Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller

A solar powered groundnut sheller was developed and evaluated for shelling the groundnut pods with diminished environmental pollution and cost of shelling. The developed solar powered groundnut sheller mainly consists of a shelling unit, a power transmission system, and solar energy appliances. The...

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Main Authors: Vinod Choudhary, Gajendra Singh, Rajendra Machavaram
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311916.2025.2542190
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author Vinod Choudhary
Gajendra Singh
Rajendra Machavaram
author_facet Vinod Choudhary
Gajendra Singh
Rajendra Machavaram
author_sort Vinod Choudhary
collection DOAJ
description A solar powered groundnut sheller was developed and evaluated for shelling the groundnut pods with diminished environmental pollution and cost of shelling. The developed solar powered groundnut sheller mainly consists of a shelling unit, a power transmission system, and solar energy appliances. The maximum power consumption of the sheller during shelling operation was found to be 89.12 W. The operational time of the sheller was 48 min without charging the battery. The mean shelling capacity, shelling efficiency, damaged kernels, and unshelled groundnut pods at 6.82% (db) moisture content were calculated as 131 kg/h, 88.68%, 2.2%, and 9.12%, respectively. The shelling capacity of the developed sheller was 2.6 times more than that of the manual shelling (50.9 kg/h). The energy demand obtained during the operation of shelling groundnut pods was measured to be 2.15 kJ/kg, and it can save around 7.28 kJ/kg energy demands over the manual shelling. It could be operated by a single worker with a total cost of Rs. 582.97 (7.71 USD) per ton to shell the groundnut pods. Thus, it can save almost Rs. 2091.68 (27.65 USD) per ton compared to the manual shelling of groundnut pods. It is a woman-friendly reduced human drudgery by 84% compared with the manual shelling of groundnut pods. The shelling cost of groundnut pods using the developed sheller was 78% lower than that of the existing manual sheller. Hence, it is an efficient and economical substitute for the shelling of groundnut pods for India’s small and medium sized farmers and industries.
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spelling doaj-art-119d4e0cbf3c4a3baf18c1e5929bfaee2025-08-20T14:46:38ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Engineering2331-19162025-12-0112110.1080/23311916.2025.2542190Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut shellerVinod Choudhary0Gajendra Singh1Rajendra Machavaram2Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, IndiaAgricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, IndiaAgricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, IndiaA solar powered groundnut sheller was developed and evaluated for shelling the groundnut pods with diminished environmental pollution and cost of shelling. The developed solar powered groundnut sheller mainly consists of a shelling unit, a power transmission system, and solar energy appliances. The maximum power consumption of the sheller during shelling operation was found to be 89.12 W. The operational time of the sheller was 48 min without charging the battery. The mean shelling capacity, shelling efficiency, damaged kernels, and unshelled groundnut pods at 6.82% (db) moisture content were calculated as 131 kg/h, 88.68%, 2.2%, and 9.12%, respectively. The shelling capacity of the developed sheller was 2.6 times more than that of the manual shelling (50.9 kg/h). The energy demand obtained during the operation of shelling groundnut pods was measured to be 2.15 kJ/kg, and it can save around 7.28 kJ/kg energy demands over the manual shelling. It could be operated by a single worker with a total cost of Rs. 582.97 (7.71 USD) per ton to shell the groundnut pods. Thus, it can save almost Rs. 2091.68 (27.65 USD) per ton compared to the manual shelling of groundnut pods. It is a woman-friendly reduced human drudgery by 84% compared with the manual shelling of groundnut pods. The shelling cost of groundnut pods using the developed sheller was 78% lower than that of the existing manual sheller. Hence, it is an efficient and economical substitute for the shelling of groundnut pods for India’s small and medium sized farmers and industries.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311916.2025.2542190broken kernelsergonomicgroundnut podsshelling capacityshelling efficiencysolar powered groundnut sheller
spellingShingle Vinod Choudhary
Gajendra Singh
Rajendra Machavaram
Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller
Cogent Engineering
broken kernels
ergonomic
groundnut pods
shelling capacity
shelling efficiency
solar powered groundnut sheller
title Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller
title_full Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller
title_fullStr Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller
title_full_unstemmed Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller
title_short Development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller
title_sort development and performance evaluation of a solar powered groundnut sheller
topic broken kernels
ergonomic
groundnut pods
shelling capacity
shelling efficiency
solar powered groundnut sheller
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311916.2025.2542190
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AT rajendramachavaram developmentandperformanceevaluationofasolarpoweredgroundnutsheller