| Cracking of dika nut has presented serious challenges to local processors considering the arduous task it constitutes during processing. A motorized machine that is capable of multiple cracking of dika nuts was designed, fabricated and tested. The major components of the machine include a sliding hammer, a gear unit, a chain conveyor and cracking trays. The experimental machine was evaluated on the basis of cracking efficiency and throughput considering three types of pre-treated nuts (sun-dried, oven-dried and roasted) and two nut sizes (small and big). The cracking efficiency and throughput were: 65% and 8.84kg/h, 63% and 7.75kg/h, 45% and 5.67 kg/h for roasted, oven-dried and sun-dried small nuts; while the corresponding values for big nuts were: 72%... |
