Cleaning & Sorting

When a commodity (i.e. nuts, seeds, grains) is harvested they contain dirt, debris, fibers, rocks, contamination (i.e. weeds), and defective products. To get them ready to process or replant they need to be cleaned and/or sorted.

Depending on the commodity a number of different cleaning and sorting equipment is available. 

Aspirators, also known as scalpers or blowers, separate light fluffy material (dust, chaff, straws, empty seed hulls) from the larger, heavier good product.

Dehulers, also called de-awners, are designed to remove the husk from pulse, the edible part of the seed.

Destoners use a vibrating fluidized bed to separate granular material into two fractions according to specific weight.

Screen Cleaners are used to separate trash from good products (grains, seeds) depending on size and density.

Spiral Separators are used to separate free flowing round products (i.e. soybeans) from flat or oblong shapes (i.e. splits, hulls or weed seed).

Belt Graders, sometimes known as belt graders, sort round material from non-round material, and rough surfaces from smooth surfaces.

Gravity Separators use a vibrating fluidized bed to separate granular material into multiple fractions according to specific weight.

Optical Sorters, often referred to as color sorters, identifies and separates an individual product by color, shape, and/or density.