Projecção de uma prensa para extracção de óleo de coco

Abstract

Vegetables oils, particularly, coconut oils, are important sources of human nutrition and excellent as sources of energy and supplements for the human body, and in addition to food use, they can be applied for other uses. Coconut kernel is a rich source of oil, containing around 40% of it in its composition. And in order to explore the benefits brought by coconut oil, this work was developed to design a continuous screw mechanical press for the extraction of coconut oil. Pressing using this method consists of forcing the oily mass, that is, coconut kernel, to pass through a cylindrical barrel by the rotating action of the screw, and its volume will be reduced as it passes through the barrel, causing compression of the kernel and consequent oil leakage. The superiority of this method basically consists of the continuity of the raw material compression process. And in order to guarantee greater continuity and productivity in the process, a crushing unit is provided. That is, a crusher will be added to the press, which will also be designed in this work. The methodology used to carry out this project consisted of bibliographical research an 3D conceptual development of the machine, with the help of AutoCAD software. And later, a prototype of the machine will be developed for experimental testing, and it can be developed at the facilities of the Faculty of iiiEngineering, at Eduardo Mondlane University. The capacity of the machine is defined at the beginning of the project as 100 kg of coconut per hour. And the entire project was developed based on this data, and an attempt was made to establish a list of calculations based on a certain estimated flow rate, which could be applied to the design of a continuous screw press. The project proved to be satisfactory and with results that meet the study in case, however, more tests and studies must be carried out to improve the project.