1- Department of Agricultural Machinery, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, P. O. Box 1163, Mashhad,
Islamic Republic of Iran
2- Khorasan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran
Abstract: (5859 Views)
In order to provide the data needed for the design of saffron processing equipment,
physical properties of its flower were investigated. These properties included dimensions,
mass, true and bulk densities, porosity, static and dynamic coefficients of friction, and
terminal velocity as a function of moisture content. The average range of these properties
for the three different parts of saffron flower was about 0.03 to 0.16 gcm-3 for bulk
density, 0.55 to 1.56 gcm-3 for true density, and 85.2 to 95.5% for porosity. Also, the
coefficients of friction were measured for three flower parts by using three surface
materials including plywood, iron, and galvanized steel sheets. The minimum and the
maximum values of static coefficients of friction were found on galvanized steel sheet.
They were 0.8 and 2.14 for anther and stigma, respectively. The dynamic coefficient of
friction ranged from 0.45 for anther on iron to 1.14 for petal on galvanized steel sheet.
The variation range of terminal velocity for three different parts of the flower was
recorded between 0.9 and 2.38 ms-1. The results of friction coefficients and terminal
velocity measurements suggest that, based on these properties, design of a separator for
saffron flower parts is feasible.
Received: 2011/01/18 | Accepted: 2011/01/18 | Published: 2011/01/18