design, development and evaluation of a peanut sheller

peanuts, an oilseed crop, contain about 46% oil. the peanut shell can be used as fuel or pallets and its dry matter as feedstuff. the whole pods consist of 1-6 kernels. shelling is done at harvest time when the pod moisture content is 5-10%. in this research, a peanut sheller was designed and developed to separate the shell from the pod. the sheller included a hopper, sheller cylinder, concave, kernel tray, fan, electric motor, belt, pulley, frame, cover and bearings. four cylinder speeds (4, 5, 6, 7 m/s) and four clearance levels between the sheller cylinder and concave (8, 12, 16, 20 mm) were tested. the effect of cylinder speed and clearance on shelling efficiency and peanut breakage was investigated. the experimental design was factorial with a completely randomized block design. the results indicated that cylinder speeds of 5 to 7 m/s and a clearance of 12 mm produced maximum shelling efficiency and minimum kernel breakage.