PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SHELLING UNIT OF GROUNDNUT DECORTICATOR

Groundnut, ¿the unpredictable legume¿ is also known as earthnut, peanut, monkey nut and manilla nut. The botanical name is Arachis hypogaea L. Groundnut is a principal crop of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat state and is grown extensively since 1910. Groundnut shelling is done either by hand shelling or by hand, pedal and power operated decorticators. Manual method of shelling, which is time consuming and tedious job. Hand or pedal operated decorticators have low capacity and have no facility to separate kernels and husk. Whereas power operated decorticators have these facilities. Keeping all these aspects in mind, a shelling operation for decorticator was developed with considering the all physical properties of groundnut pod and kernel, functional requirements, engineering requirements and ergonomic aspects. The remaining components of the developed power operated groundnut decorticator, such as the concave sieve, cylinder, hopper, material receiving tray, blower, power transmission system and main frame were developed accordingly to specifications. The findings suggest that the developed power operated groundnut decorticator is a viable option for saving time.