Moringa Seed Press. Final Report. Matt Krotowski. Marc Yarnall. James Lombardi. Miras Katenov. ENGR 493: Leadership Principles.

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1 1 Moringa Seed Press Final Report Matt Krotowski Marc Yarnall James Lombardi Miras Katenov ENGR 493: Leadership Principles Fall December 2014

2 2 Abstract The Moringa Seed Press Team was tasked with developing a seed press that can extract the oil from the moringa seed utilizing a cost-effective and efficient method. After significant research, the team was re-tasked to develop a prototype that would strip the seeds from the moringa pod. In addition to seed removal, the Moringa Seed Press Team integrated a shell cracker that would aid in the removal of the wrapping that encases the moringa seed pulp. The prototype utilized various rollers to actuate movement of the moringa pod along a tray. The tray contains a knife on both the top and bottom to cut the pod. The rotational rollers normal to the face of the tray allow for the pod to impact a punch, which ultimately divides the pod into two sections allowing for the seeds to be stripped out and into the secondary cracking system. Future teams will work on the secondary system to advance the capabilities of stripping the wrapping from the seeds in a more effective manner.

3 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Problem Statement Goals Process Mission, Vision, Value, Strategies Background Research Moringa Seeds Pre-existing Designs Concept Generation Piteba Modification Moringa Pod Stripper Nutcracker Concept Selection Concept Development Re-design Purpose Goals Models Future Development and Recommendations References Appendix Gantt Chart 18

4 1. Introduction 1.1. Problem Statement The Moringa Seed Press Team was tasked with finding an effective way to harvest the oil from the moringa seed.

4 4 1. Introduction 1.1. Problem Statement The Moringa Seed Press Team was tasked with finding an effective way to harvest the oil from the moringa seed. Moringa trees are extremely rich in vitamins, minerals and calcium and they grow naturally in some of the most poverty-stricken regions in Africa. Some experts have started calling the plant The Miracle Tree because they believe harvesting it could significantly help with malnutrition in many communities around the world. Figure ( Moringa ) One of the most nutritious parts of the plant is the seed oil, but most of these countries do not have the technology to effectively harvest this oil. Therefore, the students were tasked with simplifying the process for extracting oil from moringa seeds. The team s design could potentially give many countries access to the nutrients hidden in the moringa seed Goals The team wanted to design a machine that would simplify and decrease the amount of time it would take to extract oil from moringa seeds. They hoped to build a working prototype of their design that could then eventually be shipped to Africa to help combat malnutrition. The design should be safe, easy to use, require no difficult manual labor and fall within a reasonable budget.

5 5 2. Process 2.1. Mission, Vision, Value, and Strategy Statements Mission: Our mission is to enhance the nutritional quality of human life by simplifying the process of extracting nutrients from the moringa seed pit. Vision: Our vision is to improve quality of human life to the best of our abilities while ensuring integrity and quality. Values: We will operate with cooperation, responsibility, and dedication to ensure a final product that embodies integrity and quality. Strategy: We will create a prototype for processing nutritional plant food sources in Africa from capabilities available in America. Our target will be to create and develop an effective and userfriendly product to allow for ease of use and assembly. By creating an effective food processing source for Moringa plants, we will be able to provide the nutrients required in developing countries all over the world Background Research Moringa Seeds Extracting oil from moringa seeds is a three step process. First, the seeds must be removed from moringa pods. Secondly, the outer shell or wrapping must be removed from the seeds. The actual moringa seed is very soft. Finally, the seed must be pressed to extract the oil. Moringa seeds grow in Moringa pods known as drumsticks. When ripe, these pods will fall to the ground. After watching several videos, it appeared that extracting these seeds from the pods was difficult. These pods can be seen in Figure

6 Figure 2.2.1.1 ( Health ) The official name for moringa seed oil itself is Ben Oil. About 40% of all the seed s volume is Ben Oil.

Moringa oil also has a 72% oleic acid content and antiseptic properties ( Moringa Oil ). This means it can also be a great oil for skin care. These seeds can be seen in Figure 2.2.1.2. 2.2.2 Pre-existing Designs Figure 2.

6 6 Figure ( Health ) The official name for moringa seed oil itself is Ben Oil. About 40% of all the seed s volume is Ben Oil. Small amounts of Ben Oil added to one s diet can significantly improve the nutrition in one s diet. Moringa oil is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C and unsaturated fatty acids. Moringa oil also has a 72% oleic acid content and antiseptic properties ( Moringa Oil ). This means it can also be a great oil for skin care. These seeds can be seen in Figure Pre-existing Designs Figure ( Ancient ) A machine specifically for extracting oil from moringa seeds does not exist. There are also no machines for extracting the seeds from the pods. Expeller Pressing is the name for the general process for extracting oil from raw materials. The Piteba Oil Press is one of the most

7 common and cheapest methods. It uses a worm gear to move the seeds along a chamber. Once the seeds reach the end of the chamber, it presses the seeds through a very tiny slit.

While it is extremely portable, it can only process about five pounds of seeds per hour (Blaak). This machine can be seen in Figure 2.2.2.1. Figure 2.2.2.1 (Blaak) MIT designed a prototype for shelling Moringa seeds.

7 7 common and cheapest methods. It uses a worm gear to move the seeds along a chamber. Once the seeds reach the end of the chamber, it presses the seeds through a very tiny slit. The solid material leaves the machine while the oil flows back to the center of the machine. This oil then falls into the catch cup. The Piteba Oil Press operates using manual labor. While it is extremely portable, it can only process about five pounds of seeds per hour (Blaak). This machine can be seen in Figure Figure (Blaak) MIT designed a prototype for shelling Moringa seeds. Essentially, the seeds are placed into a rotating chamber filled with hardware. The chamber can be rotated by either a crank or a foot pedal (Figure ). As the seeds chaotically bounce around, they make contact with the bouncing hardware. This impact cracks the shells. Most of the shells will escape through the mesh on the outside of the chamber. The machine effectively cracks and winnows the seeds at a low cost without the use of electricity. Figure (Aptowitz)

8 8 The machine uses very little manual labor and can processes many seeds in a short period of time. While the design can crack and winnow nearly 20 kg of seeds per hour, it requires the farmers to stop and reset the machine for every batch of seeds. Also, several shells may not be successfully cracked or winnowed by this machine (Aptowitz) Concept Generation Piteba Modification One of the first ideas was to modify the Piteba Oil Press. We originally thought we might be able to incorporate an optional motor to make the process automatic. In other words, our machine could operate both automatically and by hand Moringa Pod Stripper This concept would automatically cut the pods which would then allow the seeds to be released. The pods would be accelerated by four rollers, similar to how Hot Wheels are accelerated along the track. The pods would be pushed into two rotating saws that would make the initial cuts. These pods would then come into contact with the stationary punch which would split the pods down the middle. This would allow the seeds to fall out of the pods. Figure Nutcracker The purpose of this design was to crack the shell of the moringa seed. It uses a pounding motion to crack the shells. As the seeds fall down the incline, the operator would push the

9 handle back and forth. This would cause the seeds to withstand an impact which should crack the shell. 2.4. Concept Selection Figure 2.3.

9 9 handle back and forth. This would cause the seeds to withstand an impact which should crack the shell Concept Selection Figure The team could quickly eliminate the Piteba modification idea due to the fact that a capstone team was already considering that concept. The team wanted to make something different that has never been seen before and could aid the Engineering Leadership Development s Moringa Project. Therefore, under the guidance of Professor Erdman, the team decided to pursue extracting the seeds from the pods and cracking the seed s shell. The moringa seed stripping design was a good starting point but needed to be modified. First, there were far too many moving parts. The current design would have required at least four motors which would have significantly raised the price. Also, all the moving parts would have increased the chance of a malfunction. Secondly, the open sawblades would have created a safety hazard. The team decided to correct these issues by replacing the saws with stationary blades and eliminating two of the rollers. To account for this, they had to drastically shrink the design in the horizontal direction. This updated design can be seen in Figure 2.4.1

10 Figure 2.4.1 The nutcracker design also needed some modifications. It would be hard to build a gearing system where a motor could create a linear pounding motion.

The team also decided to combine the Moringa Pod Stripper and the Nutcracker into one design.

10 10 Figure The nutcracker design also needed some modifications. It would be hard to build a gearing system where a motor could create a linear pounding motion. For this reason, the team decided to replace this linear motion with rotational motion that would crack the shells using friction. The team also decided to combine the Moringa Pod Stripper and the Nutcracker into one design. Essentially, after the seeds are separated from the pod, they would fall down a chute and make contact with the roller. This roller would pull the seeds down against a wall. The normal force between the wall and the roller would crack the shell. This design can be seen in Figure Figure 2.4.2

11 2.5. Concept Development The final SolidWorks model can be seen in Figure 2.5.1. The team only made a few more modifications. First, the team added all the bracketing and hardware to the design.

11 Concept Development The final SolidWorks model can be seen in Figure The team only made a few more modifications. First, the team added all the bracketing and hardware to the design. Secondly, the team extended the punch to ensure a more gradual split. Finally, they finished the complex gearing system. The motor would drive a shaft located on the bottom of the machine. This shaft would include two sets of miter gears. These gears allow for the power transmission of two shafts intersecting at ninety degrees. The process would spin the rollers at the top of the machine and in the correct direction. The shaft on the bottom would also be connected to a chain that would spin the roller. Overall, the machine would be rather expensive. The team estimated the price to be a little over $700. The budgeting can be seen in Figure All budgeting was based on McMaster-Carr s prices. Figure 2.5.1

12 Figure

13 3. Re-Design 3.1. Purpose After further consideration of the preliminary concept design, the Moringa Seed Press Team determined that the first concept would only be useful for Moringa pods that

13 13 3. Re-Design 3.1. Purpose After further consideration of the preliminary concept design, the Moringa Seed Press Team determined that the first concept would only be useful for Moringa pods that had not fully matured. Professor Erdman discovered a little before Thanksgiving break that fully matured pods were easier to shell than the team originally anticipated. After much discussion, the design explained above was discarded and a new version of the secondary system was developed. The team decided to focus on creating a machine that would crack the seeds shells Goals The new version of the secondary system was to include a device that would crack the seed and separate the seed from its wrapping. This would mitigate one of the more arduous processes moringa farmers face. Cracking the seed allows for easy removal of the wrapping. Therefore, the Moringa Seed Press Team wanted to design a machine that would both crack and remove the shell Models The Moringa Seed Press Team first created a model that would winnow the seeds, similar to the project completed at MIT. This machine utilized a hand crank to rotate a large casing. The casing would be made from wire mesh, allowing for the seeds and shells to separate from one another. An early concept design can be seen in Figure This design was discarded as well because the Moringa Seed Press Team wanted a new and innovative idea, not to build off a previous design. Figure 3.3.1

14 The second model that was created incorporated an electrically powered system. This electrically powered device would be able to crack the seeds at high speeds without needing an operator.

14 14 The second model that was created incorporated an electrically powered system. This electrically powered device would be able to crack the seeds at high speeds without needing an operator. This design utilized a roller offset inside the seed cracker housing. This roller had a separation distance of 0.25 in. from the wall. Therefore, the seeds would be cracked by pinching them against the wall. This design can be seen in Figure The team liked this design, but still needed to make a few more altercations. Figure The final model that the Moringa Seed Press Team designed incorporates a mechanical power input (Figure 3.3.3). The crankshaft is attached to a gear, which rotates an adjacent crankshaft. Both of these crankshafts turn in opposite directions, therefore allowing for the seeds to be funneled into the pinch-point of the rollers. The rollers are made from a compressive material, which will allow for the seeds to be gripped and then cracked from the normal compressive stresses provided. The seeds will then proceed to drop onto wire mesh, allowing for separation of the wrapping from the seeds. The seeds will then roll down the wire mesh ramp and into the catch cup. From here, the seeds are ready to be pressed for oil. This design can be seen in Figure and Figure 3.3.4

15 15 Figure Figure 3.3.4

16 16 4. Future Development and Recommendation The Moringa Seed Press Team envisions a future team to build off of the design featured in Figure and Figure Not only does this design utilize a mechanical process to crack the seeds, but it can also separate the shell from the seeds. This design is not expensive and should be relatively simple to develop and construct. The only parts to be machined from the assembly would be: 1. The metal handle, where the circlips would need to be attached to the shaft 2. The front metal plate, where there will need to be different diameter holes drilled 3. The assembly will also need to have fasteners inserted to keep the assembly together With these three machining processes, the rest of the assembly should be able to be assembled with minimal time required. Future teams will also need to fix a few problems with the current design. First, as seen in Figure 3.3.4, there is a lot of open space in the machine s housing. The seeds could theoretically fall through the cracks between the walls and the rollers without the shells being cracked. In other words, futures teams will need to develop housing that has a tighter fit between the rollers and the walls. Secondly, a future team would need to create some sort of funnel system at the top of the machine. With the current design, the two rollers are completely exposed which is a potential safety hazard. Future teams need to design housing for the top of the machine that would also funnel the seeds to the two rollers. This housing should also be removable to give operators access to the two rollers for cleaning purposes. With these modifications, the new design could help moringa farmers all over the world.

17 17 5. References Ancient Greenfields. "Description/ Specification of Moringa Seeds." Tradeindia.com. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept < Aptowitz, Rachael. "Treadle-powered Seed Sheller." Seelio. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept < Blaak, Edwin. "Piteba Oil Expeller." PITEBA. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept < "Health Benefits of Drumsticks." Health Benefits. N.p., 25 July Web. 18 Nov < "Moringa Nutritional Values." The Moringa. N.p., Web. 18 Nov < "Moringa Oil." Miracletrees.org. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept <

18 18 6. Appendix 6.1. Gantt Chart Figure 6.1.1

Table of Contents. Career Overview... 4

Table of Contents. Career Overview... 4 Table of Contents Career Overview.................................................. 4 Basic Lesson Plans Activity 1 Becoming Energy Conscious... 5 Activity 2 Solar Cooking... 14 Activity 3 Solar Transportation........................................