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Efficiency of mechanical cane loading in Egypt

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Abstract

The cane growing area along the Nile valley in Upper Egypt has expanded. Most of farmer holdings are small, typically ranging from 0.5 to 1 hectare. Cane delivery schedules and consequently harvesting dates mainly depend on the delivery allocation and the date of harvest last season. The mill administration assigns a transport vehicle (main vehicle) for each farmer according to the schedule. Farmer/s harvest and transport cane from inside field/s (using a tractor-pulled-trailers) to temporary storage sites at which the main vehicle/s are loaded. Loader efficiency can be low due to time losses associated with travel from one storage site to another. To achieve reasonable efficiency of the loader, storage sites may be amalgamated allowing greater utilisation of loaders. This procedure may increase the infield transport distance which may reduce the rate of cane supply from fields, thus contributing to increased cane delivery delay. Farmers may have to transport a part of the main vehicle load to the storage site the previous day to secure continuous operation of the loader. In this study, loader efficiency, loading rate, the percentage of main vehicle/s load/s delayed more than 24 h and cane collection efficiency were studied. In most cases, one main vehicle was assigned to each farmer, where a trailer pulled by tractor was used to transfer cane from inside the field to the storage area. Results showed that total efficiency of the loader was 75% in case of loading lorries in a large storage area and 81% in case of railway wagons loaded at a station. Average total efficiency of the loader was 61% when loading decauvelle wagons distributed in several storage areas within the same production region. Efficiency of loading tractor trailers in the field was 54%. Maximum efficiency was observed to be achieved if the loader works for the full operational day in one storage area. Cane collection efficiency was variable for the variable operating conditions. The percent of cane delayed more than 24 h was also estimated. Large temporary storage areas at which lorries are loaded with cane, and cane loading stations for railway wagons may represent more optimal conditions for loader operation. The paper discusses the efficiency of loader operation under a range of variable conditions, and related cane delivery delay. The results highlight the role of loader operation efficiency as a factor determining the adoption of mechanical loading of sugarcane. Recommendations for proper operation of cane loader are suggested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ag. Eng Dept., Coll. of Agric. Al-Azhar Univ., Assiut, Egypt

    Hassan A. Abdel-Mawla

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  1. Hassan A. Abdel-Mawla
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Correspondence to Hassan A. Abdel-Mawla.

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Abdel-Mawla, H.A. Efficiency of mechanical cane loading in Egypt. Sugar Tech 12, 108–114 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-010-0022-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-010-0022-8

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