Design and construction of a manually operated candlenut seed oil press.

Abstract

Candleberry tree is a flowering tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae (Morton, 1992). It is often found in some rainforests and it is described as a bushy tree with a wide scattering crown (Ndaya, 2013). It makes a suitable shade tree and a good ornament with large leaves and attractive white flowers (Elbert et al., 1989). In Uganda, the species occurs only rarely in spread dehydrates of woodland in Mbarara District, central part of Uganda (Buganda Region), Bunyoro and along River Nile (Leistner, 2000). Propagation is through seeds and requires moderate to abundant water and also prefers a good drainage (Morton, 1992). Seeds are 4-6 centimetres (l .6-2.4 in) in diameter. Moreover, the seed inside has a very hard seed coat and a high oil content, which, anciently, allowed it to be used as a candle, and hence its name (Scott and Craig, 2000). The kernel contains about 60% of oil and burns easily with a smoky flame (Morton, 1992). Oil extraction process, when carried out traditionally, is energy and time consuming, tedious and of low oil recovery. Also the cooking process or handling of hot mixture can be hazardous and discouraging to processors (Khan and Hanna 1983) and Ibrahim and Onwualu (2005) extensively reviewed the technologies involved in the extraction of oil from oil-bearing agricultural products and confirmed the above short comings of the traditional methods. Thus, there is the need to mechanize oil extraction to reduce the drudgery involved in the traditional means of extracting the commodity. The oil extractor uses a hydraulic jack which exerts force onto the compressing disc placed on top of the perforated cylinder placed onto a collecting plate. Since the machine is portable and manually operated with little skills to apply upon its use, therefore less time and labor is required to ensure extraction of oil from candlenut seeds. The oil extractor comprises of four major components; the Hydraulic jack, perforated cylinder, oil collector, angle line support.