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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Design and Construction of a Melon Dehusking Machine
Author(s)
E. J. Udom and B. B. Okon
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5275/2018.01.003
Affiliation(s)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sustainable Infrastructure Services Group, Akwa Ibom State University, PMB 1167, Uyo, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
Melon dehusking is often associated with lots of manual labour and
stresses. In order to reduce the stress and boredom usually involved in manual
dehusking of melon process, a melon dehusking and separation machine was
designed, constructed and tested for operation as presented in this paper. The
melon dehusking machine operates on the principle of
attrition/friction as opposed to the use of an impact force in the dehusking
chamber for shelling of melon
seeds. This principle
results in minimum seed breakage thus, reduces the amount of wastage involved
in the mechanized processing of the melon seeds oil. Also, this machine architecture consists of a separation
chamber which utilizes the air generated from a centrifugal blower in an
attempt to separate the broken shells of melon from its whitish inner cotyledon
immediately after the dehusking process. Other components of this machine
include: the feed hopper, dehusking chamber and the power unit. This melon
dehusking machine operates at the optimal dehusking speed of 1,400 rpm, feed rate of
11 kg/hr and a shelling
efficiency of about 85%. The effect of the
moisture content of melon seeds regarding the shelling performance was
considered and the result showed that a soaking time of 8 minutes and a
spreading time of 30 minutes yield good optimal dehusking process.
KEYWORDS
Agriculture, food processing, mechanization, melon, invention.
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