Abstract

African locust bean is a leguminous plant that is rich in nutrients and is used as food condiment. The traditional method of processing this food condiment is mostly unhygienic; consume a lot of fire wood, human energy and time. Using traditional methods for boiling 33.7Kg  of  locust  bean  would  take  about  12  hours.  This  study  attempts  to  mechanize the  existing  traditional  methods  of  boiling  locust  bean  by  designing,  constructing,  and evaluating electrically powered locust bean boiler. The boiler consists of three composite drums, each with a cylindrical upper part and conical lower part. The boiling chamber is made of 304 austenitic stainless steel which contains the heating elements. Fibre glass is lodged between the steel materials as an insulator. As power is supplied to the boiler, the elements convert the electrical energy to heat energy attaining the temperature of 200.7°C in 5 minutes. The machine has the capacity of boiling 33.7Kg of locust bean in 1 hour at 90°C. The cost of producing a unit is 20,207.5.

Keywords

design, locust bean, boiler, heating, designing, constructing