Design, Fabrication and Testing of A (Manually and Electrically Operated) Roasted Groundnut Decorticating Machine

Abstract

This work entails the design and fabrication of a manually and electrically operated roasted groundnut decorticating machine. The decorticating machine which is powered manually or by 0.161 Hp, 1500rpm electric motor comprises of the hopper which contains the unpeeled groundnut seeds and is opened directly to the decorticating unit. The body of work is made with galvanize steel of thickness 1mm. The dimension of the body inside the frame is 580mm x 180mm x 580mm. The frame of the work is made with mild steel square bar of thickness 20mm. The frame is of size 600mm x 200mmx 600mm. The decorticating unit comprises of rotating inner drum of length 550mm and a diameter of 60mm with brush like projections and a shaft of 68mm passing through its centers and a fixed cylindrical drum of length 600mm and diameter 120mm. The inner drum with a rotation speed of 150rpm is attached with the help of a v-belt and two pulleys to the electric motor which drives it in an anticlockwise direction to peel the groundnut seeds. The peeled groundnut seeds and the chaffs fall directly into the cleaning unit where an installed fan blow away the chaff and the seeds are collected directly through an opening below the decorticating unit.  The machine was made from locally sourced materials and it can be used in both urban and rural areas even where there is no electric power supply. The percentage of roasted groundnut seeds been peeled in manual and electrical operation in three successive runs was found to be 52% and 61% respectively.

Keywords: Decorticating, Hopper, Galvanize Steel, Electric Motor, Speed, Projection.