subject: Using Gravity And Air To Clean [print this page] When it comes to the packaging and selling of seeds, grains, and nuts, there is a lot that goes into the process before these items are ready to be sold to consumers. Part of this process is cleaning the product. With the production and harvest of seeds and grains, there can be a build up of chaff and other debris. Since the average consumer has no simple way of cleaning or removing unwanted debris, it is important that manufacturers remove as much as possible. If a consumer has to spend a great deal of time sifting the good from the unwanted, they may purchase from a different manufacturer the next time around.
There are various types of machinery available for the process of seed cleaning and separating. Early in the process, scalpers may be used. Scalpers are good for removing larger pieces of unwanted material, such as leaves or sticks. The scalper uses a screening method to separate seeds from large debris.
A hammermill is a machine that is an important part of the pre cleaning process. The purpose of the hammermill is to remove appendages that may be attached to the seeds. Seeds are forced through a screen by being scrapped over and over again by hammers, leaving the appendages behind.
The most common method used to clean seeds is an air-screen separator. Air-screen separators typically have a series of screens through which seeds or debris pass and are collected. Gravity causes seeds to fall from one screen to the next, where different impurities are removed by air streams.
Often, seeds can be very similar in size with the debris that needs to be removed. This can be problematic when using an air-screen separator. A gravity separator, however, can solve this problem very efficiently. Even if seeds and debris are similar in size, they will have varying density. Air moving through a vibrating, perforated deck separates seeds and debris by weight. This can also obviously be used to separate different kinds of seeds.
The seed cleaning process is extremely important to the success of the industry. While many farming operations purchase equipment and do their own cleaning, sometimes other operations will have their seeds cleaned by companies who specialize in only seed cleaning. These companies will have the best, most up to date equipment available, and can help your business put out a high quality product. However, it can also be cost effective to have your own equipment, and doing your own cleaning you can be assured that you will always be sending out the highest quality, cleanest products.
