Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment. August, 2015; Vol. 11: 119-129 www.azojete.com.ng Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FLUTED PUMPKIN SEED DEHULLING MACHINE Odewole, M.M1*., Adesoye, O.A2., Oyeniyi, S.K3. and Isiaka, A.O4. 1(Department of Food and Bioprocess Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria 3Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria 4 Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria) *Corresponding author’s e-mail address: odewole2005@yahoo.com Abstract A machine for dehulling fluted pumpkin seed (Telfairia occidentalis) was developed. The main objective of developing the machine was to provide a better substitute to traditional methods of dehulling the seed which contains edible oil of high medicinal and nutritional values. Traditional methods are full of drudgery, slow, injury prone and would lead to low and poor outputs in terms of quantity and quality of dehulled products. The machine is made of five major parts: the feed hopper (for holding the seeds to be dehulled before getting into the dehulling chamber), dehulling chamber (the part of the machine that impacts forces on seeds thereby causing fractures and opening of seeds coats for the delivery of the oily kernels), discharge unit (exit for oily kernels and seed coats after dehulling), the frame (for structural support and stability of all parts of the machine) and electric motor (power source of the machine).The development process involved design of major components (shaft diameter (20 mm), machine velocity (7.59 m/s), power requirement (3hp single phase electric motor) and structural support of 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 3π‘šπ‘šmild steel angle iron), selection of construction materials and fabrication. ANSYS R14.5 machine design computer software was used to design the shaft and structural support; while other components were designed with conventional design method of using design equations. The machine works on the principle of centrifugal and impact forces. Performance evaluation was carried out after fabrication and 87.26%, 2.83g/s, 8.9% and 3.84%were obtained for dehulling efficiency, throughput capacity, percentage partially dehulled and percentage undehulled respectively. Keywords: fluted pumpkin seed, development, cracking efficiency, throughput capacity, working principle. 1.Introduction Fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) plant is a tropical vine grown in West Africa as a leafy vegetable and for its edible seeds. The common names for the plant are fluted gourd, fluted pumpkin, and ugu (Badifu et al., 1995). It belongs to the family Curcubitaceae and has a simple, dark green veined leaf that is18cm wide and 35cm long (Esquinas-Alcazar and Gulick, 1983). The plant has the widest diversity in terms of variation in pod and seed colour, seed and plant vigour, anthocyanin content of leaves and petioles or shoots and leaf size (IPGRI, 1999). Seeds of fluted pumpkin are enclosed inside the pods of the plant (Figure 1), Odewole et al., (2015a) reported the description of the pod and other useful information. Odewole et al., (2015b) reported that the oily kernels of fluted pumpkin seeds contain vitamin E, vitamin A, zinc and http://www.azojete.com.ng/ odewole2005@yahoo.com Odewole et al: Development and performance evaluation of fluted pumpkin seed dehulling machine. AZOJETE, 11: 119-129 120 essential fatty acid. The oil is also good for maintaining healthy blood vessels, nerves and tissues and can be used to treat prostrate and bladder problems in man. Odewole et al., (2015a) reported some mechanical properties of three varieties of fluted pumpkin seeds necessary for the design of cracking machine. (a) (b) Figure 1: Fluted pumpkin pods (a) and seeds (b) Source: Odewole et al., (2015b) Dehulling (as applicable to this type of seed)is the formation of fractures on the outer surface of seed coat through the application of force with the overall aim of recovering some needed materials after cracking. This action will cause division of materials into different components. Some of the forces that are used to achieve this action include centrifugal, impact, compression, attrition or their combinations (Odewole and Ajibade 2015). Dehulling is necessary in processing of some agricultural materials in order to be able to utilize them fully or rather to remove some unwanted material. To be able to get the oily kernels in fluted seeds and utilize its oil for other useful purposes, dehulling is one of the important postharvest operations that must be done. However, the traditional method of dehulling seeds is full of drudgery, slow, injury prone, unhygienic, and normally leads to low and poor outputs in terms of quantity and quality of product. Therefore, the objectives of this work were to develop a mechanical dehulling machine and carry out its performance evaluation in terms of dehulling efficiency, throughput capacity, percentage partially dehulled and percentage undehulled. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Design Considerations In designing the fluted pumpkin seed dehulling machine, the following factors were considered: force to dehull the seed with minimum damage to the kernel (determined to be 53.5 N by Odewole et al., 2015a), power requirement and structural stability of the machine. 2.2. Shaft Design The horizontal shaft of the machine was designed with ANSYS (2010) R14.5 version of machine design software. Figure 2 shows the free body diagram of the designed shaft. Points A and B are fixed to the frame of the machine. Point C is the force acting (6.87 N) on the shaft from the electric motor, while forces on points D (10.85N) and F( 10.00N) are due to the action of the Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment. August, 2015; Vol. 11: 119-129 www.azojete.com.ng Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. 121 roller bearings on the shaft. The force on point E (27.72 N) is the value for the three plates on thick plates of the shaft and that of seeds to be cracked. The shear force and bending moment diagrams from the ANSYS software are shown in Figure 3. The maximum shear force of 20.54 N (0.3 m of the shaft’s full length) occurred at point E. Maximum bending moment of 1.85 Nm occurred at point D (0.45 m of the shaft’s full length). After using different specifications of solid cylindrical mild steel metal, the design that gave safely carried all the specified loads was 20 mm solid cylindrical mild steel. Figure 2: Free body diagram of designed shaft Figure 3: Shear force and bending moment diagram of shaft http://www.azojete.com.ng/ Odewole et al: Development and performance evaluation of fluted pumpkin seed dehulling machine. AZOJETE, 11: 119-129 122 2.3. Pulley Design All the designs in this section were according to the procedures given in Odewole and Ajibade (2015). 𝑁1𝐷1 = 𝑁2𝐷2 (1) Assumed diameter of electric motor pulley, D1=100 mm; diameter of the dehuller’s pulley = D2; speed of electric motor (medium) N2=1450 rpm, assumed speed of the dehuller = 900 rpm; using equation (1), D2 =161.11 mm 2.4. Power Required for Operating the Machine Power = 𝑃𝑓 + π‘ƒπ‘š + 𝑃𝑝 + 𝑃𝑐(2) Where, 𝑃𝑓 =Power to overcome inertia. π‘ƒπ‘š = Power to rotate moving parts. 𝑃𝑝 =Power to convey seeds to be cracked. 𝑃𝑐 = Power to crack seeds 𝑃𝑓 = π‘Š Γ— 𝑉(3) 𝑉 = πœ‹π·2𝑁2 60 = 7.59π‘š/𝑠 where: V = Driven shaft speed. π‘Š = π‘Šπ· + π‘Šπ‘‡ + π‘Šπ‘† + π‘Šπ‘ƒ(4) Where, π‘Š =Total weight, π‘Šπ· =weight of Plates on the shaft, π‘Šπ‘‡ =weight of thread π‘Šπ‘ƒ =weight of the driven pulley, π‘Š π‘€π‘Žπ‘  π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘’π‘šπ‘’π‘‘ π‘‘π‘œ 𝑏𝑒 73.56 𝑁, 𝑃𝑓 = 558.32 π‘Š 𝑃𝑓 since the power to overcome inertia will also rotate the moving part 𝑃𝑝 = π‘Šπ‘†π‘‚π‘‡ Γ— 𝑉 (5) where: π‘Šπ‘†π‘‚π‘‡ = weight of seed on the blades, 𝑃𝑝 = 189.75 π‘Š 𝑃𝑐 = 𝑇𝐹𝐢 Γ— 𝑉(6) where:𝑇𝐹𝐢(dehulling force from UTM) = 53.5𝑁 (Odewole et al., 2015b), therefore, 𝑃𝑐 = 406.07 π‘Š Total Power = 558.32 + 558.32 + 189.75 + 406.07 = 1712.46 π‘Š Power to operate the machine = Total power assumed efficiency⁄ (7) 1712.46 0.80 = 2140.56 W = 2.141 kW = 2.82 hp A single phase electric motor of approximately 3 hp was considered safe for the machine. 2.5. Design of Structural Support (frame) The ANSYS R14.5 was also used to design the frame that will safely withstand all the loads on the machine. Figures 4 and 5 show the mesh, Static Structural Equivalent Strain, stress and deformation analyses of the frame. The nodes (points where lines met) were where strain, stress and deformation analyses were individually carried out for proper design of the frame. From the Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment. August, 2015; Vol. 11: 119-129 www.azojete.com.ng Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. 123 colour code on the scales on Figures 6,7 and 8, the maximum strain (deep green), stress (deep green) and deformation (red) that can occur on the frame were 3.26 Γ— 10βˆ’6π‘š/π‘š , 6.40 Γ— 105 𝑁 π‘š2⁄ and 6.55 m respectively. The dimension of angle iron that safely carried all loads and shocks was 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 3π‘šπ‘š mild steel. (a) (b) Figure 4: Mesh (a) and strain (b) analysis of machine tool frame (a) (b) Figure 5: Stress (a) and deformation (b) analysis of machine tool frame 2.6. Machine Fabrication Figure 6 shows the pumpkin seed dehulling machine after fabrication and assembly. Mild steel sheet was used to fabricate all the parts of the machine. For the structural support (frame), mild steel angle iron with dimension 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 3π‘šπ‘š was used all through; and mild steel sheet of thickness 3 mm was used for the hopper and the discharge unit, 5 mm mild steel was http://www.azojete.com.ng/ Odewole et al: Development and performance evaluation of fluted pumpkin seed dehulling machine. AZOJETE, 11: 119-129 124 used for the dehulling chamber. All the dimensions were marked out, cut, turned, welded and assembled according to designed specifications. Figure 6: Fabricated dehulling machine 2.7. Machine Description and Working Principle Figure 7 shows the orthographic projection of the fluted pumpkin dehuller. The machine is divided into five major parts namely: the feed hopper, dehulling chamber, discharge unit for the mixture of oily kernels and seed coats(chaffs), the frame and source of power (3 hp single phase electric motor). The hopper is conical in shape and it is on a pipe and placed on top of the dehulling chamber casing. The dehulling chamber has cylindrical cross section and consists of an internal horizontal solid shaft (20 mm) with three blades attached to it at 120ΒΊ to each other. Driven pulley which takes power needed for dehulling from the electric motor via v-belt linkage and driving pulley of the electric motor is attached to one end of the shaft. At a short distance from the driven pulley, a roller bearing around the shaft is attached to the dehulling chamber and another roller bearing close to the other end of the shaft is used to hold the shaft to the dehulling chamber. All components of the machine are rigidly attached to the structural frame of the machine made of 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 45π‘šπ‘š Γ— 3π‘šπ‘š mild steel angle iron. Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment. August, 2015; Vol. 11: 119-129 www.azojete.com.ng Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. 125 Figure 7: Orthographic projection of dehuller The machine works on the principle of centrifugal force and impact force. When the seeds get into the dehulling chamber via the hopper, they are rotated vigorously (centrifugal force action) and hit against the hard surface (impact force action) of the dehulling chamber. The two actions would lead to formation of fractures that would later cause splitting of seeds for the liberation of the needed oily kernels. After dehulling, all materials (kernels, escaped whole seeds, partially dehulled seeds, seed coats) inside the dehulling chamber are discharged via the outlet; and separation of discharged materials into various components would be done manually. It is advisable to allow the machine to run empty for about 30 s before loading it with seeds to be dehulled. This action is a safety precaution that will not cause the starting current of the electric motor to increase; failure to do so might subject the electric motor to serious damage. The part list of the machine is shown in Figure 8. http://www.azojete.com.ng/ Odewole et al: Development and performance evaluation of fluted pumpkin seed dehulling machine. AZOJETE, 11: 119-129 126 Figure 8: Exploded view of the dehuller showing working components and part list 2.8. Performance Evaluation of the Machine The performance evaluation of the fabricated machine in terms of dehulling efficiency, throughput capacity, percentage partially dehulled and percentage undehulled was carried out. Fluted pumpkin pods of 13 weeks old (minimum harvesting age) were procured at National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan, Nigeria. The pods were broken manually for the recovery of seeds needed for the dehulling operation. The seeds were cleaned and fed into the machine via the hopper. The total mass of fluted pumpkin seed loaded into the machine was 900 g. Fifteen (15) runs were carried out on the machine; for each run, 60 g of fluted pumpkin were fed into the machine and the time taken to complete the dehulling was obtained using a stop watch (NOCAM ANDROID). After dehulling, collected samples were grouped into various components (kernel, partially dehulled, shells and escaped whole seeds).The performance indices in terms of dehulling efficiency and throughput capacity are as stated and evaluated below: Dehulling efficiency (%) = π‘€πΌβˆ’(𝑀𝑃+𝑀𝐸) 𝑀𝐼 Γ— 100% (Odewole and Ajibade 2015) (8) Throughput capacity Tc(g/s) = 3.6𝑀𝐢 𝑑 (Ghafari et al.,2011) (9) π‘ƒπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘”π‘’ π‘π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘‘π‘–π‘Žπ‘™π‘™π‘¦ π‘‘π‘’β„Žπ‘’π‘™π‘™π‘’π‘‘ = 𝑀𝑃 𝑀𝐢 Γ— 100 (10) Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment. August, 2015; Vol. 11: 119-129 www.azojete.com.ng Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. 127 π‘ƒπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘”π‘’ π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘’β„Žπ‘’π‘™π‘™π‘’π‘‘ = 𝑀𝐸 𝑀𝐢 Γ— 100 (11) where: MC = Mi = mass of sample before dehulling (900 g), t = time used in dehulling (1150 s), MP is mass of partially dehulled (80.1g), ME is mass of undehulled seeds (34.60g). 3. Results and Discussion Table 1 shows the results of the machine performance evaluation and Figure 9 shows (a) the partially dehulled seeds and (b) the kernels after dehulling. From Table 1, it can be seen that out of the total mass of 900 g of fluted pumpkin seeds loaded into the machine for performance evaluation, 402.86g of kernels, 80.1 g of partially dehulled seeds, 252g of shells, 34.6 g of escaped whole seeds (undehulled) and 115.84g of waste were obtained and the total time for dehulling all the 900g fed into the machine was 1150s (19.2mins). The lowest and highest times of operations were 57s and 91s respectively. The mean values of kernel, partially dehulled seed, seed coat, undehulled seeds, wasted seeds and time of operation obtained were 26.80g, 5.34g, 16.80g, 2.31g, 7.69g and 76.67 seconds respectively. The results above means that from 60 g of whole (undehulled) seeds used per run of the performance evaluation operation, 26.80 g, 5.34 g, 16.80 g, 2.31 g, 7.69 g of kernel, partially dehulled seed, seed coat, undehulled seeds, wasted seeds would be obtained respectively at mean time dehulling time of 76.67 seconds . Table 1: Data obtained from dehulling machine performance evaluation S/N Kernel (g) Partially dehulled seed (g) Seed coat (g) Undehulled seed(g) Waste (g) Time (s) 1 32.3 6.7 14.2 - 5.9 78 2 31.4 4.9 14-3 - 8.2 87 3 24.5 2.2 17.3 2.1 10.4 86 4 25.9 5.3 16.7 - 8.5 87 5 25.7 9.6 18.2 - 11.7 57 6 25.3 1.7 19.6 6.7 3.6 77 7 26.4 3.6 15.2 7.7 6.5 75 8 28.2 11.8 13.8 4.3 3.1 66 9 22.8 1.7 16.7 - 10.1 84 10 26.3 2.8 17.0 8.1 12.2 79 11 26.2 2.3 19.3 - 12.6 89 12 24.1 7.4 19.6 - 10.1 63 13 23.5 6.2 19.1 5.7 6.8 91 14 30.6 6.7 14.7 - 6.3 67 15 29.4 7.2 16.3 - 5.4 64 Total 402.6 80.1 252 34.6 115.4 1150 Mean 26.80 5.34 16.80 2.31 7.69 76.67 The machine’s dehulling efficiency; the throughput capacity, percentage partially dehulled and percentage undehulled were evaluated to be 87.26%, 2.82 g/s 8.90% and 3.84% respectively. Alonge and Idung (2015) got 88% cracking efficiency and 916 seeds/h for bush mango seeds. Odewole and Ajibade (2015) got cracking efficiency of 96.65% and throughput capacity of http://www.azojete.com.ng/ Odewole et al: Development and performance evaluation of fluted pumpkin seed dehulling machine. AZOJETE, 11: 119-129 128 510 g/min for thevetia nut. Ologunagba, (2012) got cracking efficiency and throughput capacity of 75.11% and 426 kg/h for palm nut respectively. Oyebanji et al.,(2012) got cracking efficiency of 50.83% and 71.3% cracking efficiencies for centrifugal and impact palm nut cracker respectively. The closeness in values of performance indices in some cases could be due to the fact that some seeds have similar characteristics to fluted pumpkin seed used in this work in terms of their engineering properties; while wide difference in values could be due to method of cracking used, type and variety of seeds used, moisture contents of seeds during cracking, deficiency in design, fabrication and operation of cracking machine, and human factor in terms of lack of/inadequate technical know-how in operating properly designed and fabricated cracking machines for their intended purposes. Mohsenin, (1986) reported that the output of agricultural and processing machines depends on engineering properties of materials to be introduced into the machine. Also, results from Oyebanji et al., (2012) showed that methods of cracking in terms of principle of operation can cause differences in the outputs of machine. Furthermore, Ologunagba et al., (2010) got different values of machine performances in terms throughput capacity, separating efficiency and quality performance efficiency for palm nut and fibre separator when machine factors (tilt angle of machine) and crop factor (moisture content of palm nut) and moisture were used. (a) (b) Figure 9: (a) partially dehulled seed and (b) kernels (after dehulling) 4. Conclusions A fluted pumpkin seed dehulling machine was developed and tested. The performance indices of the machine in terms of dehulling efficiency, throughput capacity, percentage partially dehulled and percentage undehulled were estimated to be 87.26%, 2.82g/s, 8.90% and 3.84% respectively. These values obtained from the performance indices are appreciable enough. Hence, the use of the machine will eliminate the drudgery attached to the traditional method and increase the recovery of kernels from the seed for oil extraction processes. It is therefore recommended that effect of different speeds of the machine and some crop factors on the performance indices of the machine should be done. Also, winnowing unit should be incorporated into future designs. Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment. August, 2015; Vol. 11: 119-129 www.azojete.com.ng Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. 129 References Alonge, AF and Idung, M. 2015. Development of a bush mango (Irvingiagabo-nensis) nutcracker. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal: 17(2):191-199. ANSYS Incorporated 2010. User’s guide, South pointe 275 Technology Drive Canonsburg PA 15317; USA. Badifu, GI., Akpapunan, MA. and Mgbemere, VM. 1995. The fate of Beta-Carotene in processed leaves of fluted pumpkin, a popular vegetable in Nigerian diet. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition: 48: 141-147. Esquinas-Alcazar, JT. and Gulick, PJ. 1983. Genetic resources of curcubitaceae. International Board of Plant Genetic Resources, Rome, 4: 67-70. Ghafari, A, Chegini, GR., Khazaei, J. and Vahdati, K. 2011.Design, construction and performance evaluation of the walnut cracking machine. International Journal of Nuts and Related Science: 2(1): 11-16. IPGRI 1999.The biodiversity of traditional leafy vegetables. Published by IPGRI, Rome (1999) Eds. Chweya, J. A. and Eyzaguirre P.B. pp 1-18. Mohsenin, NN. 1986. Physical Properties of Plant and Animal Materials. 2nd Edition. Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, New York. Odewole, MM. and Ajibade, RO. 2015. Fabrication and performance evaluation of thevatia nut cracking cachine. Nigerian Journal of Technological Development (NJTD): 12(1): 12-17. Odewole, MM., Adesoye, OA. and Shadare, OA. 2015a. Determination of some mechanical properties of ugu seed (Telfairia occidentalis) in relation to the design of cracking machine. Science, Technology and Arts Research (STAR) Journal: 4(3):187-194. Odewole, MM., Sunmonu, MO., Obajemihi, OI. and Owolabi TE. 2015b. Extraction of oil from fluted pumpkin seed (Telfairia occidentalis) by solvent extraction method. Annals of Food Science and Technology (AFST), 16(2): 372-378. Available on: www.afst.valahia.ro Ologunagba, FO. 2012. Design and evaluation of a horizontal-shaft palm nut cracking machine. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences: 4: 80-86. Ologunagba, FO., Olutayo, A. and Ale, MO. 2010. Development of a palm nut and fibre separator. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 5(12): 10-15. Available at www.arpnjournals.com Oyebanji, JA., Oyedepo, SO. and Adekeye, T. 2012. Performance evaluation of two palm kernel nut cracker machines. Proceedings of International Conference on Clean Technology and Engineering Management (ICCEM): 211-223. http://www.azojete.com.ng/ http://www.afst.valahia.ro/ http://www.arpnjournals.com/