Energy Requirement For Size Reduction Of Palm Kernel And Groundnut Shells And Their Sieve Analysis

ABSTRACT

 Palm kernel and groundnut shells were ground using a hammer mill with three different screen sizes (5.0, 3.0, and 0.8mm). The energy required for grinding these materials was measured. An ammeter-Voltmeter set-up was used to measure the energy consumption of grinding for each test. The highest specific energy consumption was 2.72Kwht for hammer mill screen size 0.8mm at (12.8% wb) moisture content, and palm kernel shell had the least specific energy consumption (0.2Kwht') at 5.0mm hammer mill screen size and I O.6% (wb) moisture content. Physical properties of grinds such as moisture content, geometric mean particle diameter of grind particles, bulk density, and particle density were determined. Second or third-order polynomial models were developed relating bulk and particle densities of grinds to geometric mean diameter.