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Design And Construction Of Gari Frying Machine
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Cassava is largely consumed in many processed forms in Nigeria. Its use
in the industry and livestock feed, is well known, but is gradually
increasing, especially as import substitution becomes prominent in the
industrial sector of the economy. As a cash crop, cassava generates cash
income for the largest number of households in comparison with other
staples (Adeniji, et al, 2011). Currently, quality of gari can be
enhanced by adding few drops of palm oil. At the end of the frying
operation, the product is still hot and a little bit damp. It is then
allowed to cool and dry in a cool dry shade, until the moisture content
is reduced to 12% (Gbasouzor, et al., 2012).
Earlier designs on gari
production machines did not produce the desired and acceptable cassava
product for the producers and consumers. The designs of these machines
did not take into account the specifications of the existing local
technology. It has been quite difficultto mechanize this operation
correctly and rightly because this operation was not well understood by
many designers and manufacturers. Some have erroneously assumed
garification to be the same as dehydration while others had taken it to
be roasting. Before the construction and development of ESUT (2015)
model, a lot of research were carried out ranging from the village
technique, improved traditional methods and mechanized methods designed
by different research institutions, universities and companies. It was
discovered that village technique gives the best quality gari. The
question is how this village technique can be simulated and mechanized
using the same method to achieve the same or better quality of the
product.
ESUT (2015) model is a batch process like the village
technique. It has an aluminum frying pan in place of cast iron pan used
in village technique. A paddle is connected directly in the frying pan
to an electric motor through a shaft to eliminate human hand used in
stirring cassava mash in the village method.
The aluminum frying pan
is used, because it disperses heat faster than the stainless steel and
does not buckle under high temperature. There is a charcoal chamber at
the bottomof the fryer thatis fed with charcoal used in frying the gari.
The chamber is constructed using metal rods, each separated from each
other by a distance of 20mm. The ashes from the burnt coal, falls to the
bottom of the fryer.
The aluminum frying pan is located inside mild
steel and the distance between the frying pan and mild steel is
reinforced using fiberglass to prevent the escape of heat from the
frying chamber. A blower of one horse power is used to blow/fan the
charcoal chamber, to heat up the ignited charcoal and to avoid the
nuisance of smoke. An exhaust pipe is connected to the charcoal chamber,
to remove smoke from the charcoal chamber. The system has good
electrical connections that sense the quantity of heat in use to the
temperature gauge allows the operator to vary heat during frying and
permits the machine to automatically turn off when there is excess
current and load.
After frying, the discharge port is opened to allow
the fried gari to leave the machine; another batch of cassava mash is
introduced into the machine by the operator who monitors the entire
process. These components are allcontained in a control box.
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