Scientists have designed a cocoa spusse device that runs on five monocrystalline PV panels. They have simulated its effect and have discovered that it can achieve a split efficiency of 98.92%.
A Ghana research team has designed and analyzed a PV-driven Cacoa-Pod split machine.
“Split Cocoa Pod is manually executed in less developed regions with the help of hand tools such as Machetes, a method that is time-consuming, labor-intensive and serves as a danger for employees,” the team explained. “With the development of mechanical solutions to tackle these limitations, their acceptance has been challenged. This is mainly due to high operating costs, limited access to electricity and dependence on fossil energy sources, especially in national off-grid cocoa-growing areas.”
The proposed system was first simulated using MatLab/Simulink and later validated with an experimental setup. In addition to PV panels, the design also included a hybrid gel battery sofa, a loading controller and a DC engine.
It was believed that the mechanical cocoa dictation of split machine consumes 4,720.463 WH/day. It was simulated to walk on five monocrystalline PV panels of 275 W each. They were connected in a parallel string and reached a total array capacity of 1,375 W. Based on data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA), the average solar radiation was set to kWh/m2 per day with a minimum and maximum temperature of 24 C and 41.6 ° C respectively respectively.
The battery component contains ten hybrid gel batteries of 100Ah each, with a discharge of 80%, resulting in a capacity of 867,732 AH. Two batteries in series are sufficient to offer sufficient voltage to operate the prime mover, while the remaining four pairs of series-connected batteries were connected parallel. The loading controller is set to 24 V, while the DC engine has 1.3 hp. The experimental setup mainly included the same components and was installed in Kumasi, Central Ghana. The PV Array was installed with a tilt of 15 °.
“The system showed a consistent energy supply to the machine, with sufficient autonomy for three operating days, while producing 5,843.75 WH/Day, which exceeds the 4,720.46 WH/Day energy requirement of the machine with 23.7%,” the results showed. “Real-World performance corresponded closely with simulation reasons, which confirms the viability of the PV system.”
The academics also discovered that the experimental attitude had a split efficiency of 98.92%and a separation efficiency of 91%-96.5%. The bean damage turned out to be 1.03% with a transit of 60 cocoaopods/minute. “The integration of renewable energy improves sustainability, minimizes dependence on fossil fuels and contributes to achieving SDG 7, 9 and 13 in the agricultural mechanization after harvest,” they concluded.
The details of the system can be found in “Design and integration of a photovoltaic system for solar energy for mechanized and sustainable cocoa“Published in Solar compass. Researchers at Ghana’s University of Mines and Technology and the Kwame Nkrumh University of Science and Technology conducted the study.
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