Performance of water recirculating rotary root crop washer / Shierra-Ann D. Corpuz

Thesis Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering University of Rizal System Tanay 2020

Includes bibliographical references

The main objective of this study was to test the performance of the water recirculating rotary root crop washer. The research method used in this study employed the developmental research method which allows systematic study of engineering design, planning and analysis of different data in order to test the performance of the washer. The water recirculating rotary root crop washer has an overall dimension of 109.5 cm long, 53.34 cm wide and 155.5 cm height and powered by a 1/2 hp electric motor. It is made up of the following components: (1) washing chamber, (2) sediment collector, (3) water tank and (4) the frame. The washing chamber was made of brushes and flat bars, and was equipped with 1.9 cm length of screw. The sediment collector was made of plastic wire mesh and net that served as water filter. The water tank was made of galvanized iron sheet gauge no. 20 welded in rectangular form. Angle bars and flat bars served as the frame of the machine. The average washing capacity per hour was 72.14 kilogram for ginger and 43.74 kilogram for turmeric. The average machine efficiency was 91.76 percent for ginger and 89.27 percent for turmeric. The average water consumption was 119.40 liters per hour for ginger and 72.34 liters per hour for turmeric. The average cleaning efficiency was 91.36 percent for ginger and 87.55 percent for turmeric. The operating cost using the machine was Php.1.03 per kilogram of ginger and Php.1.68 per kilogram of turmeric. The investment cost of machine is Php.34,228.00. The cost analysis showed that operating the root crop washer, the investment will recover in 1.48 years for ginger and 1.49 years for turmeric.