Design, Fabrication and testing an electrical groundnut roaster

Nabugawa Lena, BU/UG/2015/14

E-mail: lenapriscilla883@gmail.com
Tel: +256750112953/+25782350448
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Busitema University
Supervisor: Mr Kilama George

ABSTRACT
Ground nut roasting is one of the most important stages in groundnut processing .It is a process
of pyrolysis (time temperature dependent) which, by increasing the temperature of the groundnuts
from room temperature to 150oC and above, brings about marked physical and chemical changes
in the groundnuts that improve the quality of the groundnuts.

The purpose of this project proposal was to design and construct an electrical groundnut roaster
machine for helping groundnut farmers improve on the quality of their products which would yield
high market prices hence improving their economic wellbeing and this was achieved by roasting
under controlled time and temperature conditions in order to reduce loss of desired aromas to the
environment and attain uniform roasting of the groundnuts.

The design of the various machine parts was carried out by analyzing forces acting on them. Force
analysis led to selection of proper materials to withstand the forces to avoid failure. Stainless steels
of various grades were the main materials recommended to be used because they are food grade,
strong and durable. Engineering drawings of the various components were drawn before the
various components were constructed and then machine parts fabricated. A fully functional
prototype resulted after all the above operations. Testing of the prototype was carried out and the
figures revealed that the machine was 72.7% efficient. The groundnut roaster has a total cost of
1,605,000 UGX which includes all the taxes, cost of material, machinery and hired labor to
construct the machine plus overhead costs. The cost evaluation analysis of the project was based
on the payback period method, the project was evaluated to breakeven in 1.23 years and on net
present value method with NPV of 1,000,739 UGX over a period of five years.
 ted beauty. They are a major source of
1.1BACK GROUND proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates and fats
Groundnuts (Arachis hypogea L.) , are an since they contain about 40-50%fat, 20-50 %
ancient crop that originated from south protein ,10-20% carbohydrates depending on
America (southern Bolivia) where it was the variety(Okello, Biruma, & Deom, 2010).
cultivated as early as 1000 BC. Cultivated as
Uganda produced 140.000 metric tons in
early as 1000 B.C. This crop was spread to
2005 from 250.000 hectares of land with
Africa, Asia, Europe, and other places in the
most of the crop being grown in the northern
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
and eastern part of Uganda (Okello D.K.,
Global peanut production in 2014-2015 was Biruma M. 2010)
39.98 million tons, which was slightly
About two thirds of world production is
less than the record crop for 2013-2014 year
crushed for oil, which makes it an important
of 40.16 million tons (USDA, 2015). With
oilseed crop. The oil is used primarily for
china, India and the united states being the
cooking, manufacture of margarine,
leading producers(Crop, 2001). They account
shortening and soaps. Seeds are consumed
for 70% of the world's production. China
directly either raw or roasted, chopped in
produces about 17 million tones and India
confectioneries, or ground into peanut butter.
producing about 9.5 million tones (USDA
Young pods may be consumed as a vegetable,
2015). Today, it is grown in areas between 40
while young leaves and tips are utilized as a
degrees South and 40 degrees north of the
cooked green vegetable. Scorched seeds may
equator, where average rainfall is 500 to 1200
serve as a coffee substitute.
mm and mean daily temperatures are higher
(“INTRODUCTION Groundnut (” 2001).
than 20 degrees. (Crop 2001)
Groundnut roasting is carried out at
Ground nuts are the second most important
temperatures above 150 °C in order to
legume in Uganda after beans. It’s mostly
produce the required flavors and to start the
grown in the Northern and Eastern Uganda.
browning chemical reactions. Roasting of
(Okello et al. 2012). The ground nut varieties
groundnuts can be categorized into dry
are the red Valencia type but of a very mixed
roasting and oil roasting.in dry roasting, heat
nature ranging from large seeded manyema
is transferred by hot air while in oil roasting,
group e.g. Roxo to small seeded group e.g.
and heat is transferred by the hot oil.
(Davidson, et al., 1999)

The degree of roast is also measured by the

changes in the color of the groundnuts
because it is fast, easy, and non-destructive
method. (Marzocco et al., 2000).

The flavor produced after roasting

groundnuts make them a very suitable food.
Proper roasting of groundnuts therefore is
good for the texture and flavor development
and nutritional content of the groundnut
kernels. Roasting also reduces the moisture
content of the groundnuts to about 0.14% to
1.7% and modifies the internal
microstructure to create a crispy and crunchy
texture. This structure reduces the level of
aflatoxins produced by the fungus in the
groundnut kernels. (Chikelu et al. 2015

2.0 Materials and Methods
2.1 Description and mode of operation of
the machine.
The roaster machine consisted of the frame,
housing, feeding hopper, roasting unit, one
were then be removed and then taken to be
evaluated for the degree of roast in
laboratories and low groundnuts damage.
2.2 Design Consideration & Parameter

motor (a single-phase motor), cooling bin, a 2.2.1Design Consideration

vibrator motor and a fan. • Material strength

After the groundnuts were graded using the • Availability of materials

screen size for sizes and electric eye sorters
• Cost of the materials
for the color, they were poured in the feeding
hopper that fed them into the roasting • Ergonomics

chamber. • Factor of safety

The roasting chamber consisted of the heater, • It was made from a mild steel plate
for providing the required temperature for of 1.5mm.
groundnut roasting through the mechanism of
conduction. The heat was also used for
driving out moisture from the groundnuts. In
2.3.1Design Analysis and Calculations for the
addition, a vibrator motor was attached to the
groundnut roaster
heating trays to facilitate the agitation of the
2.3.1 Design of the hopper
groundnuts as they were being conveyed by
A plate of top length of 841mm, bottom
the trays to ensure that heat passed through
length of 204mm and width of 222mm.The
each individual kernel for even roasting.
ends were cut out using an angle grinder and
After the groundnuts had moved through the
were welded to form a hopper of R=265mm,r
multiple trays and achieved the desired
=65mm and height of 222mm.The hopper
temperature and color, they fell into the
was of a conical shape.
cooling vessel by gravity. Cooling of the
𝜋ℎ
groundnuts to the required temperature of 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟, 𝑉 = (𝑅 2 + 𝑅𝑟 +
3
(30-35) degrees was achieved by cool air that 𝑟 2 ).
was supplied by a fan. The fan was mounted
Angle of repose. (𝜽𝒓)
on the single-phase motor. The groundnuts
The angle of repose will be determined as
below, according to (Razavi 2007)
2𝐻
𝜃𝑟 = arctan( 𝐷 ).
2.3.2 Design of the heating trays.
These were made of mild steel plate of
1.5mm thickness.
A rectangular plates of 604mm and width of
2.3.5Determination of the Diameter of the
Screw Shaft;
in order to safe guard the shaft from bending
and torsional stress, the diameter of the shaft
will be determined using the equation below,
according to (Dipayan mondal & V, 2016)
16 √( 𝐾𝑏 × 𝑀𝑏 )2 +( 𝐾𝑡 × 𝑀𝑡 )2
𝐷3 =
𝜋𝑆𝑠

521mm were welded into rectangular trays ………………………………………………

of length 440mm, width 357mm, and a
… (7)
height of 82mm.
The total volume of the chamber. Where;

𝑉 =𝐿∗𝑊∗ D =shaft Diameter, 𝑀𝑏 = Bending load, 𝑀𝑡

𝐻 …………………………………………… = torsional load, 𝐾𝑡 = combined shock and
…. (3) fatigue factor applied to bending moment

𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑉 − 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟, 𝐿 − 𝐾𝑏 = combined shock and fatigue applied to

𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝑊 − 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − torsional moment
ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑠 = allowable shear stress in shaft

3.0 Testing for the performance of the

2.3.3 Design of the cooling chamber. machine.

This was made from mild steel plate of 4.4. Roasting efficiency.
1.5mm thickness.
The roasting efficiency was calculated using
A plate of length 920mm and width 180 mm
was bent and welded into a cylinder of the equations below:
29.3mm diameter.
𝑚𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
RE = ∗ 100% =
2.3.4 Design of the frame. 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
14.33
∗ 100
4 angle bars of length 1162mm and width 19.7

4mm were cut and welded together to make a = 72.7%

frame.
4. 5. Calculating the mass flow rate.

Calculating the actual mass flow rate, 𝑚. =
𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑠
average time taken per second
2.5
= = 0.00291𝑘𝑔/𝑠
14.33∗60
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑄𝑐 =
0.00291 ∗ 3600
𝑄𝑐
= 10.47 𝑘𝑔/ℎ𝑟
3.1 Economic evaluation of the machine.
3.1 Economic Evaluation of the Machine
The total estimated initial investment costs,
i0 included costs of construction material,
labor cost, power, machinery used in the
construction of the thresher.
Net present value is the sum of the present
values of incoming and outgoing cash flows
over a period of time. Incoming and
outgoing cash flows can also be described as
benefit and cost cash flows respectively,
discounted at the project's cost of capital, r
and deducting the initial investment, i0.
Decision criteria are to accept a project with
a positive net present value (i.e. NPV > 0)
Advantages of NPV method
NPV reflects the time value of money of the
project. It maximizes shareholder's wealth
(NPV).
Its weakness is that its rankings depend on
the cost of capital; present value declines as
the discount rate increases. This is illustrated
in the equation below; (“Guidebook,”
2008).
𝑪𝒇 1
NPV = ⌈∑𝒏𝒊 (𝟏+𝒓)𝒏 ⌉ − 𝒊𝟎 …… Where; 1+𝑟 is
the discounting rate, 𝑖0 is the initial
investment, Cf is the cash flow, r is the
interest rate and n is the period.
The machine will take approximately 17
days before one starts making profits from
the pay back period method.
𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 = =
𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡
1,605,500
= 0.07𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
22,377,600
NPV=373,811,934
4.0 Results and Discussion Effect of the
feed sample on the performance of the
machine
Roasting efficiency decreased with
increasing feed sample, increasing the feed
sample from 2.5 to 4.0kg/min decreased the
roasting efficiency from 78.0 % to 73.0%.
The low roasting efficiency with the
increasing feed sample was due to the thick
layer of material formed at the bottom of the
roasting vessel that constrained the agitation
of the groundnuts by the motor. Higher feed
samples also take a longer period of time to efficiency of 72.7%. From the results the
be roasted because they react slower to following conclusions were made:
temperature changes compared to the 2.5kg
1. The machine efficiency was influenced by
since most of the groundnuts are exposed to
the pre-heat temperature and the feed rate.
heat.
2. The heating unit was able to roast the
Effect of pre-heating temperature on the
groundnuts though there were also cases of
performance of the machine.
few burnt beans.
The charge temperature (the temperature at
The prototype can be constructed from any
which the roaster is pre-heated) changed with
workshop since the materials used are readily
every groundnut kernel because the size,
available and cost of the machine is
density and water content of each groundnut
affordable since the initial investment can be
sample were different and a different charge
recovered in seventeen days .The developed
temperature made a big difference in the final
machine can help groundnut farmers improve
product. For example not getting the kernels
on the quality of their products which yield
up to roast temperature quickly enough
high market prices hence improving their
resulted in burnt kernels instead of roasted
economic wellbeing. It also saves time for the
ones. This results in a grassy, earthy flavor
farmer to carry out other activities thus
and when the charge temperature was too
improving labor productivity
high (1600c), scorching of the groundnuts
occurred and ended up giving a burnt flavor. Conceptual diagram.

Therefore, a better quality of roast (desirable

color and flavor) was obtained at moderate
charge

Conclusion
The results obtained from the design and
performance evaluation showed that, the
groundnut roasting machine was designed,
fabricated, tested and found to have a
throughput capacity 10.47kg/hr. and
 future, 9(39), 6448–6459.

Perren, R., Ag, R. P. N. E., Escher, F. E., &

Zurich, E. T. H. (2013). Impact of
roasting on nut quality. Improving the
safety and quality of nuts. Woodhead
Publishing Limited.
https://doi.org/10.1533/9780857097484
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