DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TESTING OF A PEDAL OPERATED MAIZE GRAIN CLEANER
I. K. MAYANJA *
Department of Agricultural and Bio-Systems Engineering, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
J. KIGOZI
Department of Agricultural and Bio-Systems Engineering, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
J. B. KAWONGOLO
Department of Agricultural and Bio-Systems Engineering, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
T. J. BRUMM
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In Uganda, maize is traditionally cleaned using a grain sieve and manual winnowing, which are labour intensive and time consuming. Available maize cleaners are mainly imported into Uganda and are costly. Additionally, there is a lack of expertise to maintain and repair imported maize cleaners. To address the challenges, a new prototype of a pedal operated maize grain cleaner was conceptualised, designed, fabricated using mild steel. It was tested with materials smaller and larger than maize grain. The pedal operated maize cleaner was determined to have a cleaning efficiency of 83%, seed damage of 2%, separation loss of 8% and cleaning rate of 722 kg/hr. This machine design should meet the needs of small or medium scale enterprises especially in rural areas where electricity is unavailable.
Keywords: Maize grain, rotary motion, pedal operation