Effect of Varied Pulleys on A Centrifugal Palm Kernel Cracker
Oladebeye, Dayo Hephzibah1, Adefidipe, Ebenezer Rotimi2, Abodunrin, David Olumuyiwa3, Maliki, Omeiza Bayode4

1Oladebeye Dayo Hephzibah, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.
2Adefidipe Ebenezer Rotimi, Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for Engineering Innovation, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.
3Abodunrin David Olumuyiwa, Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, College of Technology, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere Ekiti. Nigeria.
4Maliki Omeiza Bayode, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.
Manuscript received on 20 December 2022 | Revised Manuscript received on 01 July 2023 | Manuscript Accepted on 15 July 2023 | Manuscript published on 30 July 2023 | PP: 34-38 | Volume-12 Issue-8, July 2023 | Retrieval Number: 100.1/ijitee.B93990112223 | DOI: 10.35940/ijitee.B9399.0712823

Open Access | Editorial and Publishing Policies | Cite | Zenodo | Indexing and Abstracting
© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: This paper is based on the performance evaluation of centrifugal palm kernel cracker for small, medium and large scale firms that deals with the cracking of palm kernel nut to meet market requirement. The cracking machine has hopper, the cracking chamber which incorporates the shaft and flange, the outlet, electric motor, belt and pulleys. The performance of the machine was evaluated by considering the cracking time and the shaft speed. The machine was modified by introducing four pulleys with diameters of 200mm, 250mm, 300mm, and 350mm, which produced rotor speeds of 936rpm, 749rpm, 624rpm and 535rpm respectively. The rotor speeds were then used to test the designed machine and its efficiency were evaluated. The machine has cracking chamber, which flap the palm kernel nuts on the stationary hard surface. The designed machine was operated by 15hp electric motor. The result showed that the cracking efficiency was highest at 936rpm with efficiency of 53% for a time taken of 38sec to crack effectively.
Keywords: Cracking Chamber, Cracking Time, Shaft Speed, Cracking Efficiency, Rotor Speed.
Scope of the Article: Mechanical Engineering