Performance
evaluation of a modified cassava chipping
machine
Adewumi1*,
B. A., Adegbulugbe2, T. and Balogun1, E. A.
1. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of
Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
2.
Federal College of Agriculture, IAR&T,
Moore Plantation, Ibadan, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
A modified
cassava-chipping machine, which requires a maximum torsional moment
of 41.96 Nm, shaft diameter and length of 30 mm and 620 mm, chipping
disc thickness of 6 mm and 2 kW to operate, was produced. It was
tested with an electric motor at speeds of 300, 411 and 514 rpm. The
three axial dimensions (length, thickness and width) of the chips
produced were measured for the selected speeds. The skewness and
kurtosis of the axial dimensions were determined in order to assess
the normality of the distribution of the dimensions of the chips.
Analysis of variance at 95% level of confidence showed a significant
difference in the length of the chips with a speed of 514 rpm
producing the longest chips of a mean length of 33.90 mm. While
there was no significant difference in the width of the chips at
speed of 300 and 514 rpm, a speed of 411rpm showed a significant
difference producing wider chips with mean width of 17.44 mm. The
machine had a maximum capacity of 148 kg/hr at 514 rpm and maximum
chipping efficiency of 91.26% at a speed of 300 rpm. However, for
optimum performance, a speed of 411 rpm with chipping efficiency of
89.88% and chipping capacity of 112.08% is recommended.
Key words:
Cassava, Chip,
Efficiency, Through put
