Design of Hazelnut Shell and Kernel Separator
Keywords
Uniform feed, small size, density difference, vacuum suction, mechanical sieving, sorting.
Statement of Need
This project illustrates and justifies the hazelnut shell and kernel separator. Hazelnut, also
termed cobnut or filbert-nut, is abundant in the USA, Europe, and parts of Africa only. The proposed
design for the hazelnut shell and kernel separator is particularly important because of the rarity and
medicinal value of hazelnut. Hazelnut is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins; hence, it has great
medicinal value. Furthermore, bottlenecks in processing capabilities hinder the commercialization of
hazelnut products
The current objective of developing a hazelnut shell and kernel separator contributes to the
already established Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative, which focuses on developing
hazelnut hybrid seeds and related processing technology improvements. Additionally, the American
Hazelnut Company (AHC) establishment in Wisconsin has also proposed alternative evolutions in
technology and capital infrastructure investments, envisioning an increase in heavy processing
capacities. The plant has very ambitious plans for creating a plan to connect a food grade aspirator to
the cracker. As of 2014, the total projected capacity is roughly 11,000 lbs of in-shell hazelnuts
production. Furthermore, by January 2015, 4 tons of in-shell nuts are scheduled for processing in this
Wisconsin facility. The project leverages about $150,000 of investment for the processing development
and the product improvement requirements [19].
Day-to-day growing demand for these novel food products is the key force when considering
hazelnut processing in Wisconsin. Apart from the buyers products, the resilience and diversity of
Wisconsin agriculture is also an important consideration when evaluating Wisconsin for the potential
site of the factory.
Keeping in mind the volume of processing capabilities on floor and the investment planned for
the processing equipment development requirements, there is a great demand for developing the
optimal equipment for the improvement of processing capabilities. An air column aspirator is one of the
many critical equipment investments because it is indispensable in completing the processing. Air
separator based processing of separating the husk from the in-shell nuts is highly advantageous because
of the efficiency, speed, and quality compared to manual sorting.
1
Figure 1. Air Column Aspirator – as designed by AHC for its processing requirements [20].
Figure 2. Air Column-Aspirator in AHC Flow Process [20].
Figure 3. Don Price-Air Column Aspirator [20].
2
The cost of de-husking the hazelnuts is a significant percentage of the overall processing budget.
Adopting the Air Column Aspirator and thus the resulting increase in efficiency, lowers the total
processing expense. Moreover, labor demand and cost will also decrease once the plant adopts the Air
Column Aspirator. The following graph depicts both the processing time required as well as the number
of labor hours required over a 3 year projection.
Table 1: Details of processing capacity and labor hours requirements [20].
Year
Processing
capacity/Volume
Labor hours required
Processing days
required
2014
22,500 lbs
300
38
2015
30,000 lbs
375
47
2016
40,000 lbs
500
63
Finally, regarding output standards, according to Polly and Klein, Directors of Oregon Hazelnuts,
the output kernel standards are strictly followed in the region from OAR-603-51-305 to OAR-603-51320, for grading as well as pricing requirements. Therefore, this regulation ensures uniform quality
across different processing procedures from manual to machine generated.
Benefits of Good Processing Equipment
Including the Air Column Aspirator allows for greater processing volume. This will necessarily
decrease cost by increasing efficiency and decreasing labor requirements, resulting in an increased rate
of return on the hazelnut products for all stakeholders.
Summary of Statement of Need
The project attempts to create an efficient air-column aspirator to reduce the high manual
processing time and to introduce a more effective system that works at higher production rates while
utilizing less space, cost, weight, and power consumption.
Project Goal
The primary goal is to develop a small scale hazelnut shell and kernel separator.
Design Specifications
Compact Size
1. The device shall be portable (the total size shall be within 18x18x40 in length).
Mobility
2. There could be rollers or wheels at the bottom of the equipment, which would facilitate the
movement of the equipment from one location to another with ease. A handle at one of the end
could permit easy handling.
Capacity
3
3. The capacity of the equipment shall be reasonable; possibly around 200 lb/hr of the processing
capacity (raw feed intake) is needed.
Power Consumption
4. The total installed power consumption shall be restricted to 4 kW.
Durability
5. The useful life of the equipment shall be reasonable, at least 10 years of useful life is required.
Safety Features
6. The system shall be safe and all the moving parts shall be thoroughly constrained, so that there
would not be separation of parts or damage to the surroundings and the personnel operating
the device.
Weight
7. The total weight of the device shall not be more than 110 lbs.
Flexibility for Maintenance
8. All components used for the operation of the device, such as motors, pumps, tubes, etc. shall be
replaceable. All components shall be flexible to separate and join as needed.
Standards
9. All parts of the machine shall be designed in accordance with the standards. The manufacturing
and assembly procedure should be standard, and any replacements if required should be done
with ease.
10. All output from the equipment shall be in standards of OAR-603-51-305 to OAR-603-51-320.
11. The device manufacturing would follow the prevailing ANSI safety standards wherever
applicable.
12. The dust emission levels should be suppressed to OSHA regulations after the dust removal.
13. Wherever machine components design is required, ISO, IEC, and EN harmonized standards of A,
B, C categories or equivalent American standards shall be employed in the order of preference.
However, for any specific requirement, if US standards (OSHA standards) are available, they
would be considered on first priority.
Economy in Cost
14. The total cost of the equipment shall not be more than $3,000.
Dust Suppression
15. All exposed parts of the design shall be air tight and leak proof for the environment, hence there
would not be any dust exposure to the surroundings.
Noise Reduction
16. All moving parts shall be thoroughly lubricated or covered with the bearings, hence would emit
very less sound. The chambers that emit noise would also be enclosed with the noise
suppression chambers.
Separator
17. The vacuum chamber suction capacity shall be sufficient enough to separate the husk parts from
the grain mixture.
4
Assembly
18. All the components used in the machine components and sub-components assembly should use
standard sizes. For any guidance requirements in this regard, ASME standards would be
followed for.
Project Output
The output of the project will be a set of drawings and working prototype making a complete separator
meant to differentiate the husk from hazelnuts.
5
Annotated References
Patents
1. Brauchla, H. C. (1961). U.S. Patent No. 2,995,247. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
The device is designed for the purpose of separating the material of different densities. The
principle involved is the separation based on centrifugal force differences. Materials due to the
variation in the forces acting on them will be collected at different collection stations and will be
removed thereafter.
2. Gerber, E. R. (1948). U.S. Patent No. 2,443,031. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
The work consists of designing a vacuum suction based hull separator from the grain mixture.
Specific features include combination of husking and the suction mechanisms. It also has specific
design of anti-clogging in the discharge line. The actual load is designed for light grains, such as rice;
however it can be extended for higher suction loads.
3. Mast, A. D. (1942). U.S. Patent No. 2,271,897. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
The design is an integrated design of husking, shelling and separation of the agro products, such as
corn floor. The design has novel features, such as smaller size, flexibility in the power consumption
(lower power consumption), easy maintenance and low cost.
4. Mobley, J. E. (1994). U.S. Patent No. 5,279,427. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
The device is meant for the separation of processed or semi processed vegetable food products.
This can as well be used for other agro products. The principle lies on separation based on size and
rotation of the rollers. Basically contains a mixture of rollers, where in between the roller gaps, the
smaller slices and slivers will fall.
5. Nakhei-Nejad, M. (2003). U.S. Patent No. 6,527,124. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office.
The design proposed is applied for the pistachio nut and shell separation. However, similar design
can be employed for a range of agro products. The design consists of a floating chamber where in
the fluid buoyancy principle used to separate the lighter shell parts from the dense seeds. Also,
rollers employed at the top of the fluid tank to stream line the lighter particles into the weirs and
for draining out. A drain path designed at the bottom of the compartment for collecting the heavy
seeds of the compartment.
6. Pack, M. L., & Ramacher, B. (1976). U.S. Patent No. 3,962,072. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office.
A device meant for the separation of nuts and seeds from ground. Basic principle is the suction
based on blower thrust. The sucked in agro products will be reflected by means of a reflector on to
a conveyor belt and will get collected from the device. The same principle of working and working
parameters can be modulated for the present requirement of hazelnut kernel and shell separation
requirements.
6
7. Ricketts, J. E., Borsdorf, J. J., & Minnihan, J. (2012). U.S. Patent No. 20,120,208,607. Washington,
DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The device is meant for separating the heavier and lighter biomass residue mixtures. Initially the
mixture will pass on to a conveyor over which the impingement of impulse by air strike will
separate the residues of different densities. This can be used for a range of biomass sample
mixtures.
8. Ricketts, J. E. (2012). U.S. Patent No. 20,120,208,609. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office.
The device consists of flowing in a combination of the lighter and the heavier residue materials.
While the mixture falling down, a blower and the circulating diverter will work in combination to
divert the materials from the density difference to different flow paths.
9. Taggart, E. B. (1931). U.S. Patent No. 1,837,299. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
The present design is intended to separate foreign matter from the pulverized material. The
principle involved is based on the density separation. The chief advantage of the equipment is less
travel distance. The equipment can be operated continuously, and it is applicable for a range of
input material requirements.
10. Voight, A. P. J. (1930). U.S. Patent No. 1,757,103. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
One of the very old inventions devised to separate kernel and shell portions of a range of agro
products. The device functions on the principle of density difference. The fluid buoyancy principle
makes the lighter particles float whereas the denser items to mix in the water and hence will get
separated. The current required for the buoyancy is created artificially in the design.
Journal Articles
11. Beyhan, M. A., Tekgüler, A., Yıldız, T., & Sauk, H. (2009). Investigation of the Performance of a
Hazelnut Husker Design Used in Turkey. Biosystems Engineering, 103(2), 159-166.
Design of the husker has direct effect on the performance. The present paper investigated the
performance of ten different husker designs. Different performance parameters are recorded
during the investigation. It is found that chiefly the variation of the performance is due to the
variation of the physical properties of the input stock as well as adjustments performed on the
husker. Also the design of the upper and the lower separation systems has influence on the
performance of the husker.
12. Delprete, C., & Sesana, R. (2014). Mechanical Characterization of Kernel and Shell of Hazelnuts:
Proposal of an Experimental Procedure. Journal of Food Engineering, 124, 28-34.
Numerical modeling of anisotropic behavior of hazelnuts is very much useful in simulating the
damaged hazelnuts properties. This will contribute to the improvement of the performance of the
selecting machines. An experimental procedure for determine the physical properties of the
hazelnut specimens is provided in the paper. Also, optimized kernel shapes for obtaining the stress
to the failure ratios as well as elastic modules values are determined in this article.
7
13. Ghirardello, D., Contessa, C., Valentini, N., Zeppa, G., Rolle, L., Gerbi, V., et al. (2013). Effect of
Storage Conditions on the Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Hazelnuts. Postharvest
Biology and Technology, 81, 37-43.
Physical properties of kernel and shell of hazelnuts are very significant factors that contribute the
operational parameters of the hazelnut separators. Storage conditions and the storage duration are
important parameters that decide the physical properties of the kernels and the shells. After
experimentally verifying the characteristics for different storage conditions and time durations,
modified atmospheric conditions are recommended for long period of storage.
14. Guney, M. S. (2013). Utilization of Hazelnut Husk as Biomass. Sustainable Energy Technologies
and Assessments, 4, 72-77.
Hazelnut separator separates the shell and the kernel, and the shell obtained is an important
byproduct, with fuel properties. The present article describes utilization of the hazelnut husk as
biomass and the present paper provides the details of the ways of converting the biomass into
useful form of energy. The energy obtained thus can be further utilized in making the prime movers
work.
15. Hosseinpour, A., Seifi, E., Javadi, D., Ramezanpour, S. S., & Molnar, T. J. (2013). Nut and Kernel
Characteristics of Twelve Hazelnut Cultivators Grown in Iran.Scientia Horticulturae, 150, 410413.
Kernel and shell properties are significant in devising the operational properties of the hazelnut
separators. There are significant differences among different genotypes across a number of
morphological traits and compositional properties existing in variety of hazelnuts. The present
study consists of studying more than 12 different types of cultivators of Iran. The results are
reported and they are found to have large quantitative deviations in the physical properties.
16. Koya, O., & Faborode, M. (2006). Separation Theory for Palm Kernel and Shell Mixture on a
Spinning Disc.Biosystems Engineering, 95(3), 405-412.
Shows that the differences between the physical properties like density of the kernel and the shell
are the basis in devising this instrument used for the separation of the kernel and the shell. The
discharge angles calculated are the functions of the spinning disc rotations, friction coefficients,
spinning disc diameters, etc. The theoretical expressions prepared in calculation of the discharge
angles and the grain mixture dynamic distribution is validated with the actual experimental findings
and found to be in almost close agreeement.
17. Oh, J., Choi, S., Jin, G. T., Kim, J., & Lee, S. (2012). Advanced Particle Separation with the Concept
of Uniflow Cyclone.International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers, 6, 17-22.
The theoretical and experimental investigation, also the subsequent proof that the air velocity has
influence on the particle dimensions in the outlet material. The relation between, surrounding
pressure, feeding rate, rate of particle separation, etc. investigated through the mathematical and
experimental research.
18. Omid, M., Mahmoudi, A., & Omid, M. H. (2009). An Intelligent System for Sorting Pistachio Nut
Varieties. Expert Systems with Applications, 36(9), 11528-11535.
The present paper presents an intelligent nut sorting system, which can be extended for several
other applications apart from pistachio nut sorting. The technique lies in sorting the input material
8
based on acoustic emissions analysis, Principal component analysis (PCA) and Multilayer Feed
Forward Neural Network (MFNN). The classifier was tested on four different Iranian pistachio nut
varieties and the results showed that there is 2.5% misclassification of nuts in total of 3200
specimen classification.
Miscellaneous
19. DOA.(n.d.).DOA-Thailand.RetrievedfromDOA-Thailand:
http://www.doa.go.th/aeri/files/pht2009/documents_slide/nitat_iv_husk%20separation.pdf
The selection of the aspirator mainly depends on the type of the grain and the actual hull load
acting on the device. Several methods of the vaccum creation and the means of distributing the
suction force equally in each of the channels and other design details discussed.
20. UMHDI. (n.d.). www.uppermidwesthazelnuts.org. Retrieved from www.midwesthazelnuts.org
Standards
21. ASME. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.asme.org.
22. AB. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.ab.com
Personal Conversation
23. Owen, P., & Klein, M. Contact: 503.678.6823. www.oregonhazelnuts.org. Interview
9