Design and construction of banana fiber pseudostem extractor machine.

Abstract

Banana fiber is a natural fiber textile which is popular used produced by farmers using manual scraping leading to a slow process and failure to meet a demand requirement. This study emphasizes on banana fiber extraction. The comparison of extraction fiber machine of rasp bar and saw-tooth bar was studied. This basic information was used for mechanical design, construction and testing the performance of the extraction fiber machine in a farmer scale. The testing factors of this study were clearances of 0.75, 1.00 and 1.5 mm, extraction drum speeds of 645, 775, and 905 rpm (6.8, 8.1 and 9.5 m/s, respectively) and feeding positions of 45 and 90 degrees. For the banana leaf sheath prepared from the second to the sixth layer at the length of 0.8 m, it found that the width, thickness and weight of banana stems were not significantly different. When compared the extraction fiber unit, the rasp bar type could separate a good texture of banana leaf sheath, while the saw-tooth bar type made a damage texture until the machine could not work. The results of factors affecting machine operation found that the extraction drum speed and clearance had no significant effect on percent of fiber extraction and force, while the feed position had a significant difference on percent of fiber extraction and force. The clearance of 1.5mm, drum speed of 645 rpm and feed position of 90 degrees were suitable condition for extraction which provided a good quality of fiber by visual observations which gave the least residual amount of tissue and a small damage fiber. Moreover, the extraction capacity was 231 of prepared sheath/h that was higher than using the existing machine and manual scrapping approximately 1.5-2 and 20-24 times respectively.