World Journal of Engineering Research and Technology

Yekinni Adekunle*, Rabiu Taiwo, Bajela Gideon, Adigun Ismail, Saheed Rasheed, Lamidi Sheriff and Ademolu Olalekan

ABSTRACT

Melon shelling and separating/cleaning is usually done manually by hand in most part of the world. However, this method used to be time consuming and strenuous. To address such challenges, a machine for shelling the melon seeds and separating melon seeds from the chaff on a small scale was modified, developed and evaluated. The machine was constructed using locally available materials, and consists of shelling unit and separating/cleaning unit. The shelling unit was developed using impact method and consists of hopper, shelling drum, shelling vanes and shelling disc, outlet throat, chamber cover, collector, AC motor, bearing, manual operating handle, belt and pulleys. The separating/cleaning unit consists of blower fan, separator case, case cover, and base. A 1 Hp electric motor of 1400 rpm speed was se-lected to give 700 rpm speed on the drive shaft with a velocity of 5.87m/s and a torque of 10.18Nm. A blowing fan of 1950 rpm and 290mm blade diameter was selected to blow off the chaff for the seed to be discharged from outlet throat of the separating unit. Shelling effi-ciency at dry condition was 71.4% and at wet condition (moisture content of 21.4%) was 86.7%. The shelling and separating units performed satisfactorily and therefore recommended for domestic and commercial shelling of melon seeds. Adoption of this machine for shelling operations will go a long way in boosting the production of vegetable oil obtainable from melon seed for consumption.

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