| Author | Suvischar Arsarnok |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.AE-10-04 |
| Subject(s) | Sugarcane--Harvesting---Machinery
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| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the re quirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Agricultural Systems and Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. AE-10-04 |
| Abstract | Sugarcane is one of the major crops for sugar produ ction in Thailand, practically faces two major problems such as, high labor wage and labor shortage during the harvesting season. Surely, the labor sho rtage during the harvesting season of sugarcane is most serious problem because most o f farmers suffer from its greatly. Furthermore, harvesting of sugarcane is a labor int ensive task and tedious. However, this problem can be overcome by harvesting machine. Cost of harvesting machine imported is very high. Therefore, this problem can be overcome by designing and manufacturing suitable machine in Thai condition, w hich most sugarcane farmers in Thailand can adopt The developed low-cost sugarcane harvester can be p owered by diesel engine of 170-195 hp. The harvesting machine consisted of three system, namely: transmission system, suspension system, harvesting mechanism system which, harvesting mechanism consisted of five harvesting parts, namely: sugarcane stem cutting unit, sugarcane head cutting unit, sugarcan e stem chopping unit, front conveyor unit, rear conveyor unit. The newly design ed sugarcane harvester is able to operate and transport the sugarcane bits to truck. As this harvesting machine moves forward along the sugarcane planting furrows, sugar cane stem cutting unit cuts the sugarcane stem from ground and then transport to su garcane stem chopping unit, which cut the sugarcane stem into 400 mm pieces and are automatically conveyed and cutting by harvesting mechanism unit. After testing of the low-cost sugarcane harvester o n field, a prototype of low- cost sugarcane harvester was developed. Four levels of traveling speeds (1.51, 2.17, 3.84 and 5.20 km/h) were used for determining optim um gear level. The average field efficiency varied with traveling speed 39.67%, 40.2 5% 41.04% and 38.12% respectively. Fuel consumption at difference speeds 21.07, 21.07, 20.88 and 20.93 l/ha. The break-even-point for the machine was foun d to be 2.5 rai /hour at optimum speed when harvesting at G3 (3.84 km/h). |
| Year | 2010 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. AE-10-04 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Soni, Peeyush |
| Examination Committee(s) | Athapol Noomhorm;Roongruang Kalsirisilp |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | RTG Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2010 |