ISSN 2360-7955
Abstract
A palm nut is the rigid core of the palm fruit. It is made up of the hard shell enclosing a seed kernel, in which the oil is contained. In view of the high utility of the kernel and its products, the demand for it in most Nigerian markets is increasing daily. In order to improve on the manual or traditional method of cracking palm kernels and to support the small- and medium-scale industries involved in palm kernel processing and fruit product-related industries, a cracker or cracking machine was designed and fabricated, and its performance was evaluated in the Agricultural Workshop of the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering, College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia, Nasarawa State. All materials were sourced locally in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, which made it affordable for the small- and medium-scale farmers involved with palm kernel processing industries. The basic features of the machine include a hopper, shaft, cracking chamber, pulleys with housing, discharge outlet, and a small diesel generator (prime mover) with a power/speed of 6 hp (4.4 kW)/2600 rpm, because of the problem of epileptic electricity power supply. The mean performance efficiency of the machine under good operating conditions was determined to be 77.70% at 2000 rpm. The cost evaluation of the research work based on the current exchange rate was N2,008,812.40 only. After the construction and assembly of the prototype cracker, the performance evaluation tests were carried out using locally available palm nuts (i.e., Dura nut species) of different sizes. The performance tests carried out on the developed cracking machine gave the performance efficiency, Ep=88.84%; cracking efficiency, Ec=84.94%; and percentage of broken kernels, Pb=14.14% at a cracking speed of 2000 rpm. The throughput capacity of the developed cracker was 100 kg/hr for all feeding rates at the same cracking speed of 2000 rpm. The machine is therefore recommended for small- and medium-scale producers; hence, government and financial institutions should make provisions for loans to farmers in order to boost the production of the palm kernel and its byproducts.
Keywords: Design, Fabrication, Palm Nut, Cracker, Performance Evaluation, Lafia, Nigeria.