Design and performance of a coconut dehusker machine Md.

Akhir Hamid1 1*, Mohd Taufik Ahmad1 and Ahmad Ngalim2

Abstract A mechanized coconut dehusker, designed for industrial scale work load, was fabricated and tested. The machine relies on a 5.5 Hp petrol engine to power a hydraulic pump that drives a set of double spike rollers. By rotating in different directions, the rollers were able to grip the coconut e ocarp and split the husks and nuts. The efficiency of the machine was tested for four local coconut varieties! "alayan tall #respectively $%.5 & and '5& for ripened and matured nut() "atag #'5&() "awa #**&() and +ellow dwaft #,-&(. The machine is capable to dehusks %*./0.. nuts1hr or */2. sec1nut. The estimated cost per machine is 3"2., ....... e! "ords# coconut dehusker, efficiency, coconut varieties $ntroduction 4oconut is one of important industrial crop in the tropics. The whole tree is very valuable that can be formed into many products and usages. 5or e ample, the coconut trunk, leaf, fiber, shell and flesh can be used for building material, broom, cushion, charcoal and milk respectively. The coconut flesh is delicious and more valuable as compared to other part of the tree. 6n order to e tract the flesh from the shell, the coconut nut has to be dehusked by using hand tools such as knife, iron blade, iron spear or sharp hardwood. "anually dehusking process re7uires the operator to bring the coconut sharply down into the blade, twisting to one side, loosen the husk and detaching the fiber from the shell. This action is repeated several times until the entire fibers are removed. The work is not only hard and dangerous but re7uires considerable skill, strong wrist and arm. 8resently, no commercial mechanical dehusking has been developed. 6n the estate, their workers are paid for 3" 05... 9 5.... for manually dehusking of '.. 9 2... nut per day. :n the average, they are able to dehusk 2.. nuts per hour. Therefore, mechanical dehusking machine is necessary to replace the inefficiency, time consuming and labor problem of manually dehusking. Titmus and Hickish #2$%$( attempted to develop mechanical coconut dehusker. Their work was followed by other researchers. "A3;6 has developed a manually operated portable dehusking device ";/2 by Abdullah H. and <ulkifli A. #2$'%(. The
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Mechanization and Automation Research Center, Rice and Industrial Crops Reserch Center, MARDI, P.O.Box,12 !1, "!##$ %uala &umpur 'Correspondin( author) mda*hir+mardi.(o,.m-

device was claimed to reduce human physical effort during dehusking and only suitable for both the "alayan Tall and "awa varieties. However, the device is still e posed to high risk due to the operator is bending nearer the dehusking blades. Toh and Tan #2$',( developed an electrical/powered coconut dehusking machine. Their machine re7uires operator to fed in the coconut into a series of turning husk removals in the assembly line. =ukra #2$$5( developed a mobile semi/mechanized pneumatic dehusking machine. His machine breaks husks and the broken husks are removed from the shell by operator. The machine consists of operator seat, coconut platform, hopper, pneumatic system, blade dehusker and two wheel trailer. 6t is able to dehusk "alayan Tall and "awa varieties of 25./%5. nuts per hour. 5urther improvements of the above machines are necessary to improve their working rate, efficiency, reduce operational time, safety and functionality. Therefore, a new version of fully mechanical dehusking machine has been developed. This paper highlights the design, fabrication and performance of dehusking machine on various varieties of "alaysian coconuts. Material and method "echanical 4oconut ;ehusking "achine was designed and fabricated at >ngineering ?orkshop, "A3;6 =erdang. >ngineering ;esign 4ode of 8ractices, 8hysical 8roperties of 4oconut, technical feasibility and economical viability were considered in the design and development of the machine. The machine consists of petrol engine as a power driven, hydraulic tank, hydraulic pump, hydraulic hose, pulley, and chain, double roller with spike, pressure controller, gear and structural frame. 5igure 2a shows the 0/; schematic diagram of coconut dehusker 8late 2 and 8late % show the picture of the "anual and "echanical ;ehusking "achine, respectively. The function of the machine is to scrap the coconut skin and then splitting the husk from the nut. The machine was designed portable that can be operated at indoor or outdoor. The 5.5 h.p. petrol engine transmits power to a hydraulic pump by hydraulic transmission line. The pump operates the hydraulic motor that rotates the chain and rollers with spikes. The speeds of the rollers are controlled by a lever that can be stoped, forwarded or reversed. 8ressure gauge is installed to set up the suitable pressure gauge that can regulate the speed of the rollers. The rollers are vertically inclined and covered with mild steel mesh tunnel. The mild steel mesh tunnel is acted as a safety guard. A forcing lever to ad@ust the nut in contacted with the spikes is provided at the middle of the tunnel. ;ehusking process re7uires a coconut to be dropped from the top feeding into the tunnel with rotating rollers and then dropping down by gravity. The rotating spikes s7ueeze the husk, detach the husk from the nut and then pushing the husk at the back of the rollers. The clean nut drops into the bottom basket. The machine re7uires only one operator to feed the coconut into the machine. Hundreds of coconuts from four different varieties were tested in the mechanical coconut dehusking machine. This is to study the machine performance in terms of reliability, durability, functionality, safety, work rate, cost and efficiency. The varieties are "alayan Tall, "awa, "atag and +ellow ;warf. Their physical properties such as weight, vertical %

and horizontal circumferences were measured before the dehusking. ;uring the operation time of dehusking per nut was measured. The thickness of husk, shell and flesh were taken after the dehusking. 6n addition, after the dehusking, the nut weight, vertical and horizontal circumference were also recorded. =urveys on manual dehusking at different location were also conducted. Time taken for dehusking a nut was recorded. This is to compare between the manual and machine dehusking working rates. %esult and discussion 8hysical properties of coconuts are paramount important in the design and development of the mechanical coconut dehusker. The design of frame size, power, strength, durability, reliability, functionality and cost/effectiveness of the machine were based on physical properties of coconuts. The properties are coconut weight, horizontal and vertical circumferences, thickness of husk, shell and flesh. The physical properties of four varieties that are "alayan Tall, "atag, "awa and +ellow ;warf are shown in Table 2, %, 0 and , respectively. Table 2, %, 0 and , shows the numbers of broken coconuts found after the dehusking processes. The number of "alayan Tall, "atag, "awa and +ellow ;warf found broken of ,, ', 2$ and %', respectively. "alayan Tall and "atag have less broken nuts due to their shell being thicker and stronger as compared to "awa and +ellow ;warf. "oreover, their husks are thinner and softer thus easier to be detached from the nut. Table 1. 8hysical 8roperties of "alayan Tall 4oconuts and Their 8erformance ;uring the ;ehusking Test. ;escriptive =tatistics ?eight #kg( Bertical 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal 3adius #cm( ;ehusking Time #s( Broken After ;ehusking #no( =hell Thickness #mm( Husk Thickness Ao 55 55 55 55 55 ,155 20 55 "in ..$. 5,... 52.5. '.%. ,... / %.*. 2.5$ "a %.%. *%... -5... 2..0. 0,... / ,.,. 0.$. 0 "ean 2.0* -%.2* 5*.%% $.22 *.*' / 0.5' %.5* Barian ce ...20.,2 '..$ ..2$ %*.-% / ..0. ..0$ =td. ;eviation ..%, 0.-%.', ..,, 5.%/ ..55 ..-% =td. >rror of "ean ...0 ..,$ ..0' .....*2 / ..25 ...'

#cm( Table 2. 8hysical 8roperties of "atag 4oconuts and Their 8erformance ;uring the ;ehusking Test. ;escriptive =tatistics ?eight #kg( Bertical 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal 3adius #cm( ;ehusking Time #s( Broken After ;ehusking #no( =hell Thickness #mm( Husk Thickness #cm( Ao 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% $15% 22 5% "in 2.2. 5%... ,5... *.%. 0... / 0.0. ..... "a 2.$. -'.5. -,.5. 2..0. %-... / ,.5. 0.5' "ean 2.5, -2.5$ 5-.'% $..5 *.., / 0.', %..$ Barian ce ...% 20.*. 2%.2* ..0. %..,0 / ..25 ..,2 =td. ;eviation ..25 0.*. 0.,5 ..5, ,.5% / ..0$ ..-, =td. >rror of "ean ...% ..52 ..,' ...' ..-0 / ..2% ...$

Table 2, %, 0 and , are also shows the time taken to dehusk a single coconut. The mean working rates for dehusking of "alayan Tall, "atag, "awa and +ellow ;warf were found *.*', *..,, *.'5 and '.,. second respectively. Again, "alayan Tall and "atag took less time due to their shell are thicker and stronger as compared to "awa and +ellow ;warf. "oreover, their husks are thinner and softer that easier to be detached from the nut. Table &. 8hysical 8roperties of "awa 4oconuts and Their 8erformance ;uring the ;ehusking Test. ;escriptive =tatistics ?eight #kg( Bertical 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal Ao 5, 5, 5, 5, "in ..'5 52... ,0... -.'. "a 2.05 -$.5. 50... *%... , "ean 2.2. -0..,*.*2 '.'. Barian ce ...2 2..** -..' *-.$, =td. ;eviation ..2. 0.%' %.,* '.** =td. >rror of "ean ...2 ..,5 ..0, 2.2$

3adius #cm( ;ehusking Time#s( Broken After ;ehusking #no( =hell Thickness #mm( Husk Thickness #cm(

5, 2'15, 25%

%... / %.'. 2.52

,,... / ,.0. '...

*.'5 / 0.** %.0*

-*.,2 / ..%. ..*0

'.%2 / ..,5 ..'-

2.2% / ..22 ..2%

Table '. 8hysical 8roperties of +ellow ;warf 4oconuts and Their 8erformance ;uring the ;ehusking Test. ;escriptive =tatistics ?eight #kg( Bertical 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal 4ircumference #cm( Horizontal 3adius #cm( ;ehusking Time#s( Broken After ;ehusking #no( =hell Thickness #mm( Husk Thickness #cm( Ao 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% %'15% 20 %, "in ..5. ,2... 0$... -.%. %%... / 2.'. ..'. "a 2.*. 55... ,$.5. *.$. %%... / 0.%. 0.5. "ean ..*2 ,$.52 ,5.%. *.2$ '.,. / %.,5 %..$ Barian ce ...0 '.'% 5.$, ..25 2%.2* / ..25 ..5' =td. ;eviation ..2' %.$* %.,, ..0$ 0.,$ / ..0' ..*=td. >rror of "ean ...% ..,2 ..0, ...5 ..,' / ..22 ..25

The standard error of mean for dehusking of "alayan Tall, "atag, "awa and +ellow were found to be very small. The working rate errors are ..*2, ..-0, 2.2% and ..,' second per nut, respectively. Therefore, the confidence level of mechanical coconut dehusker performance is high that shows its good reliability and functionality. The analysis of variance between and within the coconut varieties were evaluated and tabulated in Table 5. The purpose is to estimate the population mean from sample mean for the dehusking working rate. The hypothesis set up is population mean between and within varieties are same for the working rate. Based on sample variance ratio test at ...5 significance level, there is no difference of working rate between and within varieties. Therefore, there is insufficient evident to re@ect the hypothesis that the sample mean of working rate are same. 5

Table (. Analysis of Bariance on 4oconut ;ehusking "achine in :peration #Aut sec/2( =ource of Bariation Between Barieties ?ithin Barieties Total =um of =7uare %$..$ -*%-.-, -**5.*0 ;egree of 5reedom 0 %.$ %2% "ean of =7uare 2-.00%.2' 5 4alculated ..52 5 Tabulated %.-5 8/Balue ...$*

Table -. shows the efficiency of non/broken nut during the dehusking test. "alayan Tall, "atag, "awa and +ellow ;warf were tested for 55, 5%, 5, and 5% coconuts. The broken number after dehusking were found ,, $, 2' and %', respectively. ?ith that the non/broken efficiency were calculated of $0, '0, ** and ,- &. Table ). >fficiency of Aon/Broken Aut after ;ehusking #&( Total Test #Ao( Broken #Ao( >fficiency #&( "alayan Tall 55 , $0 "atag 5% $ '0 "awa 5, 2' ** +ellow ;warf 5% %' ,-

The consumption of petrol was observed during the dehusking test. The mean fuel consumption for hydraulic pressure of 05, ,. and -. 8=6 were found ..5, , ..-2 and ..*liter per hour, respectively. Higher hydraulic pressure gives higher rotational of roller with spikes in order to dehusk the coconut more faster. However, the higher hydraulic pressure re7uires more fuel as compared the lower pressure. Hydraulic pressure of 05 8=6 was used through out the coconut dehusking tests. Table *. shows the effect of hydraulic pressure on fuel consumption during the dehusking tests. Table *. >ffect of Hydraulic 8ressure on 5uel 4onsumption #liter hr/2( =tatistics 05 8=6 ,. 8=6 -. 8=6 Ao 2% 2% 2% "in ..5% ..5$ ..*5 "a ..5..-% ..** "ean ..5, ..-2 ..*Bariance .....2 .....2 ......5 =td. deviati on ...2 ...2 ...2 =td. >rror of mean ....0 ....0 ....%

4omparison between machine and manual dehusking rate were tabulated in Table '. The mean dehusking for machine and manual were found *.*' and 0-..% second to dehusk a coconut, respectively. 6n addition, the standard error of mean for machine -

dehusking is smaller as compare to manual dehusking. The errors are ..*2 and 2.2., respectively. Therefore, manual dehusking is not reliable and consuming more time. Table +. "anual ;ehusking Bersus "achine ;ehusking for "alayan Tall 4oconut #=ec. Aut/2( ;escriptive =tatistics "achine ;ehusking "anual ;ehusking Ao 55 2. "in ,.. 0% "a 0,... ,5 "ean *.*' 0-..% Barian ce %*.-% 2%.., =td. deviation 5.%0.,* =td. >rror of mean ..*2 2.2.

The analysis of variance machine and manual dehusking of "alayan Tall 4oconuts were evaluated and tabulated in Table $. The purpose is to estimate the population variance from sample for the dehusking working rate. The hypothesis is population variance is same for the dehusking working rate. Based on sample variance ratio test at ...5 significance level, there is no difference of working rate between machine and manual dehusking. Therefore, there is insufficient evident to re@ect the hypothesis that the sample variance of working rate are same. Table ,. Bariance Test between ;ehusking and "anual for "alayan Tall "achine ;ehusking "ean Bariance :bservations ;egree of 5reedom 5 calculated 5 tabulated *.*' %*.-% 55 5, %.%$ %.'. "anual ;ehusking 0-..% 2%.., 2. $

Based on the no significance difference of sample variance for the machine and manual dehusking working rate, the test of any difference in population means were evaluated in Table 2.. By using pool variance to estimate the hypothesis that there is no difference between population mean of machine and manual dehusking working rate. Based on the evaluation at ...5 significance level, there is sufficient evidence to re@ect the hypothesis that means there is difference in the sample mean to the estimated population mean. Therefore, the working rate of machine dehusking rate is more efficient and higher working rate as compared to manual dehusking. "anual and machine dehusking takes 0-..% and *.*' second to dehusk a coconut, respectively.

Table 1-. "ean Test between ;ehusking and "anual for "alayan Tall "anual ;ehusking "ean Bariance :bservations ;egree of 5reedom t/ calculated t/ tabulated 0-..% 2%.., 2. -0 2-.%%.2. ;ehusking "achine *.*' %*.-2 55

The cost benefit analysis for the mechanical and manual coconut dehusking are tabulated in Table 22. 6t was found that the working rate for a single dehusking of machine and manual are ...50 cent nut/2 and ...5- cent nut/2, respectively. 6t is estimated that the payback period for investment of coconut dehusker machine is less than one year with capacity of dehusking of one million coconuts. The advantages of coconut dehusking machine is less dependence on labor, less dehusking time, high working rate, high efficiency, more reliable, safety to operator, cost/effective, 7uality product and profitable as compared to manual dehusking. Table 11. 4ost benefit of "echanical 4oconut ;ehusking "achine 6tem A. 4apital 4ost Analysis 4apital cost >conomic life span =crap value ?ork rate Annual usage 8etrol usage 8etrol cost Cabor cost Hydraulic oil cost 6nterest rate B. 5i ed 4ost Analysis ;epreciation 6nterest 3epair D maintenance Total 5i ed cost1hour 4. Bariable 4ost Analysis 5uel ' 3" #cost( 2.,...... * years %,...... 0.. nuts1hour %.. hours %.*, lit1hour 2.0.1lit %...1hour '...1lit *& 22,%.',%.... 5..... %.-%.-.1years 2..021hour 0.5-

Cabor Cubricant Total1hr Total operation cost 4oconut market price 8rofit cost1hour 4oconut field price #none process( Buying price coconuts Transportation cost ;. ;ehusking 4ost "anual dehusking rate "achine ;ehusking rate .onclusion

%... ...' 5.-, 25.$5 2...1nut 0..... ..,.1coconut 2%.... 5.... ...5- 4ent Aut/2 ...50 4ent Aut/2

"echanical 4oconut dehusker is necessary to replace the manual dehusking method. "echanical dehusker was found less dependent on labor re7uirement, less time consuming during the dehusking, higher working rate, higher efficiency, more reliable, more safety to operator, cost/effective, high 7uality end product and more profitable as compared to manual dehusking. 6t was found that time taken to dehusk one coconut ranges from * to ' seconds, which varies according the type of coconut variety used. The optimum efficiency of the machine was $%.5&, which was obtained using "alayan Tall coconuts while the lowest efficiency was ,-& using the +ellow ;warf coconuts. 5or the cost analysis, it was calculated that the payback period of the machine is less than one year, with a production of 2 million coconuts. The dehusking rate of the machine was ...50 sen1coconut while the manual dehusking rate was ...5- sen1coconut. 6t was shown that this machine is efficient, cost/effective, durable and reliable.The dehusker machine was also found stable, reliable, and durable less maintenance, technically feasible and economically viable. Ackno"ledgment The author would like to thank to 6r. ;r. 3izuwan Eamaruddin and all staff and individuals whom are direct or indirectly involved in the preparation of this paper. %eferences 2. Anon. "anual ;ehusking ?orking 3ate at Eelantan, 8erak, Terengganu and =elangor. %. Abdullah,H. and <ulkifli,A.#2$'%(. Alat 8engopek Eelapa "; 2. Teknologi 8ertanian. "A3;6 ,#%(! ',/2.,.

0. =ukra,A.B.#2$$5( ;esign and performance of mobile machine for dehusking coconut."A3;6 report no!2*$. ,. Titmus, 3.?. and Hickish.#2$%$(. 4oconut husking machine. F.=. 8at.2*%,/*0$. Aug.20. 5. Toh, T.=. and Tan, +.8.#2$',(. FpGs coconut dehusking machine paper presented at the conference on cocoa Dcoconut progress and outlook. Euala Cumpur.

Appendi/ 1.

2.

Spike rollers

Safety frame Handle Operation handle petrol engine Hydraulic tank

Hydraulic pump Galvanized trough Main frame

0igure 1a. 0;/=chematic ;ehusking "achine diagram of the "echanical

1late 1. "anual ;ehusking

1late 2. =ide Biew of the "achine

22

1late & 5eeding into the "achine 3emarks!

1late '. ;ehusking in :peration

2. The reference in the article #in yellow( is not listed in the reference list. 8lease insert into the reference list. Thank you. %. 8lease send us back as soon as possible but not later than *th ;ec %..$.

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