Development of a Delonix regia decorticating machine

Abstract

Delonix regia has good potential for medicinal, nutritional, and energy applications. However, the manual process of decorticating Delonix regia is labor-intensive, slow, and tedious. Mechanization of the decorticating process would be of value to its utilization for medicinal, food, feed, or fuel purposes. In this study, preliminary compressive strength tests were carried out on the D. regia pods to determine the force required to fracture the pods. Subsequently, a machine capable of separating the D. regia seeds from the pods was designed based on impact of beaters on pods. A prototype of the developed machine was evaluated to determine its performance in terms of decorticating efficiency, whole seed recovery, feed rate, and throughput. The compressive tests showed that a force of 602 N was required to fracture the D. regia pods in transverse orientation. The decorticating efficiency of the designed machine, which had a power rating of 6 kW, was 100.0%, and the whole seed recovery was estimated to be 98.4%. The throughput of the machine was 56.4 kg/h. The developed decorticating machine allows enhanced potential for medicinal and nutritional application of D. regia.