PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A PALM KERNEL CRACKER WITH INTEGRATED SEPARATING UNIT

Abstract

Nigeria as a country has not met the demand for palm kernel oil production because of the constraint involved in the processing 
operation especially, cracking and separation of shell from the nut. In this study, a palm kernel cracker (PKC) with a separating 
unit was developed. The separating unit consisted of three chambers where separation takes place: the first chamber removes the 
particles attached to the kernel and the shell, the second and central chamber removes the broken kernel and shell while the final 
chamber separates the cracked and uncracked kernel in a discharge chute by means of an attached blower. The developed PKC 
was tested using tenera and dura varieties of palm kernel. Performance indices for evaluation were cracking efficiency, 
throughput capacity and percentage losses using three moisture contents (A: 7.0 - 9.0; B: 10.0 - 12.0 and C: 14.0 - 16.0% d.b.) 
and four speeds of operation (1600, 2200, 2400 and 2600 rpm). The results showed that the highest cracking efficiency and 
output capacity for tenera were 87.3% and 51 kg/h respectively at 10 - 12% (d.b.) moisture content and speed of 2200 rpm while 
the highest cracking efficiency and output capacity for dura were 78.8% and 45 kg/h respectively at 10-12% (d.b.) moisture 
content and speed of 2200 rpm. The highest percentage loss (18%) obtained for tenera was at (14 - 16% d.b.) moisture content 
with an operating speed of 2400 rpm, while dura variety was 21% at same moisture content and operating speed. It could be 
concluded that the optimal performances of the PKC was at moisture content level 10 - 12% (d.b.) and operating speed of 2200 
rpm for the two varieties of palm kernel tested.