The Khon Kaen University students have won an award for inventing a machine that can effectively separate weevils from rice seeds fast enough for industrial use.

They claim the machine can separate the insects from rice seeds at a rate of 760 kilograms per hour and Phakkhanant Rattanaka-jornjit and Saksorn Rattaarpha simply call their machine the "weevil separator".

The prototype uses fans to suck the insects away from rice seeds, relying on the fact that a weevil weighs an 18th of a rice seed, while the seeds are channelled down a stepped conveyor and the weevils are sucked out through a waste chute.

Phakkhanant said tests suggested 80 per cent of weevils were sucked up by the machine. "And when we repeat the process, nearly all the weevils will be removed," he added.

Both students are fourth-year mechanical engineers at Khon Kaen and won the top prize last week at the 12th agricultural engineering competition, an annual event held at Maejo University in Chiang Mai.

Phakkhanant said the enterprising pair pondered the long-standing problem of weevils burying into rice seeds during research visits to rice mills, stores and shops.

Saksorn said the prize acknowledged the machine would be useful to the rice industry and could be developed for commercial use in mills.

Dr Thawatchai Thiwawong-wan, an adviser to the prizewinners, agreed the machine had commercial potential and said he would contact mill owners to arrange tests.

"Each machine costs around Bt12,000. By removing the weevils, it reduces manpower and boosts the standard of rice and the confidence of customers," said Thawatchai.