Vol. 9, Special Issue 2, Part C (2025)

The presence of hard seed coat of chironji is one of the shelling problems in decortications of nuts, its small size let’s to damage the seed at the time of decortications and spoil the seeds which reduce its economical value and also deteriorate the shelf life of it which leads to low storage stability. Traditional processing method chironji is very cumbersome, time consuming and labour extensive. There is very less recovery of whole kernel nearly 20% only rest is either broken or mashed. Reduces broken losses and improve its recovery and economical value to needs design of chironji decorticator.

The drawings were prepared already using the CAD software. The selection of materials and fabrication was done following the standard manufacturing processes. The shelling chamber consists of the cylindrical housing, and the shelling disc. Above to the chamber a hopper was provided at appropriate height to make constant feeding with a control baffle. The cylindrical housing was made from mild steel. The shelling disc was made from a pair of emery black stone which rotate at 240 rpm. The upper disc was fixed and the lower one is revolving clockwise direction. An adjustable screw was provided for adjustment of clearance between the discs. The disc was operated by a single phase electric motor having 1440 rpm. They are arranged inside the cylindrical housing. The shelling chamber incorporates an opening at the bottom part which serves as an outlet for the shelled chironji seeds. A reciprocating shaker was provided in the lower front side of the machine to grade the chironji kernels, shells and mealy dust particles.