Design and construction of a grape destemmer cum crusher.

Abstract

Grapes are fruits, botanically called Vitis vinifera, and are one of the world's largest fruit crops, with the highest input of technology. Grapes can be eaten fresh as table grapes or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, vinegar, and grape seed oil. This project was designed and constructed to help the local farmers, small and medium scale industries to improve on the quality of their Vine which would yield high market prices hence improving their economic wellbeing and this was achieved by destemming and crushing the grape fruits. The design of the various machine parts was carried out by analysing forces acting on them. Force. analysis led to selection of proper-materials to withstand the forces to avoid failure Stainless steels of various grades were the main materials recommended to be used. because they are' food grade, strong and durable. Engineering drawings of the various components were drawn before the various components were constructed and then machine parts fabricated. A fully functional prototype resulted after all the above operations. Testing of the prototype was carried out and the figures revealed that the machine was 84.3% efficient. The grape destemmer cum crusher has a total cost of 11690,000 UGX which includes all the taxes; cost of material, machinery and hired labor to construct the machine the cost evaluation analysis of the project was based on the payback period method, and on net present value method with NPV of 105,8.94,000 UGX over a period of three years.