Design and Development of a Low Cost Laterite Sieving Machine

Abstract

Sieving has been an essential process in the use of laterite for building, agriculture, etc. However, manual laterite sieving results to drudgery, fatigue, and time wastage during the processing. The method of laterite sieving is still being done manually in some parts of the country and therefore labour intensive. This is because a lot of Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs cannot afford the existing sieving machines because of their cost implications and availability. The simple aim of this paper is to develop a laterite sieving machine that will enhance the efficient sieving of laterite sand to be used in the construction/housing sector and also to reduce drudgery. This paper presents the design of an efficient laterite sieving machine that was developed with locally sourced materials with ease of maintenance amongst other advantages. The machine motion was designed with the concept of crank and slider mechanism. The machine is powered with a 2.43kW, 2600 RPM diesel engine and with the appropriate pulley ratio, the machine operated at a speed of 440RPM with an operating rate of 300kg/hour. The machine component parts include prime mover, Hopper, driving/driven pulley, belt guard, sieving unit and the machine frame. Several fabrication techniques such as welding, machining, etc. are adopted for the fabrication of the machine. Dry laterite sample was tested with the machine for operational effectiveness and the result shows that the machine has a sieving capacity of 300kg/hr and sieving efficiency ranging from 92 - 97%. The fabricated laterite sieving machine performed well with high sieving efficiency, reliability, durability with an estimated cost of  646, 684.00 Nigerian Naira. The study was carried out in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. A performance evaluation was carried out on the machine and the sieving efficiency is 96% was achieved.