Vol. 12, Special Issue 9 (2023)

Author(s):
Mohnish Chandrakar, Viren M Victor, AK Chandraker and Ankita Dwivedi

Abstract:
In this study, a cattle dung dewatering machine was assessed for dewatering of readily available fresh cattle dung. A cattle dung dewatering machine was used to remove the moisture content of fresh cattle dung for immediate use as a fertilizer or in the production of insect repellent, diya, briquettes and pots. The cattle dung dewatering machine's performance was evaluated at SVCAET & RS, IGKV, Raipur, Chhattisgarh during year 2022-23. The main frame of the cattle dung dewatering device has a wheel, a hopper, a slotted bar cylinder, a screw press, an outlet unit, a collection tank, a power transmission system and a 5 hp electric motor. The machine's performance was assessed using three parameters, i.e., capacity, dewatering rate and efficiency of the cattle dung dewatering machine. The average moisture content of readily available fresh cattle dung was found to be 80.46%. When compared to the machine drying of fresh cattle dung, the natural sun drying process takes approximately 9 days. For the purpose of evaluating the machine's performance, a sample of fresh cattle dung of various weights was prepared. The machine's capacity ranged from 108.70 kg/h to 130.13 kg/h, with an average capacity of 121.88 kg/h. The machine's dewatering rate ranged from 89.2 kg/h to 103.05 kg/h, with an average dewatering rate of 93.61 kg/h. The machine's efficiency ranged from 35.4% to 47.5%, with an average efficiency of 42.32%. The machine was found to perform satisfactorily. The machine's operating cost was 82.39 Rs/h or 0.6759 Rs/kg. The payback period was 2.63 years and the breakeven point was 467.14 h/year.