Advisor : Mate, Dr. V. N.Authors : WAGH, RANI SURESH.2021-12-112021-12-112020-12-12Citation : WAGH, RANI SURESH. (2020). Development of Power Operated lemon Cutting Machine. Department of Process and Food Engineering, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. M. Tech. 2020. Print. xii, 63p. (Unpublished).https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810179068Description : In the present experiment the researcher has tried to study the engineering properties of lemon fruit which were measured for the development purpose of power operated lemon cutting machine. The machine was developed to cut the lemon in four halves. The machine performance was evaluated for maximum cutting efficiency and minimum waste percentage.Abstract : Present work is entitled “Development of power operated lemon cutting machine”. The physical properties of lemon were studied and lemon cutting machine was developed and evaluated for performance. The major components of the machine include the feeding unit, cutting mechanism, frame, drive unit, electric motor and outlet tray. The machine is powered by 1 hp a single phase electric motor. The performance of the machine was evaluated for cutting of lemon into 4 pieces, at three feed rate 100 kg/h, 150 kg/h and 200 kg/h respectively at three motor speeds of 10 rpm, 25 rpm and 40rpm, respectively. The response parameters investigated were cutting efficiency and waste percentage. Two variable three level central composite rotatable design model of response surface methodology by using Design Expert Software was used to optimize machine parameter for better cutting efficiency and lower waste percentage. The length, width and thickness of lemon fruit was found out to be 32.18 mm, 29.39 mm and 30.55 mm respectively. The geometric mean diameter was 30.68 mm while sphericity was 0.9535 and aspect ratio was 1.09. True density and bulk density of lemons were 0.673 g/cc and 0.98 g/cc respectively. Moisture content was 93% (w.b) for lemon fruit while coefficient of friction static and dynamic was 0.63 and 0.57 respectively. Cutting force required to cut the lemon was found out to be 375 N. A feed rate 150 kg/h, motor speed of 25 rpm was found to favour the cutting efficiency of 97.12 % and waste percentage 2.88 %. The machine was therefore observed to perform best at the optimum operating speed of 25 rpm. The result of the study shows that the machine can dice satisfactorily.EnglishThesis