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31 viewsSugarcane
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Original Research Article
Design And Construction Of A Small Scale
Sugarcane Juice Extractor
ABSTRACT
The production of sugarcane is increasing in Nigeria nowadays. Juice extracted from
sugarcane can be used extensively in manufacturing brown sugar, industrial sugar and
bioethanol fuel through the process of fermentation; hence, the need to develop a machine
that can extract juice from sugarcane effectively. This work involves the design, fabrication
and performance evaluation of sugarcane juice extractor. The machine was designed to
extract juice from sugarcane at small scale level suitable for small and medium scale
sugarcane processors. The prototype machine was designed, fabricated and assembled in
the Department of Agricultural and Bio-resources Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria. The machine consists of rollers, gears, cane guide, juice collector, frame, and prime
mover. The developed machine was evaluated using koma variety of cane and obtained an
output capacity of 148.2 kgih and extraction efficiency of 67.44%, respectively at a speed of
30 rpm. The production cost stood at N 90.000 which is affordable and therefore
tecommended for small scale processors.
‘Keywords: Design, Sugarcane Juice, Mechanical properties, Extractor, processing
4. INTRODUCTION
‘Sugarcane provides a high amount of energy for the nutritional requirement of both livestock
and humans. Based on its land-use factor, its value of calories per unit area is highest for
any plant [8]. Furthermore, the content of sugarcane (70% water, 14% fibre, 13.3%
‘saccharose (about 10 — 15% sucrose), and 2.7% soluble impurities) it can be said that 60%
of the world's sugar production while the rest is provided by sugar beet (16].
According, to [5]. it was estimated that sugarcane was cultivated on about 26.0 milion
hectares, in over 90 countries, with a worldwide harvest of 1.83 billion tons. Brazil is the
largest producer of sugarcane in the world. The next five major producers, in increasing
‘order of the amount of production, were Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, China and India. The
cane producing countries in tropical Africa include Mauritius, Kenya, Sudan, Zimbabwe,
Madagascar, Cote Divoire, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Cameroon and
Zaire. Nigeria, being one of the most important producers of sugarcane has a land potential
Of more than 500,000 hectares of a suitable cane field. Nigeria has vast human and natural
resources (land and water), to produce enough sugarcane, not only to satisfy the country's
requirement for sugar and biofuels but also for export [13]. The crop is mostly cultivated in
the Northein states of Nigeria, where irigation water is readily available. ‘Sugarcane is produced and sold in many local government areas of Kaduna State, including
Makarfi, Giwa and Kudan. In the year 2013, about 20,000 households cultivated sugarcane
in the state [9]. Some of the problems associated with the traditional method of sugarcane
juice extraction are the tedious nature involved in extracting the juice, high extraction losses,
poor handling, poor hygiene and drudgery. Most of the traditional and animal operated
crushers are very massive hence the difficuity in moving them from one place to the other.
The commonly available sugarcane juice extractors require high energy with a sophisticated
mechanism [14]. Some of these commonly available sugarcane juice extractors are for
industrial applications which are out of reach of small scale and rural processors who are
deeply involved in the processing of cane juice into brown sugar. This study aims to design
and construct a small scale sugarcane juice extractor.
2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
Materials selected for various components of the machine were based on strength,
durabilty, availabilty and cost. The materials are non-corrosive, and hard. enough to
withstand wear. Mild steel was used for rollers, gear, shaft and frame while the juice collector
was made of galvanized steel sheet. Cast iron was used for the pulley. The instruments
used for measuring mass, speed and time were: Mettier Model (PN20001) top loading
balance with the capacity of 2 kg and accuracy of 0.1 gram, Lutron Digital Photo Tachometer
that can measure a range of 0.5 to 100,000 rpm and accuracy of 0.05% + 1 digit and digital
stopwatch,
‘Some of the physical and mechanical properties of sugarcane were estimated as per the
‘method of [14]. The two varieties determined were: Saccharum officinarum and Saccharum
barber’. The major diameters were 40 mm. and 33.mm, respectively. This is important is,
chosen the clearance between the top roller and the two rollers that allows entry for
crushing. While the mechanical properties rupture force at vertical and horizontal
orientations were 11.15 N, 17.83 N and 28.90 N, 35.10 N. respectively. It is important in
determining the force required to crush the sugar cane.
2.4 Design Consideration
The following factors were considered during the design of the sugarcane juice extractor:
i. Availability and relative cost of the material.
ii, The machine is to compose of three rollers.
ji, Roller diameter of 70 mm was used for effective force of compression.
iv. Length of the roller of 175 mm was used to accommodate three stalks of cane at a
time.
v.