ABSTRACT

Palm kernel which is one of the by products of palm tree is of great importance to the human race and highly sought for, because it contains oil which could be consumed directly or used as raw materials for other products. The plant is mostly found in the rainforest of Nigeria where the production of palm kernel is not the major challenge, but the production of clean and unbroken kernel (high grade) to be sold to the palm kernel merchants who buy and supply to companies. The development of modern palm kernel nut cracking machine was mode to reduce drudgery, to enhance processing capacity and to reduce processing loss. Palm kernel nut cracking occurs when nuts are loaded to rupture without crushing the embedded kernel. The aim of this research work was to assess the performance of the developed mobile palm kernel nut cracking machine. Total sample of three thousand palm kernels nut were directed into five groups of eight hundred four sub-groups of 60 palm kernel nuts. Each group of five was feed into the hopper and cracked at different shaft speeds in r/min the shaft speeds were determined with a tacheometer and it was varied on the engine by adjusting the throttle lever. In a group of five, it was replicated for four different times at the same speed. The cracking efficiency at speeds of 1650, 1850, 2125, 2230 rpm were 62.0,82.1,83.07 and 89.83 respectively. The throughput of the machine increased from as the speed of the machine increased from 1650 to 2230rpm. Also the performance efficiencies of the developed machine. It was concluded that the overall performance of this developed palm nut kernel cracking machine were effective because it feel within the efficiency range of 62- 89.83%.