Design and Fabrication of Banana Waste Shredder

Banana is a fruit which is grown and eaten worldwide. The global production of banana is 114 million tons in 2017 according to FAO. Banana is a major fruit crop of Pakistan. It is grown on 34,800 hectares with production of 154,800 tons. It is mainly grown in Sindh province where the soil and climat

Project Title

Design and Fabrication of Banana Waste Shredder

Project Area of Specialization

Mechatronics Engineering

Project Summary

Banana is a fruit which is grown and eaten worldwide. The global production of banana is 114 million tons in 2017 according to FAO. Banana is a major fruit crop of Pakistan. It is grown on 34,800 hectares with production of 154,800 tons. It is mainly grown in Sindh province where the soil and climatic conditions are favorable for its successful cultivation. The total share of Sindh province alone in its cultivation is 87 per cent. Major districts in Sindh where banana is grown are Thatta, Hyderabad, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Tando Muhammad Khan, Sangar, Naushero Feroz, and Nawabshah. Each stem only produces flowers and fruits once, so the active stem must be cut away to allow new suckers to emerge which will become the banana trees over a period. After the harvest of bananas, pseudo stem and leaves are just thrown or burnt out irresponsibly and as a result environmental pollution and wastage of useful resources takes place. The banana pseudo stem can be utilized for its fiber, but the pseudo stem is often most valuable economically if it is chopped and left in a field for its organic matter content. So, it is a desire to design and fabricate a ‘Shredder’ which will make small pieces of the banana trees so that through composting process, fertilizer could come out of the banana waste and through this way farmers will get economic benefits and Sustainable Development goals will be achieved. Using inorganic fertilizers means wastage of soil and money. The end product will be the indigenous equipment which has a low cost because imported shredding machine are very expensive for the farmers. Through this model, economic and environmental benefits will be achieved. This model is the modified form of Traditional Chaff Cutter locally available as shown in the following figure. These are used for cutting harvested crops into small piece for cattle feed. The model is powered by a gasoline IC Engine. Power is transmitted through belt and pulley mechanism. The belt is connecting the engine’s pulley with the pulley, that is connected with the shaft. The blades are situated inside the casing of the machine which will rotate at high rpm and will cut the pseudo stem of the tree into smaller pieces. Then the product will be converted into vermi-compost and other types of organic fertilizer like liquid fertilizer or will be used as a livestock feed. The model is much safer than that of the traditional chaff cutter.   

Figure 1: Traditional Chaff Cutter

Figure 2: Banana Waste Shredder

Project Objectives

Our main objective for designing and fabricating a shredding machine is to make economy and ecology go together. It is a plan by which farmer will get economic benefits and as a whole environmental benefits will be achieved. The key objectives of the project are stated as follows:

• To develop CAD model based on Conceptual model of the Banana shredder parts.
• To develop complete assembly of banana shredder by assembling individual parts CAD geometry using solid works.
• To fabricate the Banana Shredder physically on the basis of CAD assembly Model.
• To select suitable IC engine as prime mover to drive banana shredder.
• To perform Banana waste shredding on the developed machine for analyzing its performance.

Project Implementation Method

Looking at the whole scenario of the banana production and cultivation, it is a huge market nowadays. To use the waste (residual matter getting after harvesting of the banana trees), that is just dumped in an irresponsible manner, we went through the internet and saw some models of the shredder which are already available in the market of the India and worldwide. There are very few articles available on the internet so, we have gone through these. The 3D model will be developed using the Solidworks software by assuming the dimensions and simulation will be done. Analysis of the 3D model will be done. Then drawings of the model will be created using the simulation data and the local market will be touched to get some more data for fabrication. The cost for the fabrication will be determined. Individual parts will be get fabricated first then all the parts will be assembled together. This model is the modified form of the traditional chaff cutter and it will be safer than the chaff cutter because of its cover casing. Then the required gasoline IC Engine will be chosen as a prime mover for the final product. Controller will be selected for the chopped size of the material (banana waste like pseudo stem). In the last stage, the end product will be tested experimentally and the verification of the design will be done on the basis of the results. Finally, Report will be written about the end product and will be submitted.

Benefits of the Project

The proposed model will give many benefits to the agricultural sector, environment, manufacturing industries and education sector. Some of the benefits are listed below:

1. Agriculture and Environment:

• • • It is forward step in promoting technologies in agriculture in Pakistan.

• • • It will solve the problem of waste, from the harvesting, dumped in the environment and there will be no need to burn the waste which in a way benefits the environment.
    • By using this machine, farmer can produce organic fertilizer (vermicomposting or simply compost) for his land.
    • By using organic fertilizer, farmer can achieve organic content in his land which is necessary for a land to be called as fertile land.
    • By using organic fertilizer, the quality and the quantity of the food will increase.
    • It is a way of getting rid of chemical fertilizers.
    • Farmer can sell the fertilizer and earn some money.
    • Farmer can use the shredder to make cattle feed out the waste and sell it in order to earn money.
    • By utilizing the shredder, we will be achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by UN.

1. Manufacturing Industries:

• • • It will create more employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
    • It is our product, so it is not so expensive as compared to the imported ones.
    • Industries will set up in order to create more products like our model or better than ours.

1. Education:

• • • It will create more opportunities in the field of education, designing and research in our country.
    • Research work will be conducted to create better design and model in our country.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The end product is the modified form of the traditional chaff cutter with a cover casing for safety purpose. It is operated by the gasoline IC Engine which transmits power by using belt drive mechanism. There is a controller by which the size of the product (banana waste) can be altered according to the need. It is an equipment which shreds the Banana waste into required size and further process of vermicomposting takes place. It is safer than the traditional chaff cutter. It is a better shredding machine which has low cost and provides ease to the farmer economically. It is the model by which environment will get benefit and Sustainable Development Goals will be achieved.

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Agriculture

Other Industries

Agriculture

Core Technology

Clean Tech

Other Technologies

Clean Tech

Sustainable Development Goals

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Required Resources

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