Performance analysis for a card cleaner type separating system of pepper harvester

This study conducted a factorial experiment with an experimental bench to analyze the separation performance of a card cleaner type separating system of pepper harvesters. The factors used for this study were the card arrangement (inline and staggered), slope angle (5° and 15°), and rotational speed (35, 50, and 65 rpm) of the card cleaner. The separation efficiency of peppers was influenced by the slope and rotational speed of the card cleaner in both types of card arrangement. In the inline arrangement, the mixing ratio of foreign materials was influenced by slope angle but not influenced by the rotational speed of the card cleaner. In the staggered arrangement, the mixing ratio of foreign materials was influenced by slope angle and the rotational speed of the card cleaner. The high separation efficiency in the staggered arrangement was obtained under the conditions of a slope of 5° and a rotational speed of 50 rpm. However, the mixing ratio of foreign materials was also high in this condition. The high separation efficiency in the inline arrangement was obtained under the conditions of a slope of 15° and a rotational speed of 50 rpm, and the mixing ratio of foreign materials was relatively low in this condition. Thus, the inline arrangement with a slope angle of 15°was recommended for a separating system of self-propelled pepper harvesters.