Design and Fabrication of a Lotus Seed Membrane Peeling Machine
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Abstract
The research was to design and fabricate a lotus seeds membrane peeling machine to minimize the time and labor requirement in the processing of OTOP products of the provinces with lotus planting areas. The prototype consists of the main frame, lotus seed membrane peeling unit, the power transmission unit, and a 0.5 hp electric motor, which was used as a prime mover. In the operation, the 0.5 kg lotus seeds and 1.5 lites of water were fed manually into feeding chute at the top of the machine to peel the lotus seed membrane in the peeling unit. After the peeling, lotus seeds were released through outlet chute at the bottom. Results of testing at the peeling speed of 1,000, 1,200 and 1,400 rpm, and testing time at 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 min, respectively indicated that the optimal performance was achieved when the machine was operated 4 min at peeling speed 1,200 rpm. The working capacity was 7.1 kg/hour, percentage of peeling was found to be 94.5% with seed damaged 2.9%, and consumed 0.66 kW-hour of energy. An engineering economic analysis showed that, at an annual usage rate of 1,440 hours, the machine cost was on average of 3.9 THB per kilogram, payback period of 3.4 years and the break-even point of the machine was 1,170 hours per year.
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