IMPACT OF FRICTION, FLOW-RATE AND LOADING DENSITY ON AUTOMATED SOFT-SHELL CRAWFISH SEPARATION

The separation of soft-shell crawfish from the hard-shell (or intermol t) population is the key step within soft-shell crawfish culture. Auto mated soft-shell crawfish separation in a culture tray is accomplished by utilizing hydraulic force and electrical inhibition gates. The imp acts of water flow rate, surface roughness of the raceway fray, and cr awfish loading density upon the operation of the automatic soft-shell crawfish separation process were evaluated. The flow rate which result ed in the desired hydraulic force for optimal performance ranged from 0.75 to 0.90 liter/s. The magnitude of the frictional and drag forces acting on a crawfish were identified to be of the order of 0.001-0.01 N. The hard-shell crawfish escape rate from the separation unit can be approximated as a first-order process with respect to the loading den sity.