Listening for cane loss

Abstract

[Abstract]: A method is described for controlling sugar cane loss during harvesting. In a mechanical harvester, unwanted leaf material is separated from sugarbearing cane in an air-stream, and waste material is thrown back onto the field. Up to ten percent of the cane harvested is also lost, and this can represent up to fifty million dollars per year. The primary extractor fan of a harvester generates the air-stream, and is the principal cleaning system during the harvesting process. The effectiveness of the fan varies with speed, and a compromise must be achieved between retaining trash and losing cane. An accurate and reliable measure of cane loss can be obtained by detecting the impacts of harvested cane on the blades of the fan. Field trials of this detection process have been successfully conducted on a cane harvester in Bundaberg.