Design and Development of a Combined Cacao Bean Huller- Pulverizer Machine

Cacao has a significant impact on the food industry.Approximately 6.5 million tons of cacao are produced every year.The study aims to design and fabricate a combined cacao bean huller-pulverizer where roasted cacao beans are processed to cacao powder.The machine was tested in terms of its capacity, efficiency, and fineness modulus.The result showed that the combined cacao bean huller-pulverizer has an average output capacity of 4.74 kg/hr and an average output efficiency of 46.8%.The cacao powder produced by the machine has a fineness modulus of 3.62.In contrast, the fineness modulus of the commercially available cacao powder was 4.33.The two different cacao powders showed a significant difference using an independent sample t-test.Based on the results, the overall performance of the combined cacao bean huller-pulverizer was fair.The financial feasibility of the machine was also evaluated, and a positive economic impact was observed.