Development and Fabrication of Moringa Oleifera

Seed De-hulling, Oil Extractor and Pelletizer Machine.

Argiel John B. Llagas1, Darryl L. Cabanilla1, John Gerard T. Cero1
1,2,3
Mechanical Engineering Program, College of Engineering Education
University of Mindanao, Matina, Davao City, Philippines
1
[email protected]
2
[email protected]
3
[email protected]
 coming from extraction can be turned into biomass-fuel by the
process of pelletizing. All kind of organic matter which comes
I. INTRODUCTION from living or previously living organism can be used as a
source of energy, either by combustion to produce heat or by
In the English language Moringa oleifera tree is commonly converting to biofuel [10]. So, the shell after the de-hulling
termed as horseradish, drumstick tree or mother’s best friend. process and the waste of seed cake coming from the extraction
In the Philippines this is what we called “Malunggay “or process can in return be a biomass fuel or fertilizer by
“Kamunggay” tree, in Brazil this is what they call as okra of pelletizing process. Agricultural residues such as fruit shells
quina, cedar, white acacia, moringuerio or white lily. While in and industrial wood waste and energy crop waste, can in
Spanish it is widely called in many names like ben, árbol Del return be a biomass fuel pellets or briquettes by the process of
ben, morango and moringa. It is widely known in ancient densification with the help of heat and pressure. [11] The
times from Agra to Oudh in India, located south of the seed cake waste after extraction is found to have a high
Himalayas [1]. However, the origin of this plant is still energetic potential, the calorific value ranges from 15.87
unknown. Moringa belongs to the family of Moringaceae, MJ/kg to 23.31 MJ/kg and found to be good for briquetting or
with thirteen different species. Moringa Oleifera tree is pelletizing process [12].
located and in most common tropical and sub-tropical places
like Egypt, Ceylon, Thailand, Burma, Pakistan, Brazil, The proponents, based on the properties of Moringa
Singapore, Jamaica, Ethiopia, Sudan, Africa, Nigeria, India, oleifera, plan to develop and fabricate a machine that will de-
Philippines and many other regions [1]. Moringa oleifera’s hull its seeds, extract the oil and pelletize what will remained
benefits ranges from its seeds which is rich in oil, pod which of the seeds. The performance of moringa dehulling machine
have good combustible characteristics, leaves and flowers will be based on the moisture content of the seeds, because the
down to the main tree which have medicinal purposes and for moisture content of the moringa seeds will have an effect on
water purification [2]. Moringa can be easily planted and it its extracted oils and also the size of the seeds, the size of the
can also be easily cultivated. seeds will also be a major factor in the efficiency of the de-
hulling mechanism [13].
This tree can adapt to well-drained, sandy-clay soils and
also it can grow in clay soil without stagnant water, but it In harvesting process, the physical properties of Moringa
develops better in a well-drained and neutral soils. The soil oleifera seeds like size, how rounded the seeds are, the
need not to be fertile because this plant flower within eight moisture content of the seeds and the examination of how they
months after being planted and produce its own fruit within are dehulled, extracted of oil and pelletize is important in
fifteen months in poor soils although the weight of the seeds determining the quality of the seeds that will be used in
may be affected [2]. This tree has many health benefits designing a machine [14].
ranging from amino acids, vitamin and calcium, from
improving energy, lowering blood sugar level, helps improve In our present time the use of moringa seed de-hulling
the hair and skin, and also it can use as water purifier. machine as well as the oil extraction machine from seed is
Moringa leaves are believed and reported to prevent over 300 somewhat common in agricultural production line, while the
human diseases such as diabetes, hypotension, tumour etc. [3] briquettes or pellets coming from the waste of these two
Common usage of its bark, stem and roots ranges from processes is performed by hand. The extraction of oil is
perfumes, cleaning agents, fertilizers, natural pesticides and commonly performed without removing the shell of the
down to medicines while the oils coming from its kernels kernels of the seed this process leads to a rapid tear and wears
which is good as olive oil can be used in cooking, cosmetics of the extractor and have effects on the quality of oil as what
etc. [3] [7] found. The machine that operates on these three processes
has not been developed. This machine will indeed be a
revolution in the utilization of Moringa oleifera plant. The
machine will reduce human effort while the production will be
The Moringa oleifera seed is one of the vegetal specie that beneficial to humans as well as the environment.
has high percentage of oil content, which is approximately
The objectives of this study is to design, fabricate and
35% - 40%. The oil is called behen oil or as what researchers
evaluate the performance of a small scale machine that will
called the “Ben” oil because of its high concentration of
de-hull the shell of the moringa seeds, extract the oil coming
behenic acid. The moringa oil can also be a feedstock to
from the kernels, and pelletize the waste that could be used as
biodiesel [4 - 6]. The first step in producing good quality oil
biomass fuel, fertilizer or in any application that possible.
from Moringa is the seed de-hulling or the shelling process
which in consequence obtains oil with fewer requirements in
the follow up refining process. Due to the lightness of weight
The scope of this study focuses only on the Moringa
of moringa shell, the application of bio-composites is gaining
oleifera seed, the shelling process, the oil extraction and
interest in industry, while the production of activated carbon
making of pellets out of waste coming from the shell and seed
from the shell is being utilized [7 - 9]. The waste seed cake
cake waste. The pods of the seeds are being neglected,
because the design of the machine does not perform the
separation of the pods from the seeds. The machine is not B. Materials and Resources
expected to be used for other crops. Although, shelling may be
done on other crops, but is not expected to be feasible or The moringa plant in the Philippines is abundant and the
practical. collection and the drying of seeds is the first step
.
Locally available materials will be used for the fabrication.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Medium and high carbon steel will be mostly used for body
parts.

The hopper which is in a shape of a frustrum of a pyramid

A. Conceptual Framework with specific dimensions, the de-hulling mechanism, the oil
Fig. 1 shows the conceptual framework of the study. In the extractor mechanism and the pelletizing mechanism are the
input, the parameters include the dried moringa seeds, because major components of the machine and which will be mounted
the moisture content of the seeds will affect the de hulling all together to the housing of the machine. The simulation
performance of the machine, and the quantity of seeds that the model of the machine made possible by Solidworks software.
machine will accommodate. In the process, this includes the
design, fabrication and performance assessment of the The de-hulling mechanism which is a mild steel bar huller
machine. The output will be the desired machine which is the that have a 50 mm diameter and 150 mm long with 4 pieces of
moringa oleifera seed de-hulling, oil extractor and pelletizer key like components that are attached opposite and
machine. perpendicularly to each other with dimensions of 200 x 10 x
10 mm. The oil expeller and pelletizer will be a constant
The whole process of the Moringa oleifera seed will thread and will use common steel material used in oil expeller
require three machines as previously done. This study intends and screw type pelletizer mechanism. The oil expeller screw
to develop a single machine only. diameter will be 80 mm with a length of 300 mm while the
pelletizer screw will be 70 mm in diameter and will be also
300 mm in length. A blower will also be attached to separate
the shells from the seeds.

C. Methods and Procedures

Figure 2 shows the model of design 1, Figure 3 shows its

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT labelled parts while in Figures 4-7 shows its main internal
parts.

 Orthographic View
 Moisture  Design, Moringa
content of Fabrication oleifera
dried and seed de-
moringa performance hulling, oil
seeds. assessment of extractor
the machine. and
 Size of pelletizer
seeds. machine.

Fig. 1 Conceptual Framework

Fig. 2 The internal design model of the machine.
 moringa seed and the oils from its kernels or its main inside
seed will be extracted and the waste after the two processes
will be made as pellets with 3 mm minimum diameter. The
machine components and system mechanism consist of steel
frame which all of the components will be mounted together,
the hopper which is in a form of a truncated pyramid with an
angle of inclination of 60 degrees to enable conveying and
storage of the moringa seeds before moving to the dehulling
chamber. The seeds must be dried first before processing. The
dehulling mechanism or a bar huller will crack the seeds of
the moringa by impact and tangential shear force with the help
from the key like component that is attached to the hub. The
dehulling mechanism, will rely on the capacity of the hoper,
the hopper can accommodate 1kg of moringa seeds, so in its
first operation, 1kg of moringa seeds will also be dehulled and
Fig. 3 The labelled parts of the machine. then continuously be processed in next part of the machine.

With the aerodynamic differences of the shell from the

Main Internal Parts kernels, after the process of de-hulling, the waste shell will be
thrown to the other chamber with the help of the blower, while
the kernels will be brought down by gravity to the extraction
mechanism to extract its oil. The oil extractor mechanism with
the principle of a power screw will extract the oils of the
dehull seeds coming from the dehulling process, and the
pelletizer with the same principle of the oil extractor, will be
the one who will make the waste coming from the two process
as pellets with a 3 mm diameter with a die at the end portion
with three holes, so the pelletizer will produce 3 pieces of
pellets. Consequentially, the pellets diameter will have the
Fig.4 Hopper. Fig 5. Shelling Hub. same diameter as the die.

The diameter of the shaft in the oil extractor mechanism

will be a lot bigger than the pelletizer, in reverse the size of
the thread of the oil extractor will be smaller compared to the
size of the thread of the pelletizer. The oil extractor and
pelletizer mechanism work as a conveyor and as a power
screw. The thread can either be welded or be already be part
of the shaft with its specific height and, which will be the one
who will exert force to the seeds to extract oil or to form
pellets. [15]
Fig 6. Oil extractor.
With the help of the transmission belt and pulley the machine
will operate synchronously.

The overall volume of this machine is approximately 0.5

cubic meter. The machine is for small scale operation only,
with a 1kg capacity of moringa seeds per operation of the
machine.

Pulleys are designed in different diameters because every

part of the machine needs to attain its specific speed. For
example, the speed of rotation of the oil extraction will be
slight fast than the speed of the screw type pelletizer
mechanism but also must be smaller than the speed of the
Fig 7. Screw pelletizer mechanism/ Die. shelling mechanism.

The machine is designed to remove the shell of the

 Figure 8 shows the schematic diagram of the processes [9] O. Kayode and A. Kabir, “Industrial Crops & Products
Optimization of shelling e ffi ciency of a Moringa oleifera seed
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The waste of The process
Moringa oil shelling and of oil
and Moringa oil extraction extraction in
waste pellets. will be made the kernels
`
as pellets. begins.

Moringa
seed oil.

Fig. 8 Step by step process that the seeds will undergo.

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