Vertical Airflow Resistance of Chickpea (C. Arietinum) Cultivars as Affected by Bulk Density and Moisture Content

Abstract

Resistances of three chickpea cultivars (large kabuli, small kabuli, and desi) to airflow ranging from 0.02 to 0.4 m³s⁻¹m⁻² were measured in vertical direction at three levels of bulk density and three levels of moisture content. The effects of moisture content, bulk density, and bed depth on airflow resistance of chickpea were investigated. Pressure drop increased with airflow rate and bulk density but decreased with increasing moisture content. Airflow resistance per unit depth of seed column increased linearly with bed depth. Three models (Shedd, Hukill and Ives, and Ergun) were fitted to the experimental data by using PROC NLIN of the SAS software. The percentage relative error approached zero for airflow rates of more than 0.1 m³s⁻¹m⁻². The coefficient of multiple determination (R²), and the mean square error (MSE) of predicted values with respect to the measured values for various chickpea samples were used to evaluate the models. The values of coefficient of determination were greater than 0.90 in all experimental trials indicating good fit of the models.

Keywords:

• Bulk density
• Particle density
• Physical attributes
• Kabuli
• Desi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge the technical support extended by Mr. Bill Crerar during the experimental work. Funding for work on this project was through the Strategic Research Program of Agriculture Development Fund of Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization and the government of Iran. The Agri-Food Innovation Fund is also acknowledged in the renovation of the Bioprocess Engineering Laboratories.