Modification and construction of a cassava dough single screw press machine

Abstract

The new method of extracting juice from cassava dough for gari processing is done by the use of cassava dough single screw pressed machine. The concept of this was first introduced to Asia in the 17th century and to Africa in about 1558 according to Quadri A.H (2010). However, despite the importance of this technology a number of deficiencies could be found using the machine. This dissertation is focused on modification and construction of the existing cassava dough screw pressing machine which would be useful for home-use, retailers and small-scale farmers and also to promote healthy consumption of cassava products. Some design considerations used in this dissertation include; the efficiency of the machine during usage in the household; the portability of the machine among others. Another problem considered in this construction was the fact that cassava produces a large amount of cyanogenic glycosides, so in selecting materials for construction, adequate care was taken not to use materials that cannot degrade/ corrode easily due to the acidic content in cassava. The volume and the surface area of the perforated cylinders were 0.024m3 and 0.47m2 respectively. Also, the outer cylinder has a volume and surface area of 0.031m3 and 0.549m2 respectively. The inner cylinder has been modified with the use of stainless steel whereas the outer cylinder and bevel gears used are the new invention made. The object or machine runs by man power. It is recommended that the efficiency and the speed at which the machine operates can further be improved. This could be done by weight reduction and the reduction of vibration.