Evaluation of a Small-Scale Peanut Sheller

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Abstract
Small-scale peanut shelling equipment has been designed and used to meet various needs and scales. A laboratory-scale sheller has been used by researchers to approximate the shelling outturns of a commercial shelling plant using 2 to 10 kg samples. A single commercial-sized sheller will have a shelling capacity up to 23 MT/hr. Commercial shelling operations utilize multiple shellers, each designed to shell a narrow range of peanut sizes. There are enterprises such as small seed processors or manufacturers in developing countries that need shelling equipment capable of processing 100 to 1000 kg of peanuts per hour with the capability of mechanically separating the hulls from the shelled material. A three-stage sheller was designed, fabricated, and tested to determine its throughput (kg/h), the efficiency of separating the hulls from the shelled peanut kernels, and sizing the shelled peanut kernels. The sheller had a maximum shelling rate in the first shelling stage of 1087 kg/h operating at 252 rpm. Approximately 93 % of the peanuts were shelled in the first stage of shelling. An air velocity of 9.55 m/s was used to aspirate a mixed stream of peanuts and hulls and removed 97% of the hulls. The sheller was equipped with vibratory screens to separate the material into unshelled, edible sized peanut kernels, and oil stock.