Design consideration of the semi-automated coconut de-husking machine

Abstract

The process of de-husking which is the most important phase in coconut processing has faced a crisis in Sri Lankan coconut industry due to the scarcity of skilled labor and the complexity in manual de-husking. In an effort to mitigate these issues, this research aims at finding the most suitable design consideration to fabricate an efficient and a semi-automated coconut de-husking machine which will assure the safety while maximizing the rate of productivity. Machine will be designed with two rollers rotating in opposite directions having number of rectangular steel bars connected to the circumference of the rollers in axial direction and top of these two rollers there is a rotating flat rubber belt to press and hold the nut while in the de-husking process. Based on the calculations, required force to separate one part of the husk from the nut was 700 N. The expected capacity of the machine is 1200±50 nuts per hour with 2% of nut breakage.