Difference between revisions of "Garlic Peeler"
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#The higher psi tests ran to below the "design" pressure so the "true" CFM mas be higher if the the pressure is available. | #The higher psi tests ran to below the "design" pressure so the "true" CFM mas be higher if the the pressure is available. | ||
#These CFM values are for running continuously. The peeler typically runs for 12 to 15 seconds per cycle. | #These CFM values are for running continuously. The peeler typically runs for 12 to 15 seconds per cycle. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Inspiration== | ||
| + | Take a 6" to 8" heavy wall PVC water pipe about 10" long and machine flat surfaces to drill and tap 1/4" air lines in a spiral pattern around the tube. Drill a small hole, less than half the diameter of the current air holes and test the effectiveness and air consumption of the peeling. The reduced diameter orifices will significantly affect the air consumption, but I doubt it will affect the peeling speed. At half the diameter you can put in 3 times the number of holes to come to the same opening area. | ||
| + | |||
| + | If the Water Pipe peeler works you can set up a system to sequence the peeling cups so that while one is filling and another is emptying the third is peeling. With this system the compressor capacity only needs to meet the CFM capacity of 1 cup. and you will have a more continuous flow of peeled garlic. | ||
Latest revision as of 19:24, 6 October 2019
January 19th 2018
Contents
Objective
Deterime CFM requirements of Garlic Peeler.
Currently using a rented outdoor compressor. Problems
- Lines freeze
- Uses Diesel. Expensive to operate.
- expensive to rent
- requires maintenance
Query
What CFM compressor capacity is required to run the peeler?
Method
The system has 400 US gal storage tank. We used the tank to measure the cubic feet of air used. By filling the tank then turning the compressor off and measuring how long it took to drop to a given pressure we can determine many cubic feet we took out of the tank to run the peeler for a given time.
Measuring pressure in bar gives us an easy way to calculate cubic feet. 1 bar is atmospheric pressure (approx 14.5 psi). If we take 2 cubic feet of air and compress it into 1 cubic foot of space we have 2 bar (or 29 psi). If we take 3 cubic feet of air and compress it into 1 cubic ft of space the pressure is 3 bar (43.5 psi)
Based on the following assumptions.
- The storage tank is labeled at 400 us gal which is converted to a capacity of 53.5 cubic feet
- At 120 psi (8.2 bar) the tank contains 438 cubic feet of compressed air.
The following table shows the cubic feet of air released as the pressure drops from full (120 psi)
| Tank Pressure | Tank Pressure Full | Tank Pressure | difference | tank volume | Cu.ft. consumed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 psi | 8.2 bar | 1.0 bar | 7.2 bar | 53.5 cu.ft. | 385.2 cu.ft. |
| 98 psi | 8.2 bar | 6.75 bar | 1.45 bar | 53.5 cu.ft. | 77.6 cu.ft. |
| 94 psi | 8.2 bar | 6.48 bar | 1.72 bar | 53.5 cu.ft. | 92 cu.ft. |
| 93 psi | 8.2 bar | 6.4 bar | 1.8 bar | 53.5 cu.ft. | 92 cu.ft. |
| 90 psi | 8.2 bar | 6.2 bar | 2.0 bar | 53.5 cu.ft. | 107 cu.ft. |
| 87 psi | 8.2 bar | 6.0 bar | 2.2 bar | 53.5 cu.ft. | 118 cu.ft. |
| 82 psi | 8.2 bar | 5.65 bar | 2.55 bar | 53.5 cu.ft. | 136 cu.ft. |
Determine the output of indoor compressor
The indoor compressor takes 3.8 min to fill the tank from 90 psi to 120 psi. Therefore the measured capacity of the compressor is:
- capacity at 120 psi - capacity at 90 psi divided by the time to fill = cfm output of compressor
- (438-331.7)/3.8min = 28.0 CFM MEASURE OUTPUT OF COMPRESSOR FROM 90 TO 120 PSI
Determine the CFM consumed by Peeler
- Filled the tank to max pressure 120 psi (8.2 bar)
- Closed the feed to the tank so that no more air would be added. This gives us a Fixed amount of air to use.
- Run the peeler for a fixed time at various pressures and recorded the pressure to drop.
- From this data we calculated the CFM consumed at the preset pressures.
- Calculate/measure the recovery time based on compressor capacity of 28 CFM.
| Regulator Set | Start psi | end psi | cubic Feet | time | CFM | Refill Time | Recover 12 sec cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 psi | 120 psi | 93 psi | 96 cu.ft. | 0.5 min | 192 CFM | 6.85 min | 1.37 min |
| 100 psi | 120 psi | 94 psi | 92 cu.ft. | 0.5 min | 184 CFM | 6.57 min | 1.31 min |
| 90 psi | 120 psi | 98 psi | 77.6 cu.ft. | 0.5 min | 155 CFM | 5.53 min | 1.10 min |
| 90 psi | 120 psi | 87.5 psi | 116 cu.ft. | 0.75 min | 154 CFM | 5.5 min | 1.10 min |
| 80 psi | 120 psi | 82 psi | 136 cu.ft. | 1.0 min | 136 CFM | 4.85 min | 0.97 min |
Conclusions
Based on the 28 CFM capacity of the indoor compressor, the cycle will need to pause to allow the compressor time to rebuild the pressure before the cycle can be repeated. We added a delay timer on the gate closed circuit to allow the process to be paused for an adjustable pause time between cycles.
FACTORS AFFECTING CFM CONSUMPTION
There are four adjustments that can be made to match the peeler to the capacity of the compressor.
- Fill time -- if you change the amount of garlic per cycle it may change the time it takes to complete the cycle (peel all the garlic).
- Cycle time -- The shorter the cycle the less air it will consume. If the cycle is too short and not all the garlic will be peeled. Too long will waste compressed air.
- Pause time -- The time between cycles to wait for the compressor to build up pressure. The more air you use the longer it will take to recover.
- Pressure -- the higher the pressure the more CFM will be consumed, (see the table above) varies between 136 CFM at 80 psi to 194 CFM at 120 psi. The longer it will take to rebuild the pressure.
Limitations
- Only single tests were run with the exception of the 90 psi test that was run for 30 seconds and 45 second and gave similar results.
- The higher psi tests ran to below the "design" pressure so the "true" CFM mas be higher if the the pressure is available.
- These CFM values are for running continuously. The peeler typically runs for 12 to 15 seconds per cycle.
Inspiration
Take a 6" to 8" heavy wall PVC water pipe about 10" long and machine flat surfaces to drill and tap 1/4" air lines in a spiral pattern around the tube. Drill a small hole, less than half the diameter of the current air holes and test the effectiveness and air consumption of the peeling. The reduced diameter orifices will significantly affect the air consumption, but I doubt it will affect the peeling speed. At half the diameter you can put in 3 times the number of holes to come to the same opening area.
If the Water Pipe peeler works you can set up a system to sequence the peeling cups so that while one is filling and another is emptying the third is peeling. With this system the compressor capacity only needs to meet the CFM capacity of 1 cup. and you will have a more continuous flow of peeled garlic.
