Otimização e avaliação de um distribuidor de calcário por gravidade.

Abstract

The present research deals with a design for optimizing an equipment for distribution of grinded limestone at crop land. A physical model of one limestone distribution equipment manufactured by IMAS A with a rated capacity of 3000Kg, has been used for studing and analysing its distributor mechanisms, considering as analysis parameters the uniformity of distribution at the strip of deposition of limestone. Modifications have been introduced into the distribution mechanism of the IMASA limestone distribution equipment (the modified equipment has been then called optimized machine or optimized distributor). A conventional limestone distribution equipment has been used as a source of standard data for analysing and comparing the efficiency of the optimized machine. In order to test both the convencional and the optimized machines, field experimentations have been performed at twelve strips of land (3 by 50 meters) for each machine, loaded with 750, 1500 and 3000Kg of limestone, respectively. The quantities of limestone distributed by both machines have been collected into numbered containers and weighed afterwards. A mathematical model based on the factorial variance analysis has been adopted as the statistical basis for treating the current research data, which major parameters are the follwing: the machines, considered as the first factor, and the load levels considered as the second factor. The field tests have been conducted at the Iguatemi experimental farm, which belongs to Universidade Estadual de Maringá - UEM, Paraná. It has been observed that the limestone distribution equipment desinged and optmized in the present research work exhibited a better uniformity of distribution and quantities closer to the specification, as compared with the conventional equipment, for the load levels investigated here.