Development of a yam peeling machine

Adetoro K. A.

Mechanical Engineering unit, Faculty of Engineering, Osun state Polythechnic Iree, P.M.B 301 Iree,  Osun state, Nigeria.

E-mail: ajyinka@yahoo.com

Accepted 17 July 2012

Abstract

Almost all forms of yam tuber processing required that the yam be peeled. These peeling processes face a significant problem of time consuming and inefficiency due to loss of a substantial part of the yam by manual peeling. In order to ameliorate the resulting fatigue and to reduce the amount of time consumed and at the same time improve the peeling efficiency a mechanical yam peeler was designed, fabricated and tested. The peeler consists of a drum eccentrically mounted on a shaft rotating at various speeds ranging between 20 rpm and 50 rpm. This speed of rotation was achieved by means of pulley and belt arrangement. The spins on the drum serves as the abrasive where the peeling is done. The efficiency of the machine ranges 80% and 95% depending on the speed of rotation of the drum and the size and shape of the yam tuber.

Keywords: Yam, Peeler, Designed, Evaluation.