Development and Performance Evaluation of a Pulverizer for Plantain Flour Process Plant

Abstract

Diabetes, adjudged a risk factor for coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19), can be managed through consumption of plantain and its associated products. Plantain is usually processed into flour and other storable/value-added products due to its very short shelf-life. To process unripe plantain pulps into flour, there is a need for size reduction after drying. This paper presents the development and performance evaluation of a size reduction unit for pulverizing, sieving and conveying material to the next processing stage in a plantain flour process plant. Its model was developed using solidworks application software. After design analysis, the model was simulated to establish its suitability/adequacy for fabrication. The pulverizer was fabricated using locally available materials. Its performance evaluation gave 400kg/h throughput, 96% crushing efficiency and 96% efficiency based on the required particle size. The average particle size of flour obtained was 236μm using 500μm screen. Effect of cyclone control-valve on the pulverizer's overall efficiency was also investigated by allowing it to operate when the valve was completely closed, partially closed and fully opened. It was observed that the control-valve's positions significantly influenced the machine's performance/efficiency. It can thus be inferred that the position of cyclone control-valve has significant effect on a pulverizer's efficiency/performance. Hence, leaving control-valve fully opened during operation would help a pulverizer perform with optimum efficiency, as the pulverizer was able to convey material, efficiently in that position, to the next processing stage during performance evaluation.