Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.
| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60205 |
| _version_ | 1811075816496300032 |
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| author | Tacoronte, Lisa Cristina |
| author2 | Barbara Hughey. |
| author_facet | Barbara Hughey. Tacoronte, Lisa Cristina |
| author_sort | Tacoronte, Lisa Cristina |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:12:19Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/60205 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:12:19Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/602052019-04-11T01:13:55Z Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output Effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output Tacoronte, Lisa Cristina Barbara Hughey. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 52). In northern Ghana, part of a belt reaching from Sub-Saharan Africa to northern Uganda, women collect and process Shea nuts for their valuable oil. This oil is then used in various cosmetic, cooking, and medicinal products. However, the traditional process to extract oil from Shea kernels is time and labor intensive, and the quality is inconsistent, preventing it from being a primary source of income. In order to address these problems, a hydraulic jack press for extracting Shea oil was designed for a woman's co-operative in the village of New Longoro during the summer of 2009 as part of the International Development Design Summit. This thesis presents the results of a study of the effect of temperature and roasting on the Shea oil yield of a hydraulic jack press in order to evaluate its practicality. Extraction efficiency was measured for ground Shea kernels, either unroasted or roasted, for pressing temperatures ranging from 50-70*C. It was found that a pressing temperature of 60-62°C produced the highest oil yields for both roasted and unroasted nuts, with unroasted, ground kernels producing slightly more oil than roasted, ground kernels. The highest yield produced was (23 ± 2.8)% for unroasted Shea kernels at 60.7°C. Furthermore, it was observed that the optimal press chamber configuration is one with perforations along the circumference of the cylinder and on the base with slits to allow oil to escape. It was also confirmed that post-press filtering will be necessary to purify the oil for marketability. Finally, although the initial results are promising, more investigation is needed in order to determine the economic viability of using the hydraulic jack press. by Lisa Cristina Tacoronte. S.B. 2010-12-06T17:37:50Z 2010-12-06T17:37:50Z 2010 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60205 682156189 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 53 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Mechanical Engineering. Tacoronte, Lisa Cristina Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output |
| title | Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output |
| title_full | Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output |
| title_fullStr | Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output |
| title_full_unstemmed | Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output |
| title_short | Putting the press to the test : effects of temperature on Shea nut oil output |
| title_sort | putting the press to the test effects of temperature on shea nut oil output |
| topic | Mechanical Engineering. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60205 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tacorontelisacristina puttingthepresstothetesteffectsoftemperatureonsheanutoiloutput AT tacorontelisacristina effectsoftemperatureonsheanutoiloutput |