A PRIMARY INVESTIGATION OF SEPARATING ALFALFA STEMS AND LEAVES BY CHOPPING AND BLOWING METHOD

The protein content of alfalfa leaves surpasses that of stems significantly, rendering harvested alfalfa following stems-leaves separation a valuable resource for livestock feed, thus ensuring the provision of high-quality raw materials for production. This study introduces a novel process for stems-leaves separation, alongside the establishment of a suspension velocity experiment rig aimed at investigating and determining the suspension velocity of alfalfa leaves, stems, and plants across various moisture levels. The relationship among various factors including different alfalfa components, the length of lateral branches, stem lengths, Moisture Content (MC), and suspension velocity was empirically derived through experimentation. In this study, the chopping and blowing method was proposed, where the alfalfa was cut into pieces according to a certain length, and then the alfalfa was blown apart by generating airflow through a fan. To comprehensively analyze the impact of airflow velocity and cutting length on the Separation Evaluation Index, a response surface mathematical model was developed. The empirical findings indicate optimal stems and leaves separation of alfalfa when the airflow velocity reaches 4.29556 m/s, paired with a cutting length of 33.7956 mm. Conclusively, this experiment validates the efficacy of the chopping and blowing separation method for alfalfa stems and leaves segregation, thereby offering valuable insights into alfalfa stems and leaves separation practices. The outcomes of this study hold significant reference value for the broader alfalfa agricultural domain.