Design and Experiment of Tea Fresh Leaf Sorting Equipment Under Double Negative Pressure Airflow Field Based on...

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Food Science

Background:

• Growing demand for mass-based sorting of fresh tea leaves.
• Need for efficient and automated sorting technologies in the tea industry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a double negative pressure air-suction sorting equipment for fresh tea leaves.
• To optimize the sorting parameters for improved separation rate and efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation to analyze airflow characteristics.
• Single-factor experiments to determine the influence of key parameters.
• Box-Benhnken response surface method for parameter optimization.

Main Results:

• Uniform velocity gradient in airflow field identified as crucial for multi-scale sorting (Group A: 380/380 Pa).
• Optimal parameters determined: 30 r/min turntable speed, 35 mm horizontal falling distance, and 380 Pa for both negative pressure ports.
• Achieved a verification test score selection rate of 77.5%.

Conclusions:

• The developed double negative pressure air-suction equipment is effective for sorting fresh tea leaves by mass.
• The study provides a theoretical and experimental foundation for advanced tea sorting machinery.
• Further research can explore additional factors like negative pressure port position and vertical distance.