Design and Development of an Integrated Plantain Processing Machine

An integrated plantain processing machine has been designed and developed. The method of the design includes system design calculations, application of computer aided drawing (CAD), and fabrication using engineering tools and materials. Units like the frame is composed of mild steel material which provides support to the machine. The design was incorporated with temperature regulator or thermostat connected to the heating coil, which is set to regulate the temperature in the drying chamber. The performance evaluation was carried out by examining the out-turn of the moisture content of the plantain, rotor speed, and the drying temperature, on the machine drying chamber. The production efficiency of the machine was found to be 84.44%. In addition to drying and milling of plantain, the machine can also be adjusted to dry and pulverize other agricultural products such as; banana, yam, and other tubers among others as long as it can be sliced. Based on the results of the test obtained, the machine proved to be a better design, which the drying time of plantain can be varied from 28mins-1hr achieving several masses of plantain flour, unlike the conventional method of sun drying which takes far longer drying time. Moreover, it was observed that the time of drying is inversely proportional to the temperature, this means that the higher the temperature the faster the plantain dries. Also, the time of milling the dried plantain chips was about 5.8minutes for a total mass of 12 kg input. The integrated system has a throughput capacity of 37.75Kg/hr with total energy consumption of 0.00586KJ/Kg and was powered by a 3.7kw electric motor running at a speed of 1182 revolutions per minutes (rpm).