Tver State Technical University, Tver, Russia

A. L. Yablonev, Head of Department, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, alvovich@mail.ru

The milling method of peat extraction involves layer-by-layer cutting of surfaces of card fields, drying of the milled chips and collecting them into storage units (stacks). The strips adjacent to the drainage ditches of peat cards are left untreated by milling machines, as a rule, due to the high humidity and reduced load-bearing capacity of these sites. The so-called ditch edges are formed as a result, and they grow with each subsequent extraction cycle, which makes it difficult to remove surface moisture and hinders the normal course of the peat extraction process. In production practice, this problem is solved either by complete profiling of the surfaces of card fields with wide-cut profilers—a very energy-intensive operation, or by treating the ditch edges using special edge cutters (ditch edge profilers)—an operation that is much less energy-intensive, quick to perform, and, accordingly, is the most preferable. The well-known and widespread models of ditch edge cutters PRF-240 and PR-1 can treat only one edge in one pass, which is very unproductive, so we have developed the concept of a ditch edge cutter capable of treating two ditch edges on the two sides of a card field in a single pass. The development required experimental studies to justify the angle of the cutter from the position of optimal energy intensity. The studies were carried out at the Tver State Technical University using modern digital strain gauge equipment. In the present study, which contains a detailed description of the methodology, as well as features and results of the experiments, this angle of 20° is justified from the position of the optimal energy intensity of milling a peat deposit.

1. Misnikov O. S., Kopenkina L. V. Peat mining uprising in Russia. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2020. No. 2. pp. 95–99.
2. Samsonov L. N. Peat Field Milling. Moscow : Nedra, 1985. 211 p.
3. Ratamäki O., Jokinen P., Albrecht E., Belinskij A. Framing the peat: the political ecology of Finnish mire policies and law. Mires and Peat. 2019. Vol. 24. DOI: 10.19189/MaP.2018.OMB.370
4. Yablonev A. L., Zhukov N. M. Justification of milling angle of pit field edge profiler. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2023. No. 3. pp. 55–59.
5. Kozulin A., Tanovitskaya N., Minchenko N. Developing a national strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of peatlands in the Republic of Belarus. Mires and Peat. 2018. Vol. 21. DOI: 10.19189/MaP.2016.OMB.227
6. Peat Leveling Auger. AMKODOR, 2024. Available at: https://amkodor.by/catalog/cat/tehnika-dlya-torfa/profilirovshhik-torfyanoj-shnekovyj/ (accessed: 05.04.2024).
7. Pit milling. MeriPeat, 2024. Available at: https://www.meripeat.com/ru/products-ru/milled-peat-production-ru (accessed: 02.04.2024).
8. Profiler PR-1. Isvant, 2024. Available at: http://d-243.com/torfodobyvayushhayatehnika/profilirovshhiki/profilirovshhik-pr-1 (accessed: 05.04.2024).
9. Cheluszka P., Jagieła-Zając A. Determining the position of pick holders on the side surface of the working unit of the cutting machine in the robotic technology of their assembly. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2019. Vol. 261. ID 012003.
10. Medolago A., Melzi S. A A flexible multi-body model of a surface miner for an alyzing the interaction between rock-cutting forces and chassis vibrations. International Journal of Mining Science and Technology. 2021. Vol. 31, Iss. 3. pp. 365–375.
11. Fomin K.V. Method for estimating the spectrum density of the resistance moment on the working body of a peat milling unit. Journal of Mining Institute. 2020. Vol. 241. pp. 58–67.
12. Fomin K. V., Rakhutin M. G. Modeling damaging effects on peat miller cutters when interacting with peat. MIAB. 2019. No. 12. Special issue 39. Peat milling and processing technologies, peat equipment and repair. pp. 36–46.
13. Fomin K. V. Simulation of loads on operating device of peat-cutting unit with regard to errors in the cutting elements arrangement. Gornye nauki i tekhnologii. 2022. Vol. 7, No. 2. pp. 161–169.
14. Zembrowski K., Dubowski A. P. Testing the three-phase technology for harvesting biomass from wetlands. Mires and Peat. 2019. Vol. 25. DOI: 10.19189/MaP.2017.OMB.317
15. Yablonev A. L. Digital strain gauging in lab test of peat surface mining process. MIAB. 2018. No. 1. pp. 182–189.
16. Misnikov O. S., Kopenkina L. V., Zyuzin B. F. The Moscow Peat Institute’s schools and their development at the Tver State Technical University. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2022. No. 5. pp. 9–22.
17. Yablonev А. L., Zhukov N. M. Experimental substantiation of the grip angle of the peat edge cutter. Vestnik Tverskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta. Ser.: Tekhnicheskie nauki. 2023. No. 2(18). pp. 21–30.
18. Zetlab Tenzo. Zetlab. Available at: https://zetlab.com/shop/programmnoe-obespechenie/programmnoe-obespechenie-zetlab/zetlab-tenzo/ (accessed: 05.04.2024).
19. Yablonev А. L., Zhukov N. M. Calculation of the moment of resistance to milling a peat layout when the miller hits a stump and determination of the active width of the working body. Vestnik Tverskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta. Ser.: Tekhnicheskie nauki. 2021. No. 2(10). pp. 51–61.