Development of a Motorized Rotary Cassava Peeling Machine

Cassava has become an important economic crop due to its growing use as a raw material in Food, Pharmaceutical and chemical industries causing rapid growth in the demand for cassava products. There is therefore an expansion in its production and processing. Peeling usually precedes most processing operations which makes it very essential. This machine is part of the efforts to mechanize cassava peeling to meet growing demands. The machine uses the abrasive mechanism to peel cassava roots in batches and is driven by an R.165 (6.5hp) diesel engine. Performance evaluation revealed that the machine could peel an average of 30kg cassava roots in 38s at an operating speed of 715 rpm; peel the same weight for 47s and 52s at 652 and 524 rpm respectively. The machine has an average throughput capacity of 0.790, 0.683 and 0.577 kg/s for operating speeds 715, 652 and 524 rpm respectively. Average peeling efficiency of 72.67, 63.83 and 57.67% was obtained for 715, 652 and 524 rpm respectively. It portends a significant breakthrough in the search for an effective mechanized cassava peeling machine