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Browsing Undergraduate by Author "Asir B. Calmada, Jr."

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    Design, fabrication and evaluation of a mechanical sheller for pilinut (Canarium ovatum Engl.)
    (2019) Asir B. Calmada, Jr.
    Pilinut has been a major economic player of the Bicol Region where it is endemic and abundantly grown. The economic value of this particular crop is increasingly felt by the industry that makes it worthy to be called the "flagship commodity of the Bicol Region". While there are efforts to mechanize the process of extracting the kernel from its shell, the industry has preference for the traditional way of using the bolo, combined by the years of expertise of the locals in cracking the nut, to obtain the kernel. The industry still relies on this method, which is known as the horizontal impact shelling, that offer less damage to the kernel. Recent studies showed that whole kernel recovery can be further improved when force is applied along the apical ends of the nut. This principle is known as the longitudinal compression. This study was conducted to design, fabricate and evaluate the performance of a mechanical sheller that employs longitudinal shelling method, oriented vertically, to improve the recovery of whole kernels. The fabricated sheller was composed of six major parts; namely: holding unit, cracking chamber, cracking press, motor, collecting unit and the frame and housing. it was fabricated locally with the following dimension: 550mm in length, 530mm in width and 430mm in height. It employed 5-ton capacity hydraulic jack to provide sufficient force for the longitudinal compression. Cracking chambers were fitted with duty silicone to hold the nuts firmly and reduce nut slippage ducring cracking operations. The chamber assembly was manually driven by a ratchet-type lever. An induction type motor rated with 1.5kW (2-hp) power was controlled by a variable frequency drive (VFD). The motor speed can be set digitally with the aid of the VFD. The evaluation of the performance of the machine considered two factors: size of the nut, which was limited to medium and large sizes, and motor speeds of 120, 150 and 180 rpm. Results of the tests revealed a mean whole kernel recovery of 94.82%, mean shelling capacity of 0.53kg/hr,, mean shelling efficiency of 54.44%, and mean power consumption of 0.12kW/hr. Response optimization was conducted using the Design of Experiment (DoE) where it was confirmed that the optimum performance of the sheller was obtained at the treatment combination of large-sized nuts and motor speed of 180rpm. At this operating condition, the machine delivered 100% whole kernel recovery, 0.59kg/hr shelling capacity, 61.67% shelling efficiency and 0.10kW/hr power consumption. The pilinut sheller was also determined to be feasible, with an investment requirement of about Php55,000, break even volume of 560kg/yr, and payback period of 3.1 years. however, further study was still recommended to improve the performance of the mechanical pilinut sheller to help the pilinut and the economy, in general.