Development of a Simple Pulper for Leaves of Green Plants

摘要

A simple vegetable pulper was designed and fabricated. The machine consists mainly of a 1,450 rpm rotor and chopper operating in a large hopper. Driven by a one horse power single phase motor the machine has a capacity of about 17 kg per batch. In evaluating the performance of the machine, the leaves of four plant species were used including; cassava (Manihot esculenta), bitter leaf (Vernonia amydalina), and Siam weed (Chromlaena odorata) and glircidia (Gliricidia maculata). The leaves of the plant species were macerated in the machine for six minutes with particle size analysis being done after each minute using the ASAE Standard S424 (1989). Results indicated that the coarsest material, vernonia, after six minutes of pulping, reduced to a size of 3.5 mm while the finest material after the s,ame period, manihot leaves, attained a size of 2 mm. Compared to the manual method, the machine reduced chopping time per batch of 17 kg by about four hours. Plots of duration of pulping versus feed size indicate a good relationship between the two, the best given by vernonia (R~2 = 0.9892 and the least by chro-molaena (R~2 = 0.9598).