Rice Polisher Although two types of polishing machines are used in the rice milling industry : 1) The vertical

cone type polisher and 2) the horizontal polisher, the vertical type is most commonly seen. This machine basically consists of a cone shaped cast iron cylinder with an abrasive coating. The cone fi!ed on a vertical shaft that rotates either cloc"wise or counter cloc"wise. A wire screen that has a mesh size depending on the variety of the paddy to be hulled is fi!ed around the entire cone. The average distance between the cone coating and the screen is about 10 mm. At regular intervals the wire screen is divided into segments by ad#ustable rubber bra"es. These bra"es are $% to &% mm wide depending on the size of the machine. The number of rubber bra"es depends on the diameter of the cone and the preferences of the manufacturer.

The rotating whitening cone is vertically ad#ustable so the clearance between the abrasive coating of the cone and the wire screen is ad#usted. This ad#ustment depends on variety of rice, the condition of the grain, the process method and the wear of the coating. The Vertical Polisher rubber bra"es in the wire screen frame are ad#ustable through a simple hand wheel ad#ustment, and the clearance with the cone surface is only about 2 $ mm. The brown rice is fed into the center of the machine through a small hopper. A vertically adjustable cylindrical sleeve regulates the capacity and e'ual distribution of the brown rice over the entire surface of the rotating cone. (y centrifugal force the rice is fed between the cone and the wire screen. )f no rubber bra"es were installed , the rice would very 'uic"ly pass through the free space between the cone and the wire screen and nothing would happen. The presence of the rubber bra"es prevents the immediate discharge of the rice. The resistance built up by these bra"es brings the grain under pressure and presses it against the abrasive coating of the cone and against the wire screen. This friction removes part of the bran layer. The bran Horizontal Polisher passes through the wire screen and drops into the cone housing. The partly or fully whitened rice leaves the cone, falls into a self unloading discharge spout and fed to a bin. The bran is scrapped from the bottom of the cone housing by a rotating scraper and is unloaded into a spout for bran discharge. *ertical ad#ustment of the rotating cone is done manually. The entire shaft cone assembly is moved by moving the housing of the shaft end bearing. A simple hand wheel ad#ustment, which is mounted on the base of the cone frame, is used to lift or lower the steel bar that supports the bearing housing.

The peripheral speed of the cone should be about 1$ m+s, ma"ing the speed of rotation of the shaft a function of the diameter of the cone. The larger the diameter of the cone, the lower the speed of shaft. )f , - cone diameter - .%% mm /%.. m) and * - peripheral speed - 1$ m+s n - revln. + min /rpm) !,!n */m+s) 0% 0% ! * n!, $.11 ! %.. 0% ! 1$ - $&& rpm

2uite often, polishers are not properly used. 3hen the machine is only half filled with rice, the rubber bra"e will not be able to build up a constant pressure and the rice will #ump into the open space between the cone and the wire screen. This will unnecessarily brea" the rice, and the abrasive coating and rubber bra"es will wear unevenly, ma"ing proper ad#ustment and performance of the machine practically impossible. Therefore, it is always necessary to run this type of machine with a full loaded cone. (ecause the whitening cone must run without any vibration, it is important to have this heavy part of the machine properly fi!ed to the top of the main shaft. To secure a perfect positioning of the cone on this shaft, the top end of this shaft is tapered. 4owever, a small impurity on this part of the shaft or the slightest damage to the tapered surface will ma"e correct assembling impossible and vibration of the cone will result, causing e!cessive brea"age of the rice. This ris" is reduced when the taper of the shaft and cone is limited to two small areas, which still secure the same positioning of the cone on the shaft. 3hen the cone is lifted the clearance between the rubber bra"es and the cone is increased and must be read#usted. A similar ad#ustment is necessary if the rubber bra"es wear. 5or replacement of the worn bra"es the most commonly used system is an e!ternal connection between the rubber and wood that secures a perfect clamping, leaves a ma!imum solid of rubber available for the operation, and ma"es it possible to use the wooden clamps continuously. 6ew rubber bra"es are straight s'uare bars. 4owever, after long use, because of the friction on the rubber when the rice passes between the bra"e and the cone, the bra"es wear out and follow the pattern of the cone. 7ventually both the top and bottom parts of the bra"es will have the so called 8nose9 that disturbs the free flow of the rice and is responsible for unnecessary breakage. These 8noses9 should be removed regularly. The wire screen casing, which follows the shape of the cone is built of $ to : segments, depending on the size of the cone and the preference of the manufacturer. ;creen repair or replacement is often necessary. (ecause of the friction caused by the rice, the wire screen wears out and rice pours

through the hole in the screen. This can be determined by chec"ing the bran discharge regularly.

)n this machine any vibration in the machine components must be avoided to prevent brea"age of rice. )n this respect, proper bearing of the shaft and maintenance of these bearings is very important. A whitening machine removes the bran from the brown rice by friction and the friction produces heat. 3hen all the bran is removed in one single pass, the residence time of the grain is increased and the clearance between the cone and screen is reduced. <onse'uently, friction is applied to the grain and the grain becomes hot. ;ince friction and heat are responsible for brea"age of rice, and are to be avoided, it is recommended that the bran layer be removed in three or even more passes. This reduces the residence time of rice in the machine and allows the clearance between the cone and the screen to be increased. The amount of friction is thereby reduced and as a result the temperature of the rice is lowered. This process is called Multipass whitening and is aimed at increasing rice mill recovery by reducing the amount of rice brea"age.

Multipass whitening does not involve much more investment than single pass or double pass whitening. This is because the capacity of a cone for single pass is much lower than for multipass whitening because of differences in residence time and clearance ad#ustment. Thus, for a re'uired capacity the size of the cone needed for single pass whitening is much larger than the size of the whitening cones used for multipass whitening. !"# )f a mill re'uires a capacity of 12%% =g of rice per accomplished by : 1) ;ingle pass whitening with one 1%%% mm cone 2) ,ouble pass whitening with two :%% mm cones $) >ultipass whitening with three 0%% mm cones. hour this can be