STUDY ON THE AERODYNAMIC AND DIMENSIONAL PROPERTIES OF CORN USED TO OBTAIN BIOFUEL

The study focuses on the determination and evaluation of aerodynamic and dimensional characteristics of Pioneer P9911 maize seeds, important for post-harvest operations.Measurements of 320 seeds from eight maize ears were used to calculate geometrical mean dimensions and aerodynamic features.At a moisture content of 14% the thousand seed weight was 360 g and hectolitre mass (HLM) of 79-84 kg/hl.Seeds average dimensions for length was 13.08 mm, width of 8.61 mm, and thickness of 5.18 mm.The results show 98.30% of seed dimensions fell within three standard deviations (STD) of the mean interval.The calculated terminal velocity of 14.53 m/s and experimental value of 16.5 m/s are above literature references.These findings offer valuable insights for configuring machinery in grain conveying, sorting, and cleaning processes.