Development and fabrication of a power operated low-cost small-scale fruit and vegetable grading machine
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Date
2021
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
Investigation was carried out to develop, fabricate and evaluate performance of a power operated, multi-commodity low-cost small-scale fruit and vegetables grading machine for nearly spherical commodities viz onion, tomato, lemon, sweet lime, pear, beetroot, eggplant and apple guard. The grader consisted of main frame, feed hopper, grading belt with variable speed 1.0 hp electric motor, grading cum directional bar with speed regulated DC motors and collection spouts. Design parameters were geometric mean diameter (GMD), angle of external friction (AoEF) and angle of repose (AoR). Experiment was designed with response surface methodology (RSM) for optimizing the input parameters i.e., belt speed, grading bar speed and grading bar angle for responses viz., grading capacity and grading efficiency. Model validation was also carried out. The range of GMD, sphericity, AoEF and AoR varied between 43.45-60.46 mm, 0.878-0.934, 21-30º and 23-30º respectively for all commodities. Grading capacity and efficiency of selected commodities were significantly affected by input parameters. The quadratic model was adequate model for all the responses of input variables. The grading capacity showed positive relationship with belt speed, grading bar speed and grading bar angle in all commodities. However, grading efficiency was negatively affected by belt speed, positively affected by grading bar speed in all the commodities except tomato. The grading bar angle showed positive relation with grading efficiency in all commodities except onion and beetroot. The model was validated at 10 % level of significance. Overall grading capacity and grading efficiency ranged between 157-584 kg/h and 55.00-93.30% irrespective of the commodity.
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Awasthi, Anusha (2021). Development and fabrication of a power operated low-cost small-scale fruit and vegetable grading machine (Unpublished M.Tech. thesis). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.