Design, Fabrication and Performance Evaluation of Motor-Operated Cassava Grater

Darlene U. Esteves; Guillermo P. Pantuhan; Michelle O. Serviñas; Jane S. Malasador

Darlene U. Esteves Agricultural Engineering Department Mindanao State University – General Santos
Guillermo P. Pantuhan Agricultural Engineering Department Mindanao State University – General Santos General Santos City, 9500 Philippines
Michelle O. Serviñas Agricultural Engineering Department Mindanao State University – General Santos General Santos City, 9500 Philippines
Jane S. Malasador Agricultural Engineering Department Mindanao State University – General Santos General Santos City, 9500 Philippines

Keywords: cassava, cassava grater, motor-operated cassava grater, manual grating

Abstract

The motor-operated cassava grater was developed, fabricated and evaluated using locally available and low-cost materials for household-level processing. Peeled cassava tubers were grated at three various grating drum rotational speed determined by using three pulley diameters (5, 6 and 8 in) with an average speed of 1424.30 rpm, 1148.30 rpm, and 857.40 rpm, respectively. The cassava grater was run by 1.5-hp electric motor and its performance was evaluated in terms of grating capacity, grating efficiency, percentage loss and fineness modulus (FM). Each parameter was statistically analyzed using completely randomized design. The manual grating was also conducted in comparison to the fabricated machine. From the parameters tested, the 5-in diameter pulley with an average grating capacity of 283.26 kg/hr, grating efficiency of 91.56%, percentage loss of only 8.44% and FM of 3.38 is highly recommended.