Piloting and Commercialization of Coconut Husk Decorticating Machine

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Fabrication and Piloting OfCoconut Husk
Decorticating Machines
L.J. PEÑAMORA and G.A.SANTOS
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OBJECTIVES
The project aims to promote the technology on
coconut husk decorticating machine and baling
machine for commercial processing and utilization
of coir fiber and dust.
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OBJECTIVES

• Specifically, this project aims to
• fabricate, demonstrate, monitor and evaluate
  the field performance of the machines, and
• assess/determine its technical and economic
  benefits on a commercial operation.

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Coconut Fiber and Peat Morphology and Chemical
Composition

• Husk 60-70 coir dust (peat) and 30-40 fiber
  on dry weight basis.
• The ratio of long, medium and short fiber is
  603010, respectively.
• Lignin and cellulose make up the greater part of
  the ground tissue of the husk.

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Coconut Fiber and Peat Morphology and Chemical
Composition

• India and Sri Lanka, produce best quality fibers
  with the average yield is 80-90 grams per husk.
• Caribbean husks, may give up to 150 grams.
• Philippines has about 40 grams husk, 40 is
  coarse (mattress) and 60 is fine (bristle)

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Coconut Fiber and Peat Morphology and Chemical
Composition

• Lignin responsible for coir stiffness and
  color.
• Coir has about 33 lignin 36 cellulose
• Cocopeat has about 24 lignin 21 cellulose
• The maturity of nut influences the composition of
  the husk.
• Compared to other plant fibers, the coir fiber
  has low amount of cellulose but high in lignin

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Type of Fiber Cellulose Hemicellulose Pectin Lignin Extractives Fats/ Waxes
Sisal 91.8 6.3 - - 1.1 0.7
Flax 71.2 18.5 2.0 2.2 4.3 1.6
Hemp 78.3 5.4 2.5 2.9 - -
Jute 71.5 13.3 0.2 13.1 1.2 -
Cotton 35.6 15.4 5.1 32.1 3.0 -
Coconut Coir (white) 36.7 15.2 4.7 32.7 3.1 -
Coconut Coir (brown) 19.9 11.9 7.0 32.5 0.3 0.6
Coco nut peat 73.1 13.3 0.9 53.3 1.3 0.3
Abaca 70.2 21. 7 0.6 11.0 1.6 0.2
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SEM micrograph of the surface of coconut husk
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SEM micrograph of a cocopeat (coir dust)
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SEM micrograph of cross section of coir fiber
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Fiber Extraction Methods

• Manual/Traditional Method

a. Retting - soaking husk in ponds or waterholes
for 4 - 6 months
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1. Manual/Traditional Method

• The soaked husks are beaten manually to remove
  the fiber, then washed and dried.
• Gives the best quality fiber suited for spinning
  and weaving. The retted white fibers from green
  husk are suitable for dyeing and bleaching.

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2. The mechanical method
a. Decorticating - whole husks are fed in a
cylindrical cylinder crushed by the
beating action of the impellers.
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2. The mechanical method

• b. Defibering - machine scrapes the coir dust
  and short fiber from the husk producing clean
  bristle fiber and mattress fiber

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3. Biotechnological Approach

• Uses microbial enzyme, laccase or peroxidase
• Environmentally friendly
• Substantially reduced retting time
• High quality fiber is maintained

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MATERIALS AND METHODS

• Design and fabrication of coconut husk
  decorticating machine
• Affordability, mobility, adaptability to
  village-level operation
• Reasonable production output with acceptable
  quality of fiber
• Easy and safe to operate

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MATERIALS AND METHODS

• 2. Pilot testing/technical evaluation.
• Pilot testing was done to validate the technical
  feasibility and economic viability of operating a
  coconut husk decorticating machine
• The 20 hp decorticating machine was initially
  deployed in Lamitan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries
  Cooperative (LARBECO) in Lamitan, Basilan

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MATERIALS AND METHODS

• The unit is now piloted at the PCA-ZRC c/o
  Employees Cooperative.
• Another decorticating machine (10-hp electric
  motor driven) was fielded in Roxas, Zamboanga del
  Norte care of a farmers cooperative.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

• 1. Design and fabrication
• PCA-Commercial Type machine has 20 hp 3-phase
  engine electric-driven motor with the 11
  operating speed and similar system design as
  mobile unit
• Modified shafting, intake and outlet chutes of
  the machine.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

• Mobile decorticating machine - single piston 22hp
  internal combustion engine as the prime mover.
• The cylinder and the engine are both mounted on
  top of a trailer and the whole unit can be easily
  be towed by a tractor or a working animal to the
  field.
• Cost of fabricating the machine is P 156,725.42
  inclusive of materials, labor and electricity
  requirement

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Shafting Assembly of the Stationary Decorticating
Machine

• Has 24 flat steel blades (2.0 cm thick x 5.0 cm
  wide x 37 cm long)
• Consists of 6 channels with four blades per
  channel.
• Shafting dimension 7.5 cm in diameter and 165.0
  cm long
• The pitch of blades is about 12 inclination.

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Shafting Assembly of the mobile decorticating
machine

• Steel shafting. 75 mm x 1.65 m long supported at
  the ends with two pillow block bearings.
• Impellers. Seven (7) sets of blade with four (4)
  blades per set or a total of 28 blades. Uniformly
  set at 12 degree angle inclination in spiral
  pattern along the steel shaft.

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PCA-Commercial Type Stationary Decorticating
Machine (20-HP)
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Mobile Coconut Husk Decorticating Machine
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2. Testing and Evaluation

• Tests on the performance of the commercial-type
  machine showed a maximum output of 1.1 ton fiber
  and 2.3 tons coir dust per day of operation.
• The machine was operated by 2 men
• Large pieces of coconut husks have to be broken
  down into pieces by hand before feeding them into
  the machine
• Feeding the whole unbroken husks choked the
  machine.

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Testing and Evaluation

• The recovery of coir fiber was 40 of the total
  weight of the husks while the dust constituted
  the remaining 60.
• Based on the grading standard set by the PCA and
  Fiber Industry Development Authority, the coir
  fiber may be classified as CH3 Class or mixed
  fiber.
• The fibers produced were generally crumpled and
  tangled with fine dusts still clinging to them
  requiring minimum straining and drying before
  finally baling them into 25 kgs. bundles.

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3. Production and Financial Analyses of Operating
the Machine at PCA-ZRC

• Five basic equipment/machines are involved in the
  production of coconut fiber as follows
• Decorticating machine - 20-hp,3 phase electric
  motor driven
• Baling Machine 15-hp electric motor driven,
  output of 45 bales per day (weight per bale,
  25-35-kg and volume, 11.5 cubic ft.)
• Dipping tank
• Hauling Cart- manually operated
• Drying platforms- Bamboo frames and beds racks
• The total worth of these machines/equipment
  is estimated to be P336,000.

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Raw Materials ZRC has capacity to supply 10,000
husks per day
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Dehusking of coconuts
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Plant Site Decorticating machine and baling
machine operate inside a 200 sq. m.
semi-permanent building within 1,000 sq lot at
TUD-ZRC
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Sun drying and drying under shed of fiber
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Machine Capacity

• The decorticating machine is operated
  continuously for seven (7) hours per day or 240
  days per year, it is capable of processing
  approximately 1,920,000 pieces of coconut husk
  annually. The expected volume of products
  generated is about 264 tons fiber and 528 tons
  dust.
• Baling machine, a 15 hp electric motor-driven
  hydraulic press which is operated by 2 men
  produces a maximum output of 45 bales per day
  with 25 kilogram fiber per bale.

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Capacity 1.1 ton fiber 2.3 tons coir dust per
day
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Baling Machine (15 hp electric motor) Capacity
45 bales per day _at_ 25 kg fiber per bale
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Financial Aspect
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Profitability Indicators
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Twining of coconut fiber using a pedal-driven
twining machine
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Different products from coconut fiber and peat
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Molded cocopeat used a soil conditioner
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COCONUT FIBERBOARDS
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

• The overall performance of the 20-hp electric
  motor-driven decorticating machine can be
  considered satisfactory as shown by the quantity
  of daily production output as well as the
  percentage recovery and quality of coir fiber and
  dust produced.
• The initial piloting operation at PCA-ZRC was
  economically viable based on the preliminary
  financial evaluation done. The projections in the
  cost and return analysis showed that a net income
  of PhP862,314.32 could be gained on the first
  year of operation assuming that all the products
  are absorbed in the market.

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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

• Technically, the 20 hp electric driven machine
  can be adopted in small-scale commercial
  production of coconut fiber and dust because of
  its lower maintenance cost and ease of operation,
  provided that the 3-phase electrical supply is
  available.
• The pilot testing of the mobile decorticating
  machine to be operated by a farmers cooperative
  should be done to evaluate the economic
  feasibilities of establishing and operating the
  said machine.

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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

• Continued information and data gathering must be
  conducted on the operation of the decorticating
  machine at PCA-ZRC to fully evaluate its economic
  potentials.
• To minimize, if not totally eliminated, the
  future problem in drying of fiber, it is
  recommended that improvement in fiber drying
  facilities such as construction of hot air dryer
  or forced air dryer is recommended.

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