COCONUT DEHUSKING MACHINE

Coconut is a cash and food crop that has the abaility to be grown even in bad weather, hence can be cultivated around all weathers and in virtually any geographical location in Nigeria. However; there are growing concerns of its judicious and profitable cultivation and post-harvest processing despite its commercial value as it can be consumed as food and its constituent parts can be used in pharmaceuticals, beverages, energy and power and a host of other products such as brooms, mats, floor mats. Prior to its use the coconut fruit is dehusked to remove its outer fiber shell. The dehusking process which conventionally involves the use of human effort using a sharp object is characterized by low output, susceptibility to injury and unhygienic nature. To mitigate these setbacks, a coconut dehusking machine was designed and fabricated using the design Methodology of reverse engineering. The machine had some components which include hopper, twin shafts with dehusking spikes, pulleys and pulley belts, bearings and a structural rame. Test and operational performance carried out on the machine showed that it was quite effective for dehusking various sizes of coconuts with a throughput capacity of 33 coconuts per hour. The efficiency of the machine was estimated as 83.3%. Effectiveness of the dehusking process was dependent on the dehusking force of the machine and the moisture content of the coconut fiber. A major advantage and achievement in this prototype was that more than one coconut could be dehusked simultaneously and the dehusked coconuts can be discharged automatically without the input of human effort.