Abstract
In this study, particle movement and distribution of brown rice and rough rice on a shaking tray of a rice separator were investigated for analyzing the separating characteristics of the brown rice from the rough rice on a tray by oscillating separation. Over several mixing ratio of a rice mixture, experiments were carried out to clarify complicate phenomena on a tray and investigate necessary assumptions to develop a separating model, and the following findings were obtained: (1) Total zone of a rice mixture on a tray could be divided into an entrance zone, a separating zone and a conveying zone. The size of each zone was affected by a mixing ratio. (2) The brown rice movement in conveying direction could be assumed to be an apparent uniform flow, however, it could not be assumed for rough rice. The rough rice on a tray had larger moving velocity in that direction than the brown rice. (3) The distribution of a rice mixture in separating direction could be grasped using a mass centroid pathway, a standard deviation and a skewness degree.
