Design and Fabrication of Kapok (Ceiba Pentandra) Fiber Extracting Machine

  • ALIJUN FERNANDEZ DELLIRO
  • ALLAN ANTHONY VILLON ABUTATIL
  • CHRISTIAN KYTH SERVANO INOCENCIO
  • HERNAN DALE PADUGA PARANGUE

Abstract

Kapok (Ceiba Pentandra) fiber is known as a an organic fibre. It has been used as a stuffing in pillows and mattresses. In the province of Palawan making pillows from Kapok fiber is still a practice especially those from far flung areas where most people rely in nature and in tradtional system. The process in separating the seeds from the fiber is done by means of using the hand and a Mosquito net. Scratching the Kapok fiber with seeds in the Mosquito net will eventually separate both of it, but this process takes up too much time and effort. The proposed extractor machine can solve the problem by speeding up the process of extracting Kapok fiber. Furthermore, this could pave the way for an industry of pillow production using the kapok fibre. The designed equipment works using 6 hp engine which provides the primary motion required to run the machine. The motion and torque are transmitted to the main shaft via pulleys, v-belt and bearing. It also consist of Flat bar crusher welded in 4in diameter cylinder tube attached in shaft and in walls, thrower on the other side which drives the Product fiber to the outlet and the by product goes down to the exit and a blower in order to extract the fiber needed.

Background of the Study

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra), also known as Java cotton, Java kapok, silk-cotton or Samauma, it is a type of tree that grows in tropical places like the Philippines. The main product of this plants is its dried fruit containing a silk fiber which is cotton-like, but not compact, popularly used as stuffing in pillows and mattresses. Nowadays, in some areas of the Philippines which has kapok trees, especially in province of Palawan, many people are still using the traditional way of extracting the seed from fiber. They separate the seed and fiber by using their hands. Designing a machine that could extract the Kapok fiber from its seed and shell is one the solution to help farmers to have faster production, reduce the time of work and to improve the product rate compared to the traditional way of extracting the fiber from seed. The study aims to find out whether the designed Kapok fiber extracting Machine would be effective and efficient. This study specifically sought to provide an answer to the questions such as: what is the appropriate design of the belt-driven motor extractor machine and how to fabricate the belt-driven motor separator machine.
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