Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

Abstract Requirement for seeds of Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) is actually about 17 ton per year. Seeds storage as well as new technologies of seedling material production require production of qualified sowing material. Relatively low vitality of the Silver seeds and small difference between physical properties of vital and dead seeds make necessary application of precision selection equipment. Pneumatic devices are widely used in the separation of seeds of forest trees because they offer many advantages: simultaneous purification and sorting of seeds, no damage to seeds, no change in the physical and biological properties of seeds, continuous regulation of the parameters of separation, high efficiency associated with low dimensions and low energy demand, low level of noise, no air contamination The paper presents the results of investigations into the effectiveness of separation conducted in a pneumatic separator with a vertical air column, designed and produced at the Department of Forest Works Mechanization of the Agricultural University of Cracow.