Performance Evaluation of a Locally Fabricated Roasted Groundnut Dehuller.

Abstract

A locally fabricated roasted groundnut dehulling machine was evaluated for performance under three different speeds of 30, 40 and 50 rpm, and three crop moisture contents of 8%, 9% and 10% using three common varieties of groundnuts (Runner, Red Valencia and Kampala). The components of the dehuller include the hopper, a specially designed dehulling chamber, sprout orchute/outlet, frame and an electric motor-driven belt-pulley drive power transmission mechanism. The test results showed that the dehuller’s operating speed and the roasted groundnut moisture content have significant effect on the mechanical damage and the dehulling efficiency. The efficiency of the dehuller decreased with increase in speed. It attained the highest efficiency of 92.1% at 9% moisture content and at an operating speed of 30 rpm, while the mechanical damage was minimal(1.86%) in the runner groundnut variety. All the materials used for fabrication were sourced locally. The dehuller has a capacity of 5.3 kg/h of roasted groundnut seeds. It is affordable, costing about four hundred and two thousand, two hundred Naira (N402,200 equivalent to US$335.17 at the rate of N1,200 to US$1) to produce, simple to operate, suitable for domestic uses and is also recommended for both small and medium scale roasted groundnut processors. The study provided useful information on the effective and efficient optimum conditions required for roasted groundnut dehulling. Further studies are suggested for further investigation by adopting the techniques used in this study for dehulling other similar crops.