Gan-Mor, S.
Wiseblum, A.
Regev, R., Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel

The aerodynamic drag force, at a perforated rotating drum under suction, was used to separate leaves from stems. This was achieved by continuous increase of the gravitational component perpendicular to the drum surface. The force due to the gravity and centrifugal accelerations, which act against the drag force, releases the stems before the leaves. Two versions of such a drum separator were developed: one processes the material on the outer surface of the drum and the other processes it on the inner surface. The separation efficiency of each of these separators was higher than that of conventional separators. A combination of the two separators gave the best results. © 1986.