Design, development and performance evaluation of a fruit juice extraction machine

Thesis Overview

<p> INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Before the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity in the 1970s, agriculture was the mainstay and sustaining source of the Nigerian economy. The agricultural sector contributed immensely to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. The discovery of oil and the boom that resulted from the exploitation of crude oil in the 70’s inflicted a big blow on the agricultural sector as all attention was shifted to oil, leading to the neglect of this vital sector (Fasanya et al., 2013). Various programmes such as Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) of 1976 and the Green Revolution of 1979 were embarked upon to ensure that there is enough food for the ever-growing population of Nigeria. This agricultural potential was what Nigeria exploited in the pre-independence and the post-independence period prior to 1975, which gave it its leadership position internationally in the production and export of agricultural products (CBN, 2004). Well over 50 % of the country’s total export earnings came from the agricultural sector prior to the 1970s (CBN, 2004; Ndubisi et al., 2013). Furthermore, the agricultural sector accounted for about 50 % of the GDP and employed about 72 % of the labour force on average between 1960 and 1970 (CBN, 2004; Fasanya et al., 2013).<br>In developed countries like the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Great Britain etc., the productivity of the Agricultural sector is always on the increase. These achievements results from their high level of mechanization. However, mechanization has been difficult in Nigeria because of the high cost of imported machines and equipment and<br>2<br>lack of indigenously designed, developed and built technologically advanced agricultural machines (Ekerete, 2000). From the foregoing discussion, it became paramount to research, conceptualize, develop, design and produce low cost, durable and efficient machines to meet the basic needs. Such laudable developments will no doubt increase the mechanization of food production and processing in Nigeria. This will consequently lead to increase in both quantity and quality of agricultural products available locally and for export. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Fruits are seasonal and therefore are not available in sufficient quantities throughout the year because it is difficult to store them in their natural form. The major problem is the high perishing rate of fresh fruits especially in the Sub-Saharan region (Olaniyan, 2010). A study carried out on fruits indicated that the losses were up to 30 % during the rainy season (Ndubisi et al., 2013). This problem leads to scarcity as well as high cost of fresh fruits during the off-season. This has made it necessary for continuous research in ways to preservation of fruits. Extraction of the liquid content (juice) has been found to be one of the best methods for fruits preservation. Some fruit juices can take months or even years before they expire depending on how well they were preserved and packaged (Abulude et al., 2007). In many areas they are plentiful but seasonal, thus expensive. An extractor from locally available materials is therefore necessary to effectively and efficiently extract juice from various fruit at a low cost so as to encourage fruit juice consumption for a healthy life. It is also desirable for longer preservation of the fruit.<br>3<br>1.3 The Present work The present work is on the design, development and performance evaluation of a juice extractor with emphasis on high extract yield, simplicity in operation and maintenance, cost and hygiene using locally available materials. 1.4 Aim and Objectives The aim of this work is to design, develop and carry out performance evaluation of a fruit juice extraction machine. The specific objectives are to:<br>i. Carry out the design analysis of the juice extractor.<br>ii. Construct the extractor and assemble it.<br>iii. Determine the optimum operating factors for the machine (extraction speed S and feed rate F).<br>iv. Evaluate the performance of the extractor (juice yield, extraction efficiency and extraction losses).<br>v. Evaluate the production capacity of the juice extraction machine.<br>1.5 Significance of the study The dietetic value of well packaged fruit juice is far more than bottled drinks such as Pepsi, Coca-cola etc (Simmonds, 2000). If fruits juice could be substituted for this synthetic preparation, then it will prove a boom to the consumer as well as fruit farmer.<br>This project is very important in that it will encourage the commercial production of fruits and therefore help to boost the agricultural sector of the economy. It will help to beat down<br>4<br>the cost of fruit juice which can adequately serve as a substitute to bottled drinks. As a result, the consumption of fruits will increase thereby improving the health of the common man. Juice will no longer be seen as a luxury for the high class. The cost of importation of foreign extractors which tends to reduce the country’s GDP will be greatly reduced. 1.6 Justification Although successes have been recorded so far in the design and development of juices extractors, emphasis is always on such fruits that contain large quantity of liquid herein referred to as soft fruits like oranges, pineapple etc. There is the need for work to be done on the possibility of designing and developing a machine that can extract juice from both soft and hard fruits. Examples of such hard fruit are ginger, carrot, etc. This extractor is developed to assist small scale fruit farmers in the rural communities with a view to minimizing fruit spoilage. 1.7 Scope of study The scopes of this project work are:<br>i. To efficiently and effectively develop a means of extracting juice from multiple fruits with emphasis on pineapple, ginger and orange fruits.<br>ii. To design and construct the prototype of the juice extracting machine.<br>iii. To test the fabricated prototype and evaluate its performance.<br>5<br>Meanwhile, preparation of fruits prior to extraction is very paramount. The preparation of fruit may just be washing with clean water for some fruits, but others may include peeling, removal of seeds (as is the case of cashew fruit). Peeling methods include manual peeling with knife and the use of suitable peeling machines.<br>6 <br></p>