Design and Performance Analysis of a Pneumatic Garlic Peeling Machine

Abstract

Garlic production and consumption are rapidly increasing due to its recognized health benefits. Peeling garlic before consumption is one of the most important basic operations. The garlic cloves must have the thin, inedible layer of membranous skin peeled off. The peeled garlic cloves are also used to make value-added and long shelf life products such as garlic sauce, garlic pickle, dehydrated garlic (cips-granul-powder), garlic extract, garlic tablet, and garlic oil. For this purpose, a pneumatic garlic peeling machine, which has two peeling units, has been developed and tested. Trials were carried out with 5, 7, and 9 bar peeling air pressure; 10, 15, and 20 s peeling time; and 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 s loading time. The peeled garlic percentage was between 49.2% and 99.8%, and the machine efficiency was between 32.8 and 100.6 kg/h. Since the amount of unpeeled garlic coming out of the machine will significantly increase the labor required for separation, 96.4 kg/h peeled and 1.4 kg/h unpeeled garlic amounts with the parameters 9 bar peeling air pressure, 0.6 s loading time, and 10 s peeling time were found to be the most successful result. If both units are operated together, the total machine efficiency will be about 200 kg/h. Compared to manual peeling, about 99.6% labor saving is achieved. Compared to other mechanic and pneumatic garlic peelers in the literature, it has been determined that they can be used easily because the percentage of peeled garlic and machine efficiency is relatively high.