ABSTRACT

Palm kernel production potentials of several countries are far from been fully exploited. At present, many countries are operating below expected capacity. The motive of the project work is based on fabrication and modification of a palm kernel cracker and separator, so as to help farmers improve the efficiency of output based on time, reduce stress and injuries they incur in the process of cracking palm kernel and separating the kernel seed from the shells manually. The major principles of operation of the machine are; rotation, impact and translator motion. The cracking chamber works with the principles of rotation and impact, rotation of the fan and impact against the cracking chamber wall, the rotating fan throws the palm kernel against the cracking chamber wall, thereby causing it to crack open. The cracked kernel gets into the separating unit, in which the cracked shell drop to the ground due to the to and fro motion of the separating mesh, thereby separating the shell from the seed. The major source of power is through a 3Hp electric motor. The major design considerations are the physical and mechanical properties of palm kernel like the size of the palm kernel (ranges from 6 mm – 26 mm), angle of repose of the kernel seed and kernel shell (which are found to be  and respectively) and the force require to crack the palm kernel (30 N). The performance of the machine was evaluated in terms of efficiency of the cracker and separator which were found to be 96% and 80.03% respectively. These were evaluated base on the number of cracked palm kernels, recovered kernel seeds and level of shell separation results. The result shows that the separation technique is viable for effective separation of the dry palm kernel and shell mixture. Thus, the performance of palm kernel cracker and separator machine is largely dependent on the physical state of the palm kernel such as size of the kernel. Effective separation of palm kernel from shell is an important downstream industrial utilization of the constituents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page                                                                                                                    i

Declaration                                                                                                                  ii

Certification                                                                                                                iii

Dedication                                                                                                                  iv

Acknowledgment                                                                                                       v

Table of Contents                                                                                                       vi

List of Plates                                                                                                               viii      

List of Figures                                                                                                             ix

Abstract                                                                                                                      x

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY                                                                   1

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS                                                                        2

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT                                                   3

1.4  SCOPE OF STUDY                                                                                            3

1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROJECT                                                               4

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 CONCEPT OF PALM KERNEL                                                                                    6

2.2       PALM NUT PROCESSING                                                                         10

2.3       PALM KERNEL NUT SEPARATION                                                        12

2.3.1    Air medium                                                                                                    12

2.3.2.   Liquid medium                                                                                              13

2.3.3.   Screening Process                                                                                          14

2.3.4    Rotary Drum Separator                                                                                   16

2.3.5    Separation by Angular Projection                                                                   16

2.3.6    Frictional Process                                                                                           18

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHOD

3.1 Consideration of Physical Characteristics of Shell and Kernel                            19

3.2 Description of the Machine and Material Selection                                             19

3.3 Modifications of the Machine                                                                              20

3.4 Components of the Machine                                                                                 21

3.5 Operating Principles of the Machine                                                                    27

3.6 Maintenance Procedure                                                                                        28

3.7 Cracking Power of the Blade                                                                               31

3.8 Power of Separating Mesh                                                                                    31

3.10 Impact Force/Speed of Cracking Unit                                                                33

3.11 Speed of the Separator                                                                                       34

3.12 Torque Acting on Shaft                                                                                      34

3.13 Painting of the Machine                                                                                      35

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

4.1 Performance Evaluation                                                                                        37

4.2 Discussion of results                                                                                             40

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Conclusions                                                                                                           41

5.2 Recommendations                                                                                                42

REFERENCES                                                                                                          43

LIST OF PLATES

Plate 1: Snapshot of Cracked Palm Kernel Shell and Fruits (Sample A)                   39

Plate 2: Snapshot of Cracked Palm Kernel Shell and Fruits (Sample B)                   39

Plate 3: Snapshot of Cracked Palm Kernel Shell and Fruits (Sample C)                   39

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 1: Indented cylinder separator                                                                              15

Fig 2: Projected Angle Cracker separator                                                                   17

Fig 3: Full machine (cracker and separator)                                                                21

Fig 4. Bearing                                                                                                             23

Fig 5: Pulley                                                                                                                24

Fig 6: Speed Reducer                                                                                                 24

Fig 7: Roller                                                                                                                25

Fig 8: Prime Mover                                                                                                     27