Development of a mechanical gari roaster

Abstract

The development of a Mechanical Gari Roaster has been the result or recent efforts by the Food Research Institute, Accra, to improve upon the traditional method of gari roasting. The Roaster employs a U-shaped stainless steel roasting pan of length l25cm and width 65cm. It also has a horizontal driving shaft and a pair of hollow shafts to which two pairs of arms set at 180ᵒ apart have been welded. The Roaster uses wooden blades attached to .the arms as stirrers to stir the gad. The design employs a 1.35KW electric motor prime mover running at 1420rp m. The horizontal driving shaft which drives the stirrers, rotates at 11rpm and receive its power from the electric motor via a gear reduction unit and a chain sprocket drive. A liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove is used to provide the required heat for roasting. Trial runs indicate that the roaster has a roasting capacity of l3Kg/Hr. However modifications are being done to increase the roasting capacity of the roaster