A Small-Scale Prototype Peat Harvester, using NIR Moisture Content Sensing. Part 2: Harvester Evaluation

✍ Scribed by M.J. O'Mahony; S.M. Ward; J. Lynch

• Book ID: 102573260
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 372 KB
• Volume: 70
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8634
• DOI: 10.1006/jaer.1998.0271

✦ Synopsis

A small-scale prototype peat harvester which selectively harvests the dry layer which forms on top of a milled peat spread has been developed. The near-infrared (NIR) sensor, described in Part 1 of the paper, and control system is robust, portable and self-contained. The object of this study was to explore the applicability of NIR sensing to determine the moisture content of milled peat and the use of programmable logic controller (PLC) technology to control the harvesting height of a surface layer drying (SLD) harvester. The peat moisture content sensor was integrated with a small-scale prototype peat harvester. Three calibration equations were determined for low-, medium-and high-density peat. The control system used this information to position the harvesting brush so that it operated at the interface between the dry surface layer and the wet peat beneath it. The small-scale prototype SLD machine proved effective in harvesting the dry surface layer, albeit with a degree of contamination (viz. ca. 1-6% point increase in moisture content). The degree of contamination of the dry layer by the wet layer was smallest ((3%) for low-density peat. It was concluded that the harvester was capable of causing a 0)5 m wide harvesting brush to follow the wet/dry interface beneath the sensor at speeds of up to 0)5 m/s.