1.1 Introduction
Peanut also called (Arachishypogaea) is a crop with fruit produced underground or below the surface (Prasad, et al, 2011). Groundnut was originated by South American. The groundnut plant can grow to height of 60 centimeter and can spread up to 100 centimeters, depending on variety and conditions. The plant is different in that it flower above ground and the once pollinated, produce it fruit below the soil surface. Usually flower are yellow in color and self-pollination occur in plants. Most of the groundnut is used in making peanut butter because of high Beaco learning center, 2003, state that peanut butter was first made in 1904 at war to hill wounded soldiers. Peanut is a snack made from groundnut which belongs to the legume family (Palatel.al, 2006), (Bins and Cheathan, 2002).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Peanut (Arachishypogaea) also known as groundnut, earthnut and ground bean is an annual legume which falls into oil seed crops. Groundnut is used in many food products because of its high nutrition density (Shahzad, et al 2011). There are different types of groundnut which are grown and these include Runaer, Spanish and Valencia. According to Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation, peanut contain high percentage of protein and low calorie product that possesses high nutritional value. It is used in developing countries as a healthy alternative to dairy. The demand for peanut butter is increasing because it is used as a substitute for milk, due to increase in cost and shortage in supply of milk. Traditional methods are failing to meet the demand for peanut butter because they are laborious and slow.
Peanut are costly due to increase in cost of processing them. As an agricultural nation, peanut is widely cultivated in Nigeria yearly, among other seedlings during planting season. Recognition of physical and mechanical properties of designing machine and optimizing performance related machinery of peanut is importance in engineering (Palatel.al, 2006), (Bins and Cheathan, 2002).
This research work is geared towards improvement in the quality of peanut butter and also the efficiency of the machine through the design of an automatic peanut butter mixing that crushes peanut into paste and automatically processes them. International (Beaco learning center, 2003) states that peanut butter was first made in 1904 at war to hill wounded soldiers. Due to high nutrition density, peanuts were crushed into paste for making stews and porridge mostly. These factors made peanut butter to become a valuable product within the world and demand of peanut butter increased world-wide. These prompted scientists to mechanize the production of peanut butter which increased the supply of peanut butter in a short period of time.
Traditional methods of shelling groundnut are done using hand with finger tips or using mortar and pestle. Whichever method is used, it is associated with drudgery, pains at the joints and blistering of fingers. The quality of kernels is mainly determined by the percentage of whole undamaged kernel. The factor among others has made the decortications of groundnut an important process that must be developed to enhance value addition and also remove human efforts and also remove human efforts and associated difficulties when using traditional method of shelling such as losses labour intensity, time consuming and low output capacity.
The output got from this method, was very low and it does not fulfill the market demand because it was very time consuming process. It was also a boring work for the worker. Traditional method of separating nuts from groundnuts by putting the peanuts in a cloth bag and rolling over it with a rolling pin; this technique did a good job of cracking the shells, but we still had to pick the peanuts out since they didn't come all the way loose. This is not a reliable method for shell a ground nut due to this crack the ground nut and nuts mixed with shell. Introduction gives knowledge that the traditional method is not a sufficient method for separating the groundnut. Due to this manual process, identify some major problem & to over-come this problem some idea or concepts generates.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to design and fabricate a Mini Groundnut and Peanut Shelling Machine.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed the major drawback of the Mini Groundnut and Peanut Shelling machine is labour intensive and consumes lots of time. Output is about 20-30 kg/hour. But the particular design of this project reduces all the causes and improves the efficiency. It consists of the hopper, crushing chamber, separation chamber, blower unit and the frame for support. The crushing chamber and blower unit is powered by electrically which save the time. The machine is also light weight and easy to operate and maintain, the spare parts are also available locally.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to design and fabricate a Mini Groundnut and Peanut Shelling Machine. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To construct a low cost groundnut and peanut shelling and separating machine.
- To ensure the cost of a machine is affordable to the farmers.
- To construct a less weight mini groundnut and peanut shelling machine.
- To design a machine that will not damage peanuts and groundnut under process in according to earn profit.
1.5 Significance of Study
This study on mini groundnut and peanut shelling machine using locally sourced materials will be very beneficial to the Mini Groundnut and Peanut Shelling Machine makers, vocational education entrepreneurship students. This Mini Groundnut and Peanut Shelling Machine is special equipment for processing peanut and groundnut surface sugar or flour wrapping products which can reach the standard export processing, has the characteristics of the smooth movement, low noise, no pollution.
This study will also be of immense benefit to farmers and researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.6 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Design and Fabrication of Mini Groundnut and Peanut Shelling Machine.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
