Effective use of a variable speed blower fan on a mechanical wild blueberry harvester for increased debris separation and berry quality

Wild blueberries are an important crop to this region as this is the only area that wild blueberries are naturally occurring. The changes in wild blueberry crop conditions caused by improved management practices over the past decade has caused increased plant density and leaf foliage. This extra foliage has made it more difficult for the harvester operator to clean debris (leaf, soil, sticks, etc.) from the blueberries before they are placed in the loading bins. There is an urgent requirement from the processing plants to decrease the amount of debris present in the bins arriving at the processing facilities.
The main objective of this project is to install and study the effects of a variable speed blower fan to effectively remove debris on a mechanical wild blueberry harvester. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Qamar Zaman

Student:

Travis Esau

Partner:

Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

Program: