Type of Project: Device

Proposed title: Ergonomic pineapple (Ananas comosus) leaf scraper

This project is important because:

The findings in this research may help in facilitate and speed up decortication, and improve the quality

of pineapple fiber produced for textile making.

Objectives:

a. to construct a scraping machine that can speed up the process of fiber extraction from the pineapple

leaf

b. to compare the quality of the pineapple fibers produced manually and mechanically in terms of tensile

strength, smoothness, and shine

c. to compare the quality of the pineapple fibers produced with and without NaOH pre-treatment

Diagram of Proposed machine:

Include measurements with units

and type of material

Sample gathering:

The investigators will select the longest leaves that are in very good condition, i.e., those that are mature

but not yet dry, smooth with no cuts, and with no deep scratches.

Chemical reagents to be prepared:

0.5 M NaOH (sodium hydroxide) for macerating the pineapple leaves

0.01 M hydrochloric acid solution (HCl) to used for neutralizing the alkali

Fiber extraction procedure: (preferable in simple diagram)

The pineapple fibers will be macerated (softened chemically by soaking) in 0.5 M NaOH solution for

tfifteen minutes. .Afterwards the samples will be separately fed in the machine. The lever will be turned and

the leaves passed through the two blades where the waxy cuticle of the leaf will be removed by scraping. After

the waxy layer is scraped away, the leaf will be removed from the barrel and the fibers extracted by hand. The

extracted fibers will be rinsed in 0.01 M HCl solution for minutes to neutralize the effect of the NaOH.

Afterwards the fibers will be washed in running water and air dried. The dry fibers will be tested for smoothness

and shine using sensory testing and for breaking strength using a spring balance.
 Data tables to be filled up:

The smoothness and shine will be rated on a scale of one to five with five being the smoothest and the shiniest.

Table 1. Characteristics of manually scraped pineapple fiber with no treatment

Characteristics Trial

1 2 3 Average

Time (minutes)

Breaking strength (N)

Smoothness

Shine

Table 2. Characteristics of manually scraped fiber soaked in 0.5 M NaOH for 15 minutes

Characteristics Trial

1 2 3 Average

Time (minutes)

Breaking strength (N)

Smoothness

Shine

Table 4. Characteristics of mechanically scraped pineapple fiber with no treatment

Characteristics Trial

1 2 3 Average

Time (minutes)

Breaking strength (N)

Smoothness

Shine

Table 5. Characteristics of mechanically scraped fiber soaked in 0.5 M NaOH for 15 minutes

Characteristics Trial
1 2 3 Average

Time (minutes)

Breaking strength (N)

Smoothness

Shine