Abstract:
Present work is an attempt to address the issues pertaining to cinnamon processing
technology by investigating and assessing the existing technology to understand the merits
and demerits of the adopted technologies to design and test suitable device for appropriated
mechanizations, to meet with the present market demands associated with GAP, GMP and
HACCAP etc. This is also a continuation of the research program commenced by the Dept
of Agric Engineering in 1998 under the leadership of Prof. K.D.N. Weerasinghe, by
developing an initial machine (RUWEKA-CG) to ease the rubbing process.
The study was conducted during 2002-2006 in the Dept, of Agric. Engineering, faculty of
Agriculture, University of Ruhuna with objectives to study the technical parameters of
cinnamon bush and sticks, presently adopted technologies for further mechanization.
In order to achieve the objectives seven experiments were conducted under two themes (1)
to study the traditional processing technology and technical parameters needed to introduce
technologies, and (2) to design and testing of appropriate mechanisms.
It was reveled that technical parameters of the bushes and harvested sticks were highly
varied in the same plantation even under the same management conditions. Canopy height,
productive length, number of shoots and stick yield were 343.65cm, 272.8cm, 7.67 and
2.61, respectively. As per the peelers conception mean values of convenient length for
processing wasl59cm with the lesser variation (standard deviation 17.6). Average sticks
weight and number of knots per stick were 2.1kg and 7.0 respectively.
Studies were conducted in the selected peeling sheds distributed in Matara and Galle
districts to understand the details of the processing tackts adopted by the peelers. Time
taken for individual tackts for removing knots, scraping, rubbing and peeling was
monitored as 16.11, 89.56, 54.2 and 188.38 seconds, respectively. It was evident that
highest time consumption among four steps lies on the peeling, which consumes 54.1% of
total time requirement of the whole operation except for quills making.
Efficiency of different processing steps depends on the physical characters of the sticks
(dimensions, evenness, texture and thickness of the bark, and other abnormalities), human
factors (skillness, shoulder power, gender, physical rhythm...etc) and highly varied in time
and the space.
Field survey conducted to asses the adaptability of RUWEKA-CG with 21 peelers, helped
to identify and rank the problems associated with it. Inadequacy of scale of the machine to
peel the higher diameter ranges of sticks (>4cm) and difficulties associates with initial
insertion of sticks were the major drawbacks of the device.
According to the results of the survey, 90% of the sticks coming to the peeling sheds in
Galle and Matara districts fall on the <5.lcm diameter classes. Therefore, the machine
RUWEKA-CG was scaled by 50% to rub sticks of 1 to 5.5cm range. This helps to enhance
the acceptability up to 93.85% in Galle and Matara districts.
For the design features of the new machine RUWEKA-PG, diameter of the inner and outer
cylinders were increased from70mm to85mm and 166mm to218mm. In the coil operated
spindles mechanism same coil gauge was adopted by increasing the number of turns from
10 to 15. Spindle length and displacement of the spindles was increased from 124 to 150mm
and 15mmto22.5mm respectively.
Based on the adoptability test conducted for both machines, RUWEKA-CG is
recommended to process the diameter class<4cm and RUWEKA-PG for higher diameter
class 4-5.5cm was recommended.
Introduction of a stick feeding mechanism with a polycam mechanism helped to reduce the
feeding time of sticks to the machine form 6.20S to 2.8S.
It was reveled that time consumption for manual and machine rubbing were 69.2S and
28.56 respectively.