Abstract

pnut

Peanut Science

0095-3679 0095-3679

American Peanut Research and Education Society

10.3146/i0095-3679-20-1-16

Articles

Weighing Platforms for Automated Peanut Curing¹

Vellidis *,

M. E.

Allgood ,

C. D.

Perry ,

J. M.

Allison , and

C. S.

Kvien ² ²Assistant Professor, Graduate Research Assistant, Research Engineer, and Professor, Biological & Agricultural Engineering Dept. and Associate Professor, Agronomy Dept., respectively, University of Georgia, Tifton GA 31793-0748

³Steinlite model G moisture meter used by FFM for moisture content measurements and housed in the FFM yard traffic control shed.

*Corresponding author.

1 1993

20 1 62 65

American Peanut Research and Education Society

1993

American Peanut Research and Education Society

Abstract

An instrumented weighing platform was developed for in-process moisture determination of curing peanuts and a field study was conducted to evaluate its performance. The design and evaluation of the weighing platform are described in detail. Statistical analysis of the difference between the final moisture content predicted by the platform and the actual kernel moisture content of cured peanuts indicated that the weighing platform accurately predicted final kernel moisture content. The weighing platform system can easily be incorporated into existing curing facilities. It has the potential to reduce the number of samples required by conventional curing techniques and, by maintaining better moisture content control reduce the incidence of overcuring or undercuring.

Key Words Peanut; , curing; , automated; , moisture content; , drying

¹Supported by State and Hatch funds allocated to the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations. Mention of commercially available products is for information only and does not imply endorsement.