Agriculture and Biomedical
| Open Access | Development and performance evaluation of a novel grinding disc dehuller for buckwheat
Dr. Wei Chen , College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China Prof. Anja Schmidt , Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, GermanyAbstract
Background: Buckwheat is a highly nutritious pseudocereal whose market value is significantly increased by efficient dehulling. However, the unique biomechanical properties of the buckwheat grain, particularly its hard hull, pose significant challenges to existing dehulling technologies, which often suffer from low efficiency and high rates of kernel breakage. This study aimed to address these limitations through the development and optimization of a novel dehulling machine based on a grinding disc mechanism.
Methods: A prototype of the grinding disc buckwheat dehuller was designed, fabricated, and tested. The core of the machine consists of two counter-rotating abrasive discs with an adjustable clearance. A three-level, three-factor Box-Behnken Design (BBD) within Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to investigate the effects of key operational parameters—disc rotational speed (600–900 rpm), disc clearance (2.5–3.5 mm), and feed rate (40–60 kg/h)—on the machine's performance. The measured responses were Dehulling Rate (DR), Broken Kernel Rate (BKR), and Whole Kernel Rate (WKR).
Results: Statistical analysis revealed that all three independent variables had a significant (p<0.001) effect on the measured responses. The developed quadratic regression models accurately predicted the machine's performance, with high coefficients of determination (R2>0.95). Numerical optimization identified the optimal operating conditions to be a rotational speed of 785 rpm, a disc clearance of 3.1 mm, and a feed rate of 45 kg/h. Under these conditions, a validation experiment yielded a Dehulling Rate of 96.2%, a Broken Kernel Rate of 2.8%, and a Whole Kernel Rate of 93.5%, which were in close agreement with the model's predictions.
Conclusion: The developed grinding disc dehuller demonstrates superior performance compared to many existing methods, achieving a high dehulling rate while maintaining excellent kernel integrity. The optimized parameters provide a practical guideline for its industrial application. This research presents a viable and efficient technological solution for the primary processing of buckwheat.
Keywords
Buckwheat processing, Dehulling efficiency, Grinding disc, Machine design
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