Physical properties of tung seed: An industrial oil yielding crop

Abstract

Data on physical properties of seeds have significant importance for machinery and process equipments design. This study was conducted to investigate some physical properties of tung seed (Aleutites Fordii) namely, dimensions, 100 unit mass, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, aspect ratio, surface area, bulk density, true density, porosity, terminal velocity and coefficient of friction. The applications of these properties are also discussed. The tung seed has an average of 13.24% (d.b.) moisture and 40.37% oil content. The average seed length, width, thickness were 22.61mm, 20.35mm, 13.95mm, respectively. The average surface area of tung seed is 1084.20mm2 while the sphericity and aspect ratio were 0.82 and 90.07%, respectively. The average bulk density of seed was 0.502g/cm3 while the true density was 0.995g/cm3, and the corresponding porosity was 49.88%. The terminal velocity was 8.3m/s. The static coefficient of friction on three different contacting materials has been found out and the results showed that the mean value of static coefficient friction was least in case of aluminum sheet while it is highest for plywood.