp electric motor and is transmitted to the cylinder and blower shafts by V- belt and pulley arrangement. Two labourers can hold the crop against the threshing cylinder. The optimum cylinder speed is 400 rpm. The capacity of the thresher at 16.0 per cent moisture content of the crop is 300 hg per hour. Threshing and cleaning efficiencies are 99.25 and 91.82 per cent respectively. Mechanical damage to the grain is negligible. The labour requirement of the thresher cum winnower is two. The cost of the thresher cum winnower was found out to be around Rs 8000.00 and the cost of operation for threshing and winnowing was Rs 8.50 per quintal. An empirical relation between the energy requirement of the thresher and various crop and thresher parameters is P = 931.035 + 4.683 (MC) – 0.462 (PV) – 1.169 (FR) + 8.251 (G/S ratio) The moisture content of the crop and the Feed Rate have statistically significant effect on power Requirement whereas the cylinder speed and Grain/Straw ratio do not have any statistically significant effect.
Development and evaluation of a mechanical collecting system for salvinia weed
(Kerala Agricultural University, 1987) Sankaranarayanan, M R; Jose Samual; George, T P
Salvinia harvesting machine is a mechanical device suitable for removal ofsalvinia weed (locally known as African Payal) from the waterways. The harvesting capacity of the equipment is 16 t/h. The estimated cost of the machine is about Rs. 5000 besides the cost of the high head centrifugal pumpset. The operating cost of the equipment is calculated as Rs. 28 per hour and this amounts to a weed clearing cost of Rs. 280from one hectare of weed infested rice field.
Development and performance evaluation of a low cost water-wheel for lifting water at low heads
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1992) Jayan, P R; Sankaranarayanan, M R
Development and testing of a manually operated paddy dibbler
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1992) Bini Sam; Sankaranarayanan, M R
A manually operated three row paddy dibbler for dry sowing was developed and tested at Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur. The metering mechanism employed in this dibbler was unique in design. The machine consists of seed box, roller with metering mechanism, seed tube with furrow opener, frame, handles and marker. When the dibbler was operated for dibbling, the roller passing vertically through the centre of box would move upward by the soil pressure against the spring pressure. As the roller moved upward, the portion of the roller having the vertical slot would come in contact with seeds and the seeds were moved and carried to this slot. When the equipment was taken out from the soil, the soil pressure on the roller was released and due to the spring pressure the roller moved downward and the seeds carried in the slot were released and would fall through the seed tube by gravity in to the soil. During the operation of the equipment due to the downward travel of the roller and seed tube the seed hole was created for dropping the seeds. The covering of seeds with soil was carried out automatically when the equipment was taken out from the soil. The number of seeds dropped was in the range of 4 to 6 per hill. The area covered by the dibbler was 0.022 hectare per hour. The field efficiency obtained was 68.68 per cent. The mechanical damage was 4.84 per cent. The percentage losses of seeds after germination was 9.52. The fabrication cost of the dibbler including cost of material was Rs. 800/-. The operating cost of the dibbler was Rs. 16/- per hour. The cost of sowing one hectare of land was Rs. 717/- while for manual dibbling the cost of sowing was Rs. 979/- per hectare. Moreover manual dibbling is done in a bending position which is arduous to the farmer. But in the present design of dibbler, a suitable handle is provided which ensure easy and comfortable operation in a straight posture. The equipment can be fabricated locally with readily available materials and can be easily maintained by small farmers.
Mechanical control of the floating type aquatic weed salvinia wolesta (African payal)
(Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1981) Sankaranarayanan, M R; Jose Samuel
Potential of Salvinia mo lest a (African payal) as an alternative and supplemental feed stock to cattle dung for biogas production
(Kerala Agricultural University, 1988) Sankaranarayanan, M R; John Thomas, K
The floating aquatic weed, Salvinia molesta (locally known as 'African payal') could be easily fermented and hence is a very good material for biogas production. The average gas production per kg of oven dried salvinia weed was 336 litres with a retention time of 50 days. The gas generation could be doubled when mixed with fresh cowdung in the ratio 1:1. Thus we can make up the shortage of cowdung with the use of salvinia weed for biogas production, wherever it is available.