Authors : O.K. Oni, J.S. Alakali and M.A. Akpapumam
Abstract: A prototype mixer consisting of a trough, rotating shaft and blade driven by a 2 horse power electric motor was designed, fabricated and its performance evaluated at 50% of its capacity by volume for mixing of different particle sizes of gari namely small (1.18 mm), medium (1.70 mm) large (2.30 mm) and locally sieved with soybean flour and paste, respectively. Results show that power requirement for mixing of soy-gari increased with the particle size and were higher in the mixture of Gari and Soy-Paste (SGP) than Gari and Soy-Flour ( SGF). Small particle sizes were found to mix faster than the larger ones for both SGF and SGP. It was observed that low speeds of rotation and low power requirement of the machine increased the mixing efficiency and throughput capacity. Water absorption capacity and least gelation concentration of all the samples decreased slightly with increasing particle sizes. On the other hand, bulk density and swelling index of all the samples consistently increased as the particle sizes become smaller. The results of sensory analysis indicated that mixture of medium particle size of gari (1.70 mm) with soy flour was rated as having the best quality and was therefore, recommended.
O.K. Oni, J.S. Alakali and M.A. Akpapumam, 2009. Design, Fabrication and Performance Evaluation of a Powered Soy-Gari Mixer. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 4: 164-169.