Air-Seeds Flow Analysis in a Distributor Head of an "Air Drill" Seeder

In "air drill" seeders, grains conveying is done by means of air currents. On these equipment's, flexible hoses are used to convey seeds from the hoper to the distributor head, and from the latter to each sowing bodies. A common problem in this type of transport is the accumulation of seeds in controversial sectors of the system. A key component of these systems is the flow distributor head. With the aim of finding the minimum velocities of transport of seeds, without jams or accumulations, the air-seeds flow behavior is numerically studied in a commercial distributor head. In this paper, it is analyzed the behaviour of soybeans in an "air drill" distributor head, using an Eulerian approach for the fluid and a Lagrangian approach for the particles.. Modeled particles are soybean, which are considered as rigid spheres of uniform size. Numerical tests show a mixing flow inhomogeneity, with tendency of particles to exit through the frontal tubes of the expansion zone of the distributor head. Non uniform flow distribution is obtained from numerical test, having frontal pipes of distributor head, the higher seeds flow.