Studies on the Development of Concentrative Leaf-Stripping Unit for Sugar Cane

Abstract

An old-type leaf-stripping machine have been operated in the field but has a limited work efficiency.
This paper describes a new-type trial leaf-stripping unit for sugar cane. Topped green canes were carried to a sugar mill and then stripped collectively by this unit which was designed to have a work efficiency of 15ton/hr and 2% trash.
The stripping performance of this unit was evaluated. The results obtained are as follows.
1) The leaf-stripping efficiency was 14.6ton/hr which nearly approached the target of 15ton/hr. This value was larger by 20-30 times than the value obtained by manual operation.
2) Trash ratio was 6.2% at the 1st blower and 2.3% at the 2nd blower which took the last process of the leaf stripping.
3) The sum of cane losses both at the 1st and 2nd leaf-strippers was 0.23%.
4) Bruises on the cuticle of the cane caused by impact force of the chain were observed, but these bruises gave only an insignificant influence on the quality of the cane because the cane was stripped and processed within short time by this unit.
5) The leaf stripping cost by this unit was about 2770yen/ton which was the decrease of approximately 26% compared with the manual operation.
These results lead to the conclusion that the performance of this new-type unit is generally satisfactory but it will need further examination of the durability for practical use.