Incorporating grain detection and speed control mechanisms in hammer mill operations

Abstract

The traditional way of achieving different grain particle sizes in hammer mills is by manually changing the screen to the desired size. This manual process is a production procedure that is time-consuming, demanding, and resource-draining. This study incorporated a grain identification and speed control mechanism into a hammer mill machine. The grain detection mechanism is a system that recognizes a grain type through an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colour sensor. The system has been programmed and trained to vary the speed of a 2hp electric motor with a maximum speed of 2800rpm based on the colour-matching result obtained when the grain is scanned on the colour sensor. The machine was evaluated using performance parameters such as power consumption and grain sieve analysis of milled grains using three crops (yellow corn, white corn, and cowpea). The Three crops were programmed for milling at three motor speeds (2800rpm, 2200rpm, and 1800rpm), and the result is presented. This paper showed that fine, medium and coarse aggregates were obtained for all three-grain types by varying motor speeds, eliminating the need to manually change the screen. The system was responsive to grain identification and speed selection as programmed.