Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

Abstract.

The production of famous tea has an important position in the development of the Chinese tea industry, and has strict requirements on the appearance of the famous tea leaf. Therefore, the tea leaf classifier has become indispensable equipment for the processing of famous tea. In order to improve the classification efficiency of the tea leaf, a tea leaf classifier which includes the frame, roller, tilt adjustment mechanism and feeding mechanism was developed with adjustable structural and technical parameters. Through pretest and calculation, a roller diameter of 0.8m, and roller length of 3m were chosen for the machine. And we designed a control system to regulate the classification parameters. The optimal parameter combination of feeding rate, roller inclination and rotating speed were made based on the orthogonal test and variance analysis. The experiment was designed according to the orthogonal table L₉(3⁴), and the influence of each parameter on classification rate and production rate was analyzed. The results showed that the influence of roller inclination and roller rotating speed on the classification rate of spring tea leaves was significant (P<0.05). The machine parameters combination for optimal performance was 3kg/min feeding rate, 8r/min roller rotating speed and roller inclination of 6°. The development of the equipment has improved productivity and the quality of tea products significantly.