Manufacture and performance test of suspended batch centrifuge for extraction of glucomannan from porang (Amorphophallus muelleri Blume)

Abstract

Porang is a potential local agricultural commodity in Indonesia for future food. This commodity contains ingredients beneficial for health, namely glucomannan, but also contains calcium oxalate, which is dangerous for the skin and kidneys. For this reason, it needs treatment to remove the oxalate content and other impurities in it. This research aims to manufacture and carry out performance tests on centrifuge equipment to remove oxalate and other impurities from porang flour. In the tubers porang glucomannan extracting process, the centrifuges machine separates the solvent (ethanol) and other impurities, such as the oxalate and starch, centrifugation principle. The type of centrifuge manufactured is the suspended batch centrifuge type, where the solids will remain in the walls of the centrifuge while the liquid solvent and other fine particles are thrown out of the centrifuge. The machine's overall dimensions are 1049 mm × 697 mm in height and width, with a designed capacity of 2 kg of porang flour per batch. The main components of the centrifuge consist of a material intake system equipped with a suction pump, a centrifuge tube equipped screen, a centrifuge housing static tube equipped slurry outlet, a drive motor, a mounting frame, and a control panel. Functional and performance tests have been carried out on centrifuges with rotation variations speeds of 500, 750, and 1000 rpm. The response parameters observed were energy consumption, machine vibration, and effectiveness of solids and slurry extraction. Data analysis for response parameters using ANOVA. Increasing centrifuge rotation in the range of 500-1000 rpm did not significantly affect extraction effectiveness (P>0.05) however, energy consumption and vibration showed significant differences (P<0.05) due to differences in centrifuge rotation speed.