Vol. 12, Issue 8 (2023)

Author(s):
Kamlesh Lal and Amol Prakash

Abstract:
The study was conducted at FMPE dept. workshop, SHUATS in May, 2022 to September, 2022, Most manually driven peanut decorticators are designed to shell peanuts for domestic consumption rather than for sale, whereas the majority of groundnut decorticators are electric powered and too expensive for small and marginal farmers to afford. The feeding unit, metering unit, and power transmission system underwent the most significant alteration. By taking into account the impact of mechanical parameters of the machine-like concave clearance, number of oscillations m^-1, and feed rate, the efficiency of shelling, the percentage of unshelled pods, and the percentage of broken kernels were analysed. In the experiment, it was found that a feed rate of 50 kghr^-1, 12 mm of concave clearance, and 40 cycles m^-1 were ideal for hand-operated peanut decorticators since they resulted in reduced percentages of broken kernels and unshelled pods as well as higher shelling efficiency. The machine's efficiency was discovered to be between 85 and 90%. After adjustments were made to the power transmission system, feeding unit, and metering unit (while maintaining the study's parameters), it was discovered that a feed rate of 60 kghr^-1 at 12 mm of concave clearance and 45 cycles m^-1 was suitable for peanut decortications in order to reduce the proportion of broken kernels and unshelled pods and increase efficiency. The effectiveness of shelling improves with feed rate, and the ideal feed rate was discovered to be 60 kghr^-1. Since the machine's efficiency grew to 95% throughout the entire test, it was determined that it functioned satisfactorily.