Results of research on the intensification of the process of cleaning potato tubers by ultrasonic action and their subsequent storage

¹ Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM, 1st Institutskiy proezd, house 5, 109428, Moscow, Russia
² Russian State Agrarian University-Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev, Timiryazevskaya street, house 49, 127550, Moscow, Russia

^* Corresponding author: Maks.Mosyakov@yandex.ru

Abstract

The data on the gross harvest of tubers in the Russian Federation are given: approximately 71% of potatoes are produced by the population, 17.4% by agricultural enterprises and 11.5% by farms. It is noted that in the industrial production of potatoes, negative impacts on the soil are associated with crushing and removal of the fertile soil layer, which arise in the process of extracting root crops by the digging and separating working bodies of the harvesting machines. It is proposed to use ultrasonic action on root crops for cleaning them from soil impurities. It was determined that in order to intensify the process of cleaning tubers by ultrasonic action during harvesting, it is necessary to provide operating and technological parameters (frequency of ultrasound oscillations f1 = 48 kHz, vibration intensity S = 42 W/cm², exposure time t = 90 s) of ultrasonic equipment, which will ensure the completeness purification is not less than 84.7%.The results of comparative studies on the intensification of the cleaning of potato tubers allow us to conclude that, regardless of the mass and type of pollution, the greatest positive effect of ultrasonic exposure is observed when processing tubers, the completeness of cleaning of which is on average 13-20% higher.