DESIGN, MODELLING AND SIMULATION OF A PALM KERNEL OIL EXTRACTION MACHINE MANAGEMENT APROACH

Abstract

Vegetable oils and fats have gained popularity in the food, cosmetic, soap, pharmaceutical, and medical industries. Recently, they have found uses in the energy and automotive industries as biodiesel and engineering industry as cooling fluids in machining processes and lubricants for machine components, respectively. They are also used in the production of cooking oil and margarine, pomade, toilet soaps, drugs, and medical ointments. The scope of this work is to design a small-scale screw press oil expeller for palm kernel oil extraction. The work also considers the techno-economic status of micro- and small-scale vegetable oil processors who are the intended users of the machine. The functional parts of the machine include the barrel, worm shaft, gear reduction system, hopper, oil outlet, cake outlet, prime mover, and bearings. The worm shaft has an increasing diameter along its length, while the screw system has a decreasing pitch. This combination is essential for obtaining maximum oil extraction efficiency. During operation, the gradually built-up pressure in the machine presses and squeezes oil out of the seeds. The worm shaft conveys, crushes, grinds, presses, and squeezes the seeds as they travel along the shaft. The residual cake from which the oil has been extracted is extruded through the cake outlet, while the extracted oil flows through the oil channel to the oil outlet. The expeller was tested, and the results showed a high oil yield and efficient operation with low extraction loss. The cake outlet produces the residual cake in the form of flakes. The machine is powered by a 20 hp three-phase electric motor.