DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF SUGARCANE CUTTER AND JUICE EXPELLER FOR COTTAGE LEVEL SUGAR FACTORIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Aims: A system to extract sugarcane juice was designed and fabricated in order to replace the older and conventional method of cane juice extraction by using roller model machines. Methods and Results: The present work was carried out at Agricultural Engineering workshop, National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi, Nigeria. The development of the new system was initiated to increase juice extraction percent as it was only 50-60% with traditional roller method of juice extraction. The Cane Cutter/ Juice expeller system is basically made up of a trapezoidal hopper, cane cutting assembly having series of rotating knives, a grasshopper reciprocatory conveyor; a frustrum hopper, a screw worm, a cage of iron bars, pressure adjustment device, cane juice and baggase outlets. A 10h electric motor provided power to the cane cutter while a 25hp electric motor which drive the expeller through a gearbox, Result obtained from testing the system indicates that the cane cutter has an average inpul Capacity of 1287kg/h with minimal losses ranging from 0.8kg-2.0kg sugarcane/ton. These losses are even recoverable by gathering and feeding them into the expeller. For the cane Juice Expeller, about 98% juice extraction efficiency was obtained for all the Sugarcane varieties viz., BD 95-030, BD96-001 and BD 96-009. The average machine capacity was 327kg/h. The high extraction Efficiency of the system was evidenced by the high temperature (70-75 C) of the discharged bagasse Significance of study: The sugarcane crushing system showed 98% juice extraction efficiency and is quite easy to operate and maintain, hence it is very suitable for economical use even in rural communities.