Design, development and performance evaluation of foot operated aonla pricking machine
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Date
2014
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Publisher
CCSHAU
Abstract
The Indian gooseberry preserve is one of the specialties of the Indian fruit preservation industry selling hundreds of tons of preserve every year. Therefore pricking is considered as an important economic activity in India. Till date, the pricking of aonla fruits is done manually employing poorly designed hand tools thus, making the pricking task very tiresome and time consuming for workers resulting into lowered productivity. So in order to suit the prevailing conditions, pedal operated aonla pricking machine was designed, developed and tested. The principles of ergonomics were used while designing to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency with which work was carried out and to maintain and promote worker’s health, safety and satisfaction. The machine was designed for 50th percentile population so that it can be used by all the workers of different sex and anthropometric measurements efficiently. For testing of machine, ergonomic evaluation was done in terms of physiological, biomechanical and psycho-physical parameters with 25 workers (15 males and 10 females). A study of optimization of a number of process variables namely speed of the machine (35, 45 and 55 rpm), duration of pricking activity (30, 40 and 50 mins) and seat height (836, 928 and 1020 mm) for the aonla preserve manufacture was attempted. Response surface methodology was adopted for optimization of process variables. The effect of process variables was studied on capacity, BPDS, energy expenditure of workers and sensory scores. It was found that the capacity, BPDS and energy expenditure of workers were directly proportional to the speed of operation and duration of pricking activity whereas sensory score was inversely proportional to them. Besides, organoleptic evaluation of the preserve was also conducted. The preserve prepared at 35 rpm obtained maximum sensory score (7.8/9) followed by the preserve at 45 rpm (7.6/9) and by preserve prepared from the aonla pricked at 55 rpm of the machine (7.5/9). The machine was successful in pricking 27 kg of aonlas per hour at 55 rpm with no damage to the fruits and with proper number and depth of pricks. The tests for ascorbic acid and polyphenols content were also done for fresh aonla and its preserve. A reduction of 28.05 % of ascorbic acid and 52.80 % of polyphenols was recorded during its storage period. Machine was found highly acceptable by the users due to more safety, comfort and higher economic benefits while working. During the pricking of aonlas, the juice which got squeezed out of the fruits was also collected with the help of a juice collector provided in the machine itself. On an average, 39 ml of juice was collected per kg of the aonla pricked. The economic analysis revealed 2 years of payback period and 67.4% as break even point.
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Keywords
Manpower, Fruits, Preservation, Costs, Acidity, Productivity, Biological phenomena, Vitamins, Research methods, Self help