Development of Banana Chipping Machine

Abstract

The electric motor operated and manually operated banana chipping
machine with feeding conveyor were evaluated as to its performance on the basis of
the weight of chipped banana, thickness of desirable banana chips, chipping capacity,
weight of desirable banana chips, chipping efficiency, weight of undesirable banana
chips and chipping loss. The bananas were cut longitudinally and cross-sectionally to
determine the performance of the machine.
The performance of electric motor operated banana chipping machine with
feeding conveyor was higher than the manual operated machine regardless the crosssectional or longitudinal chipping. The electric motor operated banana chipping with
feeding conveyor has the capacity to chip 67.32 kg/hr of banana cross-sectionally and
54.11 kg/hr longitudinally while manual operated machine can only chip 46.67 kg/
hr and 37.64 kg/hr respectively. 92.43% chipping efficiency and a relative efficiency
of 145.78%. This gives the electric operated machine higher chipping efficiency of
87.55% cross-sectionally and 92.16 % longitudinally than manual operated machine
with 87.53% and 92.14% respectively. The electric motor operated machine has
lesser chipping loss with 0.75% cross-sectionally and 2.19% longitudinally than of
manual operated machine with 2.67% and 7.86% respectively.
The machine has high chipping capacity and efficiency, and has lesser chipping
loss which can be attributed by using electric motor operated banana chipping
machine with feeding conveyor. In order to further reduce the chipping loss, it is
recommended to provide a conveyor to ensure that the chipped banana will go
directly to the container. Also, a hopper and a guide will be of great help in a smooth
operation of the machine.