DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF A PROTOTYPE FOR SUNFLOWER SEEDS HULLING

Abstract

Sunflower seed oil is considered to be one of the major edible oil in the world. In Egypt sunflower became an important crop as a source of oil and protein. Attention was paid for extending the cultivated area and growing varieties of high oil content to cover a part of the deficit in the production of edible oils. Sunflower is considered multipurpose crop, but oil was largest usage. If the seed hulls are removed before processing it leads to decrease the production cost of edible oil and decrease the wax and coloring matters. So that, sunflower seeds need to be hulled and a hulling machine is needed to reduce the wax and coloring matters.The main objective of present study is to investigate the effect of some factors affecting performance of prototype for sunflower seeds hulling. In order to fulfill the aim of study, the hulling prototype was manufactured with tools to control rotating disc speed, clearance between rotating disc and fixed disc. The result showed that the best degrees of hulling efficiency obtained with the best broken kernel percentage were at 1500 r.p.m rotating disc speed, 3mm clearance, 40 cm rotating disc diameter. The highest obtained values of hulling efficiency were (70.21%) with (9.1%) broken kernel at 10% moisture content, (77.52%) with (20.1%) broken kernel at 8% moisture content and (83.99%) with (22.3%) broken kernel at 6% moisture content. The prototypes succeeded as a step forward to the complete design. Sunflower seed oil is considered to be one of the major edible oil in the world. In Egypt sunflower became an important crop as a source of oil and protein. Attention was paid for extending the cultivated area and growing varieties of high oil content to cover a part of the deficit in the production of edible oils. Sunflower is considered multipurpose crop, but oil was largest usage. If the seed hulls are removed before processing it leads to decrease the production cost of edible oil and decrease the wax and coloring matters. So that, sunflower seeds need to be hulled and a hulling machine is needed to reduce the wax and coloring matters.The main objective of present study is to investigate the effect of some factors affecting performance of prototype for sunflower seeds hulling. In order to fulfill the aim of study, the hulling prototype was manufactured with tools to control rotating disc speed, clearance between rotating disc and fixed disc. The result showed that the best degrees of hulling efficiency obtained with the best broken kernel percentage were at 1500 r.p.m rotating disc speed, 3mm clearance, 40 cm rotating disc diameter. The highest obtained values of hulling efficiency were (70.21%) with (9.1%) broken kernel at 10% moisture content, (77.52%) with (20.1%) broken kernel at 8% moisture content and (83.99%) with (22.3%) broken kernel at 6% moisture content. The prototypes succeeded as a step forward to the complete design.