EXPERIMENTAL SUBSTANTIATION OF THE PARAMETERS OF THE DEVICE FOR FORMING SUBSTRATE BLOCKS

<jats:p>The results of experimental studies of a device for filling bags with plant material used in mushroom production are presented. The quality criterion was the bulk density of the substrate in the bag, while the variable factors were the filling speed and the angle of constriction of the side walls of the pressing chamber. The experiments were conducted for three types of raw materials: crushed leaf-stem material of grain crops, oilseed hulls, and sawdust. The scientific novelty lies in obtaining experimental relationships between the bulk density of substrate blocks and the design parameter (the angle of constriction of the pressing chamber) and the operating parameter (piston speed) for the three main types of raw materials used in industrial mushroom cultivation. The practical significance lies in determining rational press operating parameters that ensure the consistent achievement of the required block density, thereby increasing the biological efficiency of oyster mushroom cultivation and reducing product losses during the incubation stage. As a result, regression mathematical relationships were obtained that describe the influence of the studied factors on the bulk density, and rational ranges of values were substantiated, at which the bulk density meets the technological requirements for growing mushrooms and is 408–445 g/dm³: for leaf-stem mass - a slope of the side walls of 7.4–8.6° and a filling speed of 0.042–0.061 m/s; for oilseed hulls - a slope of 6.2–8.4° and a speed of 0.08–0.12 m/s; for sawdust - a slope of 5.0–6.3° and a speed of 0.06–0.1 m/s.</jats:p>