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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Nature and Importance of the Study
Corn (Zea maysL.) is a cereal crop that has been cultivated as a food crop since ancient
times. Itis native to Central and South America.It has a variety of usessuch as food
consumption,flour, oil, fuel in the form of ethanol or for livestock feed. The corn plant is an
efficient factory for converting large amounts of radiantenergy from the sun into a stable form of
chemical energy stored as cellulose, oil andstarch. It has proven to be a very versatile grain
(Davis.,2001).
Maize (corn) is one of the most important staple crops in the world. In Kenya, for
example, 45% of the population considers Ugali (maize meal) to be their survival food, making it
the most consumed food of the country. Maize also accounts for 43% of the Latin American diet.
In Asia, maize production is over 200 billion kilograms a year and it is expected that the total
maize production in developing countries will eventually overtake production in industrialized
countries(D-Lab Corn Sheller Background Copyright Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.Accessed on July 30, 2014).
In many developing nations, simple agricultural tasks can require huge amounts of labor
due to a lack of appropriate technology. One such task is shelling maize kernels from the cob for
storage purposes. Also in some rural areas of developing countries, the maize kernels are
removed from the cob by hand in a process called shelling. Shelling the annual maize harvest
by hand typically takes weeks and may pull children out of school, since processing food for
survival takes priority over education in subsistence farming households. The hardened, dry
maize can also be painful to shell and lead to hand injuries(D-Lab Corn Sheller Background
Copyright Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Accessed on July 30, 2014).
Another option is a simple tool that makes it possible to shell maize several times faster
than by hand. The device has the additional advantages of being robust, portable, transparent to
users and only a fraction of the cost of other alternatives commonly on the market. One of those
alternatives is the pedal operated Degraining /Shelling machine ( Marroquin et.al., 2010).
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study was to improve a pedal operated portable shelling
machine for corn. Specifically it aimed to:
1. Evaluate the technical performance of the pedal operated shelling machine such as the
shelling efficiency and the percent shelling recovery; and
2. Determine the economic performances of the pedal-operated corn sheller.
Scope and Limitation of the Study
This study focused only on the improvement of the pedal operated portable shelling
machine with the considerations on certain parameters such as operation and fabrication costs,
capacity of the pedal operated portable shelling machine, amount and quality of corn kernels
removed from the cob, and the efficiency of the machine.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
CORN (Zea mays L.)
Maize (corn) is one of the most important staple crops in the world. In Kenya, for
example, 45% of the population considers Ugali (maize meal) to be their survival food, making it
the most consumed food of the country. Maize also accounts for 43% of the Latin American diet.
In Asia, maize production is over 200 billion kilograms a year and it is expected that the total
maize production in developing countries will eventually overtake production in industrialized
countries ((D-Lab Corn Sheller Background Copyright Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Accessed on July 30, 2014).
Threshing or Shelling
de Lucia et. al., (1994), threshing or shelling is the process of separating the grains, or the
shells in the case of groundnuts, from the portion of the plant that holds them. This separation,
done by hand or machine, is obtained by threshing, by friction or by shaking the products; the
difficulty of the process depends on the varieties grown, and on the moisture content and the
degree of maturity of the grain. Threshing or shelling operations follow the harvest and whatever
pre-drying of the crop is undertaken. These operations may be carried out in the field or on the
farm, by hand or with the help of animals or machines.
According to PAES 208: 2000. Agricultural Machinery: Power-Operated Corn Sheller
Specifications, for better understanding about the shelling process of corn, the following
important terminologies were defined:
a. corn cob- part of the ear corn where the kernels are attached.
b. corn ear- pistillate inflorescence of the plant Zea mays L., enclosed with a leaf-like
protective covering known as husk.
c. kernel-dry and indehiscent seed developed from the ovary of the ear corn.
d. kernel-ear corn ratio- ratio of the weight of the corn kernel present in the ear corn to
the weight of the ear corn
e. mechanically damaged kernels- kernels that were broken and/or scratched as a
result of shelling operation
f. net cracked kernel- difference between the percent cracked sample taken before and
after the shelling operation.
g. purity- ratio of the weight of clean corn kernels, to the total weight of unclean corn
kernels sample, expressed in percent.
h. scattering loss- ratio of the weight of corn kernels that fell out from the machine
during shelling operation to the weight of the total corn kernel input of the sheller,
expressed in percent
i. separation loss- ratio of the weight of corn kernels that come out of the shelling
chamber with the cobs at the cob outlet, to the weight of the total corn kernel input of
the sheller, expressed in percent
j. shelled kernels- whole and damaged corn kernels separated from the cob after
shelling
k. shelling efficiency- ratio of the weight of the shelled corn kernels collected at all
outlets, to the total corn kernel input of the sheller, expressed in percent
l. shelling recovery- ratio of the weight of the shelled corn kernels collected at the
main outlet, to the total weight of the corn kernel input of the sheller, expressed in
percent.
x P x Co
where:
Cc is the corrected capacity, kg/h
Co is the actual capacity, kg/h
MCo is the observed moisture content, %
MCm is the kernel moisture content, at 20%
P is the kernel purity, %
3. Purity (P), %
P=
x 100
where:
Wu is the weight of uncleaned kernel, g
WC is the weight of cleaned kernel, g
a) Amount
Sl =
b) Percentage
Sl , % =
5. Unshelled Loss (U1)
a) Amount
Ul, kg =
b) Percentage
Ul , % =
6. Scattering loss (SC l), %
Ul , % =
7. Shelling Efficiency (Se) , %
Se ,% =
or