Design and development of a garlic sizing machine

Abstract

A garlic sizing machine was fabricated to increase the working capacity and reduce garlic sizing time in the seasoning industry. The prototype consisted of a main frame, sizing unit, feeding chute, power transmission unit and 1-hp electric motor used as a prime mover. A bulk of whole garlic was fed manually into the feeding chute at the top of the machine. Then, these fell into the sizing unit comprising of a set of 3 cylindrical rotary sieves that serves to grade garlic into 3 sizes. After sizing, the garlic was discharged to the discharge chute in front of the machine. For performance evaluation, continued feeding and 3 sizing unit speeds of 10, 15 and 20 rpm were used. The test results indicated that the best sizing quality was obtained when the machine was operated at the sizing unit speed of 20 rpm. The sizing accuracy was found to be 90.8%, the working capacity was 167.8 kg per hour, and the machine consumed 0.8 kW-h of electric power. Based on engineering economic analysis, the machine cost was found to be 0.2 Baht/kg, the payback period was 1.06 years, and the breakeven point was 557 hours per year at the annual use of 2,400 hours per year.