Desempenho operacional de um conjunto trator-enfardadora de palhiço da cana-de-açúcar

Abstract

Brazil is considered one of the top producers of sugarcane in the world. With the increase in production areas that have happened over the past decade and the growing concern for the environment, mechanized harvesting of raw sugar cane has replaced, gradually, manual harvesting with previous burning. When harvesting green cane, a lot of remaining straw is deposited on the ground, and one of the factors that hinder its use for energy cogeneration is the lack of knowledge of processes or systems that enable its removal from the field. This work aimed to evaluate the operational performance of a tractor-baler set of straw depending on the traveling speed and the drive speed of the machine's internal mechanisms. Average displacement speeds were evaluated 2.17; 2.77; 3.28 and 3.97 km h-1 and the drive speed of the baler were 947 and 1090 rpm. Were evaluated the amount of post-baling remaining straw, effective and operational field capacity, effective and operational gathering capacity, the density of the bales, field performance, specific and operational fuel consumption, the energy demand of the set, the power required on the tractor engine, the specific energy consumption, power required in the PTO, the traction power and fuel consumption. There was influence on the travel speed and drive speed on all variables except for the density of the bales that was not affected by treatments. The energy demand of the set was influenced by the increase in travel speed, and therefore the feed rate, while the drive rotation had relative influence.