Design and Optimisation of Shea Butter Mixer

A shea butter mixer was designed, fabricated and tested.  The machine mixed milled shea paste with water and extract shea butter oil from the paste. Its major component parts included mixing blade, mixing tank, gear system, diesel engine and burner.  The machine capacity was 56 kg per hour. The results of testing of the machine revealed that the yield of oil ranged between 26.52 % and 39.43 %. The highest oil yield of 39.43 % was obtained from interaction between container diameter of 50 cm, blade type 5 numbers and speed of 110 rpm, while the least oil yield of 26.52 % was obtained from interaction between container diameter of 33.2 cm, blade type of 3 numbers and speed of 110 rpm. The blade type, container diameter and speed of mixing were found to have significant effects on yield of the shea butter. The development of this mixer would have a positive economic impact on the local processors. The mixer would improve oil extraction and increase the product throughput for the local investors Keywords: shea butter, mixer, blade, yiel

Comparative study on cane cutter / juice expeller and roller model Sugarcane juice extraction systems

Abstract Two types of cane juice extraction systems have been developed through research efforts to extract sugarcane juice in the small scale sugar processing technology in Nigeria. The first type of juice extraction system that was developed is the roller model where whole sugar cane stalks of 3 to 4 are fed into rotating rollers to extract juice from the canes. The two juice extraction systems were roller cane crusher and cane cutter/juice expeller. About 1000 kg of approximated quantities of sugar cane samples in three replications were crushed to extract the juice in each juice extraction system. The brix of the juice and quantity collected were recorded and weighed for each sample. The baggasse were subjected to sun and oven drying in order to expel the remaining moisture. The weight of moisture left in the baggasse, juice extraction efficiencies and machine capacities were computed in order to determine the process parameters. Results indicated that the cane juice cutter and expeller system which is the new model performed better than the roller cane juice extractor as the new model recorded higher average juice extraction efficiency of about 98% with corresponding higher sugar recovery of about 9% which are comparable with results obtained by the 3-4 sets of multiple roller juice extraction system usually adopted in crushing sugarcane in large scale sugar manufacturing factories. The extraction efficiency of the roller model juice extractor was found to vary from 55-65%. Also, unlike the low baggasse temperature of about 28 0 C obtained with the roller juice extraction system, the baggasse temperature of the cane cutter juice expeller immediately after juice extraction recorded over 65 0 C, therefore was utilized as source of heat energy for the open pan boilers without additional energy requirement for drying

Influence of storage conditions and packaging materials on some quality attributes of water yam flour

The study investigated some quality attributes of water yam flour stored in three packaging materials [high and low density polyethylene and plastic container] under different storage conditions [relative humidity (36%, 56%, 75% and 96%), temperature (25±2, 35±2 and 45±2 °C)] for 24 weeks. The functional properties, proximate composition and microbial load of the samples were evaluated at 4 weeks interval. Significant differences (p<0.01) were observed for proximate composition, functional properties and microbial load of the samples during storage. The interactive effect of storage conditions and packaging materials was significant (p<0.01) on proximate composition and pasting properties (except trough viscosity). The yam flour samples were still shelf stable after the 24 weeks of storage

Wpływ glicerolu i średnicy otworów w płycie sitowej na wydajność miksera ślimakowego do nanokompozytów

A breaker plate of a screw mixer is an efficient mixing device for use in homogenizing nanocomposites. This research was undertaken to investigate the effects of glycerol and diameter of holes in a breaker plate on performance of a screw mixer for nanocomposites. Samples of the nanocomposites were formulated by blending 1000 g cassava starch, 45-55% glycerol and 2% magnetite nanoparticles; and used to evaluate the performance of a locally developed screw mixer at 5 mm and 7 mm diameters of holes in its breaker plate. The effects of glycerol and diameter of holes in the breaker plate on mixing index, amount of unmixed nanocomposites and output/ 1000g were evaluated as performance indices for 1 hour. Empirical models were determined for predicting the performance of the mixer within the designed criteria. The results showed that the output/ 1000g and the mixing index increased with higher glycerol and diameter of holes in the breaker plate. However, the amount of unmixed nanocomposites decreases with a higher diameter of holes in the breaker plate (p<0.05). The maximum output/ 1000g and mixing index lies between 5 mm diameter of holes in the breaker plate and 55% glycerol concentration with an approximate desirability of 0.60. The empirical models developed were fit (R2 =0.89, p<0.05) and there were no significant differences between actual and predicted values. The results suggest application of 5 mm diameter of holes in the breaker plate for homogenizing nanocomposites for optimum performance.Płyta sitowa mieszalnika ślimakowego jest skutecznym narzędziem mieszalniczym stosowanym do homogenizacji nanokompozytów. Prace badawcze podjęto w celu zbadania wpływu glicerolu i średnicy otworów w płycie sitowej na wydajność mieszalnika nanokompozytów. Próbki nanokompozytów powstały przez połączenie 1000 g skrobi z manioka, 45-55% glicerolu i 2% nanocząsteczek magnetytu. Zastosowano je do oceny wydajności mieszalnika przy średnicy otworów w płycie sitowej wynoszącej 5 i 7 mm. Wpływ glicerolu i średnicy otworów w płycie sitowej na wskaźnik mieszania, ilość niezmieszanych nanokompozytów i wynik/ 1000 g oceniono jako wskaźnik wydajności dla 1 godziny. Określono modele empiryczne w celu przewidzenia wydajności mieszalnika w ramach określonych kryteriów. Wyniki pokazują, że wydajność/1000 g i wskaźnik mieszania zwiększyły się razem ze wzrostem glicerolu i średnicy otworów w płycie sitowej (p<0.05). Maksymalna wydajność/ 1000 g i wskaźnik mieszania znajdują się pomiędzy średnicą otworów wynoszącą 5 mm a 55% stężenia glicerolu przy zbliżonej pożądanej wartości wynoszącej 0.60. Przygotowane modele empiryczne były odpowiednie (R2 =0.89, p<0.05), nie odnotowano żadnych istotnych różnic pomiędzy istniejącymi a przewidywanymi wartościami. Wyniki sugerują zastosowanie otworów o średnicy 5 mm do homogenizacji nanokompozytów i osiągnięcia optymalnej wydajności

Academic Research International INFLUENCE OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON THE YIELD OF MECHANICALLY EXPRESSED NEEM SEED KERNEL OIL

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EFFECT OF MICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR ON ASCORBIC ACID CONTENTS OF STORED TOMATO IN PASSIVE EVAPORATIVE COOLING STRUCTURES

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