Design, fabrication and evaluation for food waste pulper
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Date
2024
Authors
Rica Ann E. Marin and Cyrys Gaile V. Peralta
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Abstract
Food waste constitutes half of the Philippines' total waste, potentially causing environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, flooding and health problems if not managed properly. This research aimed to design, fabricate and evaluate a food waste pulper suitable for processing food waste in densely populated areas. The machine mechanically break down food waste with water into fine particles, creating a slurry. It includes a hopper, a chamber housing the pulping plate, a perforated cylinder, blades and a frame predominantly fabricated from stainless steel for its non-corrosive properties. The machine is capable of processing up to 184 kg of food waste per hour. To assess the machine's performance, three shaft speeds-735, 1422 and 1850 rpm-were tested in a completely randomized design layout. Data were collected and analyzed using analysis of variance at a 5% significance level. In terms of pulping efficiency, operating the food waste pulper at 1850 rpm demonstrated significantly higher performance, achieving a mean efficiency of 99.93, compared to 99.55% and 98.87% at 1422 rpm and 735 rpm, respectively. This indicates that higher shaft speeds improve the efficiency of food waste pulping. By demonstrating its ability to effectively manage food waste, this study confirms the pulper's potential for broader practical application in densely populated areas.