Design, fabrication and preliminary testing of oil expeller for sesame seed

Abstract

There was need for local production of vegetable oil expeller in order to eliminate problems of shortage of spare parts, maintenance personnel and adaptation for less known oil seeds such as sesame. Preliminary survey on existing oil expellers was carried out. Some physical and mechanical properties of sesame were determined. Obtained data were used in the design and fabrication of a cottage scale oil expeller. Performance of the machine was evaluated. The expeller barrel diameter was 60 mm, shaft diameter was 57 mm and worm shaft length was 600 mm. Speed of rotation was 120 rpm. It was powered by 10 kW gear reduction electric motor. The expeller capacity was 32.1 ± 3.04 kg/h. Mean oil yield obtained from the expressed 32.1 kg of sesame was 0.0177 ± 0.002 m3 (17.7 liters). This was equivalent to 50.4 ± 4.19 % of the raw material and 90.2 ± 7.33 % efficiency of oil expressed. No traces of lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) was found in the sample of expressed oil while 2.3 mg/kg of iron (Fe) and 0.03 mg/kg copper (Cu) were found as contaminant in the oil.

Keywords: Oil expeller, Sesame, Performance evaluation

Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, Volume 10