Design Concepts towards Cocoa Winnowing Mechanization for Nibs Production in Manufacturing Industries

Abstract

Cocoa beans processing for human consumption is growing into different products from time to time. Demand for it’s processing equipment is also at increase and costly to purchase. One of the processing workstations that needs urgent attention is the winnowing section, where the shell (seed coat) is removed from the cocoa beans and retains the broken cotyledons(Nibs). The mechanization of this process is capital intensive and all cocoa processing industries in Nigeria have no local substitute that can render same service at lower cost. Hence, the design of a winnower that can be produced locally at low cost and capable of producinghigh qualityproducts. The required components were identified, each of these components was designed and the designed values were used for the proposed machine drawings. The production cost was estimated, each machine component/unitmaterial required for their production were suggested for the proposed machine development in this design concept. The mechanical system was designed to have: centrifugal force of 4.8 N, motor power rating of 1.5 kW, speed of 500 rpm and process capacity of 2 tonnes per hour.It’s total estimated production cost is ₦470,000 which is equivalent to US$2904.32 at the current exchange rate of ₦162/$.