Development and performance testing of mechanical fruit washer (stirrer type).
Magar A. P., Abuj M. D., Bhandari P. R., Bhutada S. H., Bastewad T. B.
Author Affiliation: Department of Farm Machinery and Power Aditya, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Beed 431 112, India.
Journal of Maharashtra Agricultural Universities 36 : 103-107
Abstract : A prototype of mechanical fruit washer was developed and evaluated for its performance. The effect of three different rotor speeds (1466, 1476 and 1486 rpm) and rotor types (A.B.C.) with 20 cm (110 lit) depth of water was studied on capacity and performance index was evaluated for mango, potato and tomato fruits. Highest capacity (833.17 kg hr-1) was found with 98.09 per cent washing efficiency and 3.90 performance index at 1486 rpm using rotor C in case of tomato washing. The ratio of cost of manual to mechanical washing for mango, potato and tomato was found 4.26:1, 5.89:1 and 7.58:1, respectively. The average cost of mechanical washing was found Rs. 24.80 per tonne. The overall dimensions of machine were 1000×560×750 mm.