DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A PALM KERNEL CRACKING MACHINE DIKEOCHA NKIRUKA OLIVE EM DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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1 DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A PALM KERNEL CRACKING MACHINE ;. BY DIKEOCHA NKIRUKA OLIVE EM DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, MINNA, NIGERIA NOVEMBER 2010

2 DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A PALM KERNEL CRACKING MACHINE '" BY DIKEOCHA NKIRUKA OLIVE ". 2006/24481EM A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (B.Eng) DEGREE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, MINNA, NIGERIA NOVEMBER 2010

3 DECLARATION I hereby declare (or affirm) that this research work, titled "Design and Fabrication of a Palm Kernel Cracking Machine" has not been presented wholly or in part for the award of any degree elsewhere. Information derived from personal communication, published and unpublished works of other persons have been duly acknowledged in this thesis. Dikeocka Nkiruka Olive ~... ~ /24481 EM Signature Date ii

4 CERTIFICATION This research project title,"design and Fabrication of a Palm Kernel Cracking Machine", carried out by "Dikeocha Nkiruka Olive" has been read and approved having met the requirement for the award of Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) Degree in Mechanical Engineering, of the Federal University of Technology, Minna. Project Supervisor..... ~ 0 1- l'l- Signature and D"Jr Head of department Signature and Date External Examiner Signature and Date iii

5 I DEDICATION This project is dedicated to God Almighty, the creator and giver of wisdom and knowledge who has been extremely wonderful and good to me and has taken me thus far in life. I am also dedicating this project to my uncle Mr. Ogbenna Ndubueze who helped me through my project, financially and otherwise, may Almighty God meet his every needs. iv

6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.. My profound gratitude goes to the Almighty God, the creator of the universe, for his love, provision and protection through the period of my study. I am greatly indebted to my beloved supervisor, Engr. Onuoha, for his endless support and assistance during the course of this work. My sincere appreciation goes to the Dean of Engineering, Professor Abolarin, Head of Department, Professor R. Khan, my Level Adviser, Dr. Ogwuoke Ikechukwu Celestine, and all the lecturers and staffs of Mechanical Engineering Department for the effective training given to me right from the start of my study. Special thanks goes to my one in a zillion, loving parents, Mr and Mrs Joseph Dikeocha, and my beloved younger,sister, Dikeocha Esther and loving elder brothers, Augustus and '. Richard Dikeocha for their countless support in every areas of my life. They are the best ever. Lastly, I cannot but acknowledge my course mates, friends and those that have made great impacts in my life, and have been there through thick and thin, Sofuwa Olasunkanmi, Adeyole Mobolaji, Miss Lami Ahmed, Mr Yakubu Ahmed, Ibrahim Idowu, Sokodam Pankshin,Oladeji Ajuwon, Ubi Pascal and others too numerous too much but never forgotten. May God bless them abundantly. v

7 ABSTRACT This work entails the construction of a better model of palm kernel cracking machine. Studying the existing crackers and their limitations as stated in the literature review it was observed that the existing crackers have so many setbacks, some of the crackers cannot crack all the varieties of palm kernel nut at the same time (the crackers are selective), this could be due to their various shapes and sizes but this new machine can effectively crack varieties of kernel nut no matter the sizes or shapes. The palm kernel cracking machine is power driven and it is constructed so as to increase efficiency of cracking the nuts, reduce accidents during operation and minimize the expending of time during the process. From the design, it was concluded that this project would considerably improve the productivity of palm kernel nut cracking not only in Nigeria but also in other countries where palm kernel nuts are being produced. It has an efficiency of 75.5 %. vi

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER PAGE TITLE PAGE DECLARATION CERTIFICATION DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES 11 III IV v VI VlI XlI Xlll CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1.2 ORIGIN OF THE OIL PALM 1.3 PROCESSING OF PALM KERNEL Traditional Method of Palm Kernel Extraction Harvesting Technique and Handling Effects Bunch Reception Threshing (Removal of Fruit from the Bunches) Sterilization of Bunches Digestion of the Fruit 9 ' vii

9 1.3.7 Pressing (Extracting the Palm Oil) Batch Presses 14 l Continuous System 15 l.3.8 Nut/Fibre Recovery 16 l.3.9 Nut Drying NUT CRACKING Kernel Separation Kernel Storage USES OF PALM KERNELS 17 l.6 RESEARCH PROBLEM JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 20 CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 TRADITIONAL METHODS 21 2.l.1 Stone Arrangement Method 21' Mortar and Pestle Method MODERN METHODS Manual Nut Cracking Machine Hammer Mill Method Air Operated Nut Cracker 24

10 2.2.4 The Rotary Decorticator Semi- Rotary Decorticator Roller Cracker 25 CHAPTER THREE 3.0 MATERIALS AND METHOD DESCRIPTION OF THE MACHINE 27, The Hopper Cracking Chamber Shaft Bearing Bearing Housing Pulley The Belt The Cracking Mechanism DESIGN CONSIDERATION DESIGN ANALYSIS Power Transmission and Shaft Design Analysis Selection of Belt ~nsion 33' Bearing Selection Analysis Shaft Design Analysis Key Design Analysis Design of a Rectangular Key DESIGN CALCULATIONS 42 ix

11 3.4.1 Determination of the Velocity at which The Nut Enters The Cracking Mechanism Determination of the Velocity of the Palm Kernel Nut Determination of the Cracking Force, F Determination of Speed of Shaft Determination of the Power Transmitted by the Shaft to the Cracking Mechanism Determination of Power Loss due to Friction Determination of the Efficiency of Drive Determination of the Torque Transmitted by the Drive Determination of Centrifugal Velocity due to Belt Determination of Centrifugal Force due to Belt Determination of Centre Distance Between Pulleys Determination of the Effect of Belt Tensions Determination of Shaft Reactions Determination of Shaft Shearing Forces Determination of Shaft Bending Moment Determination of the Torsional Shear Stress of Key Determination of the Angle of Twist of Shaft Determination of the Number of Belts Determination of the Dynamic Load Rating for the Bearing MATERIAL SELECTION COST ANALYSIS 55 x

12 CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 FABRICATION AND TESTING 4.1 FABRICATION Marking Out Cutting Welding Grinding Surface Finishing Painting 4.2 MOISTURE CONTENT DETERMINATION 4.3 TESTING 4.4 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS , CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 CONCLUSION 5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS REFERENCES APPENDICES APPENDIX I: APPENDIX II: Truncated Square Base Pyramid of Hopper Table 1: Dimensions for the Standard V -Grooved Pulley Table 2: Life of Bearings for Various Types of Machines 66 Table 4: Recommended values for Kb and K t 67 Table 5: Keys Dimensions Based on the Required Diameter xi

13 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Structure of a fresh palm fruit Figure 1.2: Fresh palm kernel fruit (bunch) 2 Figure 1.3: Section of a fresh palm kernel fruit 3 Figure 1.4: Whole palm kernel expeller (CAMEMEC, Benin) ' 7 Figure 1.5: Palm kernel expeller (O.P.C., Cameroon) 7 Figure 1.6: Palm oil processing unit operations 9 Figure 3.1: Schematic diagram of palm kernel cracking machine 31 Figure 3.2: Belt cross-section 35 Figure 3.3: Belt Diagram 35 Figure 3.4: Loading of Shaft 47 Figure 3.5: Loading of Shaft 48 Figure 3.6: Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams 51 xii

14 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Material, Quantity and Total Cost 55 Table 4.1: Results from the Test Carried Out 59 xiii