CNHI-Industrial – Mitigation of dust accumulation on a combine harvester alternator

A combine harvester is an agricultural machine that harvests crops like wheat, corn and canola. The harvester is taking in the crop material through a header and feeder and seperates the grain from the chaff and straw in the threshing process. All the mechanical processes occurring in the combine harvester generate a lot of dust. This dust is dangerous since it can accumulate on certain engine components, ignite and set fire to the machine.

One of the combine harvesters, designed for the Latin American market, is having an issue with the accumulation of dust & debris on the alternator. The issue is causing the bearings to fail. Instead of looking into changing the bearing for a dust-resistant one, it is preferred to study the root cause of the problem, which is recirculating air flow.

CNHIndustrial in Zedelgem is developing and manufacturing Combine Harvesters, Forage Harvesters and Large Square Balers. Within CNHI, Zedelgem is recognized as a center of excellence for product design.

• In this thesis, it is the intention to investigate the air flow over the alternator using Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. First, it is aimed to replicate the current situation, confirming that there is air recirculation around the alternator. Additionally, solutions to improve the air flow should be proposed and investigated. In this thesis it is the intention to also include the effect of heated surfaces on the dust accumulation.
• In this thesis, you will learn to:
  • Set up a CFD simulation of the air flow within a combine harvester engine compartment
  • Adapt the simulation to increase airflow over the alternator
  • Analyze the results and report the conclusions