Potato Washer

a machine for removing dirt, tops, straw, stones, and the like from potatoes.

Potato washers are used at alcohol, starch-molasses, and other enterprises that process potatoes. They are steel or concrete troughs with semicylindrical bottoms and high sides. A shaft with paddles is installed inside, and a bar grate is set at a certain height above the bottom of the trough. A constant stream of water enters the trough at the unloading end and fills it to the level of the waste gutter. The potatoes are fed into the loading end of the washer by a hydraulic conveyor or other method and are gradually pushed forward against the flow of water by the rotating paddles. As they move toward the unloading end, the dirt, heavy impurities (stones, sand), and light impurities (straw, chips) are removed. Productivity is up to 1,000 tons of potatoes every 24 hours.