DETERMINATION OF SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF PALM KERNEL AND SHELL IN RELATION TO FRICTIONAL SEPARATION

Abstract

Some physical properties of palm kernel and shell related to frictional separation were determined for tenera and dura varieties of oil palm fruits. The physical properties of palm kernel and shell of the two varieties were determined through standard procedures. The properties were: geometric mean, arithmetic mean, sphericity, aspect ratio, projected area, one thousand grain mass, true density, bulk density, porosity, angle of repose, mass, coefficient of sliding friction on four canvas materials (fibre, jute, leather tarpaulin and polyurethane foam) and moisture content. Physical properties of the dura variety obtained for kernel and shell ranged from 10.08-13.08 mm for geometric mean; 10.70-13.35 mm for arithmetic mean; 79.51-81.92% for sphericity; 0.78-0.81 for aspect ratio; 105.53-167.13 mm for projected area; 635-1020.5 g for one thousand grain mass; 479.86 – 1543.43 kg/m³ for true density, 285.08 – 698.32 kg/m³ for bulk density; 4.48 – 81.53% for porosity, 27.4-29.8^o for angle of repose, 0.45-1.19 g for mass, 0.51- 1.24, and 9.5 -10.7% w.b for moisture content. The canvas materials had significant effect () on the coefficient of sliding friction but the variety had no significant effect () for both palm kernel and shell, meaning that irrespective of the component (palm kernel or palm shell) used, the result of their significance would be the same always on any canvas materials. The physical properties of the two varieties that were different from each other which would help in machine designing for palm kernel and shell.