DEVELOPMENT OF A ROTARY PULVERIZER FOR CASSAVA CAKE IN GARI PRODUCTION

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of a raffia sieve for pulverizing and sifting cassava cake during gari processing is slow, unhygienic and hazardous. A rotary brush and screen mechanism was developed for the pulverization of cassava cake with a view to eliminate the above‐mentioned limitations of the existing methods. Machine performance was measured by comparing the product from the raffia sieve with that from a rotary sifter. The 5‐mm screen aperture gave a gari of about the same bulk density with that of the raffia sieve. Although the throughput of the rotary sifter using a 5‐mm sieve (227.71 kg/h) was lower than that of a 7‐mm sieve (350 kg/h), the uniformity coefficient of 1.72 using the 5‐mm sieve compared favorably with that of the raffia sieve. The pulverizing efficiency was higher (81.2%), with the 5‐mm sieve than with the 7‐mm sieve. The higher pulverizing efficiency of the machine reduces the drudgery associated with the pulverization of pressed cassava cake and improves productivity.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThis research reduces the drudgery and hazard associated with the pulverization and sifting of cassava cake during gari processing in rural West Africa, where the bulk of the world's gari is being processed manually.