A COMMERCIAL SCALE IMPLEMENTATION OF ROLEK™ PALM NUT CRACKER: TECHNO-ECONOMIC VIABILITY STUDY FOR PRODUCTION OF

Journal of Oil Palm Research (Special Issue - April 2006), p. 153-167 SHELL-FREE KERNEL

A COMMERCIAL SCALE IMPLEMENTATION OF

ROLEK™ PALM NUT CRACKER: TECHNO-
ECONOMIC VIABILITY STUDY FOR
PRODUCTION OF SHELL-FREE KERNEL
ROHAYA, M H*; NASRIN, A B*; CHOO, Y M*; MA, A N* and N RAVI*

ABSTRACT
A new generation of palm nut cracker, known as Rolek was successfully invented through a smart partnership
between MPOB and Hur Far Engineering Works Sdn Bhd (HFEWSB). A few units of this invention were
installed and commissioned at three palm oil mills processing different types of nuts. A systematic evaluation
was carried out to obtain their commercial performances such as cracking efficiency, kernel and nut quality,
shell fragment sizes and maintenance cost. The data obtained from Rolek were then compared with commercial
nut cracker (ripple mill). The machines were tested with two types of nuts as input material; 95% tenera
nuts in Mill A and more than 25% dura nuts in Mills B and C. From the analysis, it was found that all mills
achieved more than 98% cracking efficiency with less than 10% broken kernel. The results have also shown
that all the mills produced less than 2% half cracked nuts and shell fragments were found to be uniform and
small in size capable of maximizing separation of shell and kernel in the winnowing column. Concerning
other parameters, Mill A showed a lower maintenance cost and longer operating hours before replacement of
parts as low as RM 0.056 t-1 FFB processed at 650 operating hours, compared to Mills B and C, as it
processed 95% tenera nuts having thinner shell that would be easily cracked. Therefore, the type of nuts
processed is found to be the main contributing factor for the higher maintenance cost of Rolek if the consideration
was made based on the parts replacement in the certain operating hours. The details of all these studies are
discussed in this paper. The use of Rolek promises significant quality improvements and lesser maintenance
cost than other convectional nut crackers.

Keywords: nut cracker, shell-free kernel, cracking efficiency, cracked mixture, KER.
Date received: 20 December 2005; Sent for revision: 28 December 2005; Received in final form: 20 February 2006; Accepted: 22 February 2006.

INTRODUCTION Considered as a by-product from the milling process,

palm kernel is not accorded the same recognition as
Malaysia is amongst the top palm kernel producers palm oil resulting in no major effort being given to
in the world with a total production of 3.70 million improve its quality.
tonnes of kernel in 2004 (MPOB, 2004). Kernel is This statement was supported with a study done
obtained from palm fruitlet after removal of by MPOB on the quality of palm kernel delivered to
mesocarp fibres and shell. The composition of palm kernel crushing plants. The study indicates that
kernel in fresh fruit bunch (FFB), is about 5%-7% kernel produced from mills contain high percentage
depending on the type of planting material. of broken kernel, shell and dirt (Rohaya et al., 2005).
The high percentage of shell and dirt in palm kernel
were found to affect not only the quality and quantity
* Malaysian Palm Oil Board, of kernel oil during the pressing, but also downgrade
P. O. Box 10620, 50720 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. the quality of Malaysian palm kernel cake either for
E-mail: rohaya@mpob.gov.my
export market or local fodder industry.

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Kernel quality is highly dependent on the process are sleeved. The thickness of the sleeve can be varied
control measures exercised by the mill during kernel in order to set the precise gap between rods. This
recovery which include nut cracking efficiency, provides a maximum interaction and dynamic force
cracked mixture separation, and kernel storage and between nuts and rods for clean cracking without
handling. Realizing the need for quality causing high kernel breakage, half and uncracked
improvement of palm kernel, its oil recovery rate and nuts. The design of Rolek and its working principle
the quality of palm kernel cake, MPOB in are illustrated in the Figures 1a, b and 2.
collaboration with HFEWSB, invented a new Currently, more than 30 units of Rolek have been
generation of palm nut cracker known as Rolek™. adopted in Malaysia and Indonesia, and more are
expected to be sold in the near future. There are now
two packages of Rolek in the market which are as
DESCRIPTION OF ROLEK follows:
• three units of Rolek nut crackers for different
The objectives of Rolek invention is to achieve nut sizes. This package is suitable for mills
maximum cracking efficiency of palm nuts and with nut grading screen; and
promote better separation of shell and kernel • one unit of Rolek nut cracker with variable
through the production of uniform and small size rods gap for all nut sizes. This package is
shell. Rolek is designed to crack various sizes of palm suitable for mills without nut grading screen.
nuts. The commercial capacity of this unit varies Besides its higher cracking efficiency, the system
from 4 to 6 t hr-1 of nuts. The main concept of Rolek’s was designed to offer very low maintenance cost as
design involves two types of cracker rods, namely, well as easy and time saving in maintenance
rotary and stator rods. The rotating rods interact with activities or services compared to ripple mill or
stator rods in all stator rings to break the nuts in the commercial nut cracker.
cracking compartment. Both outer and stator rods

Figure 1a. A conceptual design of Rolek palm nut cracker.

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SHELL-FREE KERNEL

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL ROLEK

Model Small, medium, big and mixed nuts

Maximum capacity /unit 6 t hr-1 for capacity of 45 t hr-1 mill
Electrical input 20 hp, 415 V 3 Phase 50 Hz
Maximum speed 1450 rpm
Gross weight 690 kg

Figure 1b. Schematic diagram and technical specification of Rolek.

Figure 2. Working principle of Rolek palm nut cracker.

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METHODOLOGY selected as it process more than 25% of dura nuts

daily. All the evaluations were carried out by MPOB
Commercial Trials and Evaluation personnel assisted by mills’s technical staff.
Details of the performance parameters, sampling
In total, seven units of Rolek were installed in procedures and calculation for the evaluation are as
two separate mills for their commercial performance follows:
evaluation. The first mill is a 45 t hr-1 mill located in
Perak that process is about 95% tenera nuts. Before Cracking efficiency and cracked mixture quality. The
installation, the kernel extraction rate of the mill was measurement by weight on the number of uncracked
less than 6%. Since the mill is equipped with nut and half cracked nuts after cracking by the machine
grading screen, three units of Rolek for different nut will indicate the cracking efficiency. It can be
sizes were installed at the kernel recovery plant determined using the formula as below:
(Figure 3). The second and third mills on trial are 54
t hr-1 and 40 t hr-1 mills located in Johor. Each mill Cracking efg, η = wt sample – (wt of uncr + half crk nuts) x 100%
was installed with two units of Rolek for mixed sizes ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
of palm nuts as shown in Figure 4. In order to have Sample wt
a set of difference performance data, these mills were

Figure 3. Three units of Rolek nut cracker for three different sizes installed at Mill A.

Figure 4. Rolek for multiple sizes of palm nut installed in Mills B and C.

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SHELL-FREE KERNEL

The cracked mixture is collected every 1 or 2 hr processing rate. The data obtained from this analysis
and the weight for every sample is maintained is then compared to the commercial ripple mill.
between 1.1 to 1.3 kg. The sample were sorted and
weighed for whole kernel, broken kernel, shell,
uncracked and half cracked nuts. These data are RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
useful to analyze the quality of cracked mixture.
Size Distribution and Type of Palm Nuts
Determination of cracker throughput. It is defined
as nut flow rate or the amount of nuts fed into the This analysis was carried out to study he exact
machine at any point in time. The nuts flow rate can percentage of nut type and its size distribution being
be determined by sampling the nuts at the chute processed on each mill. From the analysis, it was
every 30 s. The collected sample is weighed and the found that Mill A processed about 95% tenera nuts
value is converted to hourly basis. The determination with 5% dura. The size distribution of nuts ranged
of nut’s flow rate is essential during commissioning from 9 to 17 mm in diameter and the average size
in order to ensure that the machine is operating with was 14 mm. This represents the nut condition in most
a uniform feeding rate, as well as to establish a of the mills in Malaysia. However, in Mills B and C,
baseline data for future machines optimization. it processed more than 25% dura nuts. The nut size
ranged from 7 to 25 mm with average sizes between
Maintenance cost analysis. This analysis is vital as 13 to 15 mm. The size distribution of tenera and dura
the maintenance cost plays an important role in the nuts for Mills B and C are shown in Figure 5. It was
proper mill management and hence, also serves as also found that some nuts in Mills B and C contained
main criteria when selecting a new machine. The more than one kernel inside the nuts as shown in
analysis focuses on the parts replacement of Rolek Figure 6. The Rolek performance will show different
based on the total operating hours and FFB sets of results when cracking nuts having different
characteristics.

Figure 5. Distribution of nuts size in Mills B and C.

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Figure 6. Cross section of dura nut.

Cracking Efficiency and Cracked Mixture broken kernel and half cracked nuts would indicate
Analysis wear, needing of replacement of parts such as inlet
and body liner plate.
A summary of the cracker performance and The low ratio of broken kernel combined with
cracked mixture composition for all mills are small and uniform size of shell fragments in the
tabulated in Table 1. The cracking efficiencies of mills cracked mixture produced by Rolek promotes
could hit 99%. The cracked mixture characteristics maximum separation of shell and kernel either in
can be summarized as follows: whole kernel ranged dry or wet separation. These premium conditions
from 25%-50%, broken kernel in the range of 8% to of cracked mixture also reduce the amount of kernel
10 %, uncracked and half cracked nuts were less than carried over with shell into the boiler and kernel
1% and 2% respectively. Cracking performance, losses during the separation process. The use of
broken kernel and half cracked nut analysis by each Rolek has also helped in eliminating the production
mill is illustrated in Figures 6 to 11. All these data of pulverized and powdered kernel usually
were consistent and achieved the targeted produced by ripple mills, but not often detected by
performance as shown in the Table 1. Any millers.
incremental change on each parameter, especially

TABLE 1. CRACKING PERFORMANCE AND CRACKED MIXTURE ANALYSIS RESULTS

Parameter, % Rolek Typical ripple mill*

Targeted Mill A – Mills B & C -

performance tenera dura

Whole kernel 25 - 50 40 – 50 25 – 35 30 - 32
Broken kernel < 10 8 – 10 9 – 10 15 - 25
Uncracked nut < 1.5 0.5 - 1.0 0.5 – 1.0 1.0 – 2.0
Half cracked nut < 2.0 1.0 – 2.0 1.0 - 1.5 1.0 – 3.0
Shell (small & uniform) - 35 - 55 30 -45 -
Big shell - - 20 - 30 -

Cracking efficiency > 98 98 – 99 98 98 (pulverized

kernel)
KER, % - 6.5 – 7.2 6.3 – 7.0 5.5 - 6.0
Notes: *Courtesy and source: Rohaya, M H and Osman, A (2002). The quality of Malaysian palm kernel: effect of shell and broken kernel
on the quality of final products. KER-kernel extraction rate.

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Figure 6.Cracking performance by three units of Rolek in Mill A.

Figure 7. Cracking performance in Mill B.

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Figure 8. Cracking performance in Mill C.

Figure 9. Broken kernel in Mill A.

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Figure 10. Broken kernel and half cracked nut in Mill B.

Figure 11. Broken kernel and half cracked nut in Mill C.

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Kernel Extraction Rate (KER) Mill A has also achieved consistent KER for more
than 700 operating hours, while Mill B was capable
Cracking performance and efficient separation of of maintaining high KER within the first 200
kernel and shell play a significant role for obtaining operating hours as show in Figure 13. KER of Mill B
high kernel recovery. The KER from mills involved showed the tendency to drop after 200 hr due to wear
have shown increasing and consistent trends after and tear of the chute and the body liner but returned
the installation of Rolek. KER of Mill A increased to original condition after parts replacement. The
from 6.3% to 6.9% while Mill B increased their KER high rate of wear and tear of Rolek in Mill B is
from 6.0% to 7.2%. The KER trend of Mill A was associated with the presence of high dura nuts in
consistent at the beginning of the trial as there was processed. Therefore, Mill B has higher frequency
no significance wear and tear of chute or sleeves that of parts replacement than Mill A. KER of Mill C was
can affect to the overall performance due to not presented in this paper as there was no significant
processing tenera nuts. After the installation of three improvement of its KER trend due to inefficient of
stages of winnowing column at Mill A, there was an the wet separation system (hydrocyclone).
increment of KER up to 7.2% as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12. Kernel extraction rate (KER) performance in Mill A.

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Figure 13. Kernel extraction rate (KER) performance in Mill B.

Maintenance Cost Rolek promises low maintenance and need for

less supervision. Most of the maintenance works
The maintenance cost for both mills is presented involve parts replacement such as inlet chute and
in Table 2. The analysis shows that Mill A has lower body liner, and carbon steel sleeves (Figures 14a, b
maintenance cost than Mills B and C. The and c). For mills that process 90% tenera nuts, there
maintenance cost for Mill A was RM 0.05 t-1 FFB while are two major parts replacements within 650 to 700
Mills B and C recorded about 0.07 t-1 FFB. Lifetime operating hours. It is recommended that the inlet
of replacement parts for Rolek installed in Mill A was chute replacement be done after the first 200 running
two times longer than for Mill B. High percentage of hours followed by replacement of inlet chute and
dura nuts in Mills B and C has contributed to the body liner and carbon sleeves after the next 500
higher maintenance cost as the materials have to running hours. However, for mills that process more
cater for bigger and harder nuts, causing an increase than 25% of dura nuts, the operating hours for parts
in the rate of wear of parts. However, the replacement are less than half of that of mills
maintenance cost of Rolek is still considered low processing tenera nuts.
compared to other commercial nut crackers. The
maintenance cost analysis for ripple mill is presented
in Table 3 for comparison.

Figure 14a. Inlet chute liner before and after 200 operating hours.

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Figure 14b. Body liner after 400 operating hours.

Figure 14c. Wearing carbon sleeves after 700 operating hours.

TABLE 2. SUMMARY OF MAINTENANCE COST IN MILLS A, B AND C

Mill A - tenera (13% to FFB Weight) - Mills B & C - dura ( 25%-50% of composition)
3.2 t hr-1 of nut processed (17 % to FFB weight) – 7.85 t hr-1 of nut processed

Running, hr Part replacement Cost (RM) Running, hr Part replacement Cost (RM)

1st 200 Inlet chute liner 19 1st 160 Inlet chute liner 19
Body liner plate 220
Next 400 - 500 Inlet chute liner 19 Next 220 Inlet chute liner 19
Body liner plate 220 Body liner plate 220
Carbon steel sleeves 630 Carbon steel sleeves 630
Total (based on 650 hr) 888 Total (based on 380 hr) 1 108
Total FFB processed, t 16 000 Total FFB processed, t 17 550
Total maintenance cost, RM t-1 FFB 0.056 Total maintenance cost , RM t-1 FFB 0.063

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TABLE 3. SUMMARY OF MAINTENANCE COST FOR RIPPLE MILL IN MILLS B AND C

Approach 1 Approach 2
Re-conditioned jaw plate new jaw plate

Running, hr Part replacement Cost (RM) Running, hr Part replacement Cost (RM)

200 4 pieces of bar rod 624 200 4 pieces of bar rod 624
@ RM 156/unit @ RM 156/unit
Re-con. jaw plate 380 400 New jaw plate 1 200
Hard facing electrode Hard facing electrode
Total cost/2 weeks 1 004 Total cost for bar rod, RM mth-1 1 248
-1
Total cost/month 2 008 Overall cost, RM mth 2 448
Total FFB processed, t 17 550 Total FFB processed, t 17 550
Total maintenance cost , RM t-1 FFB 0.11 Total maintenance cost , RM t-1 FFB 0.14

To prolong the lifetime of replacement parts used CONCLUSION

in Rolek, it is recommended that the parts be
fabricated using a hardened reclamation materials. The introduction of Rolek palm nut cracker has in a
The wear and tear due to impact and abrasion factors way set a new and higher standard in palm kernel
in Rolek can be reduced by adapting this technology quality and extraction efficiency. Commercial Rolek
and later extending the life span of these parts. machine has proven itself to be more efficient both
Efforts have been taken by MPOB to implement the in operation and economic terms. The simpler design
technology for the betterment of Rolek. enables easier maintenance that required low level
of skill to carry out. This invented and patented nut
cracker effects better quality on palm kernel expeller
OTHER BENEFITS OF ROLEK with minimal shell content which will enhance the
Malaysian palm kernel world export market. Rolek
Saving of Electricity Requirement is not a sole media for getting better KER but it
facilitates mills to improve KER by providing
The use of Rolek could reduce the power excellent cracked mixture for dry separation.
consumption in the kernel station. A study in Mill B Therefore, mills should decide their own objectives
shows that only a unit of 6 t hr-1 Rolek is needed to of having Rolek, either for lower maintenance cost,
process all nuts in the mill compared to the use of easy maintenance or KER improvement. If KER
three units of ripple mills. As such, the electricity being the main objective, other factors such as
saved is from 33 kW to 11 kW by using Rolek. The efficient dry separation through three stages
use of Rolek for cracking multi-sizes of nuts also winnowing column should also be considered.
eliminates the use of nut grading drum and its Overall, it provides the palm oil millers using Rolek
conveyor in the kernel station. These also help millers cracker a better competitive edge.
to reduce their power consumption and maintenance
cost.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
High Recovery of Dry Shell
The authors wish to thank the Director-General of
Another significant advantage of Rolek is MPOB for permission to publish this paper. Thanks
providing a supreme quality of cracked mixture that are also due to all the staff of milling group of MPOB
later promotes a maximum recovery of shell and and Hur Far Engineering Works Sdn Bhd for their
fibre via dry separation system. The higher rate of technical assistance and support. The cooperation
shell recovery will facilitate a surplus quantity than from those mills is also greatly appreciated.
required by boiler. With the rising of fossil fuels price
recently, the surplus shell can be sold at a good price
to other industries such as cement industry, brick
factories and palm oil refinery.

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REFERENCES Quality and Environment. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. 19-

20 August 2002.
MPOB (2004). Review of Malaysian Oil Palm Industry.
MPOB, Bangi. p. 17-19. ROHAYA, M H; NASRIN, A B; OSMAN, A; CHOO,
Y M; MA, A N and N RAVI (2005). A case study of
ROHAYA, M H and OSMAN, A (2002). The quality Rolek palm nut cracker performance. Proc. of the
of Malaysian palm kernel: effect of shell and broken PIPOC 2005 International Palm Oil Congress –
kernel on the quality of final products. National Chemistry and Technology Conference. MPOB, Bangi.
Seminar on Palm Oil Milling, Refining Technology, p. 134-142.

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SHELL-FREE KERNEL

Appendix 1

Quality of products from Rolek and Ripple Mill

RIPPLE MILL ROLEK

Whole kernel Whole kernel

Broken kernel Broken kernel

Shell fragment Shell fragment (small & uniform)

Cracked mixture (pulverized Cracked mixture

kernel)

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