Design of Banana Stem Chopper for Animal Feed with 3 Energy Sources

Abstract

At present, it was found that cattle farmers in Nakhon Nayok Province are more interested in using local raw materials such as banana stems as animal feed to reduce the cost of purchasing animal feed. The current methods of chopping banana stems include using a knife to chop with human labor or using a chopper available in the market, which is expensive and uses a lot of electricity. As a result, some farmers cannot access them. Therefore, the research team is interested in developing a banana stem chopper that can use alternative energy to help reduce costs and save energy. This study aims to design a banana stem chopper for animal feed with 3 energy sources. The machine was designed to be 80 centimeters wide, 85 centimeters long, and 150 centimeters high. The main structure of the machine includes 1. Machine structure 2. Banana stem chopper set 3. Alternative energy 4. Power transmission system By specifying the scope of the banana stalk chopper set using 2 blades, using energy from solar cells, wind turbines, and electricity, using a 2-horsepower motor, setting the motor speed at 1400 rpm, and setting the blade angle in chopping at 4 levels at 5, 8, 10, and 13 millimeters.

A summary of the research results found that the results of the machine development, testing the operating system of the animal feed chopper with 3 energy sources, which from testing the machine and the operating system of the machine can actually chop banana stalks for making animal feed for cattle as designed in both the machine structure and the operating system of the machine. The results of the test of charging with a wind turbine are that the average charging current is equal to 7.27 amps, the average charging time is 11.44 hours, and the stored energy can be converted to 542.22 kilowatts of electrical energy for charging with solar cells. It has an average charging current of 9.05 amps, an average charging time of 8.55 hours, and the stored energy can be converted to 540.00 kilowatts of electrical power. Charging the battery from a solar cell system to full charge takes less than 3 hours from a wind turbine. The electrical power can be used to chop banana stalks for 14 hours. The test results of the blade sizes at 4 levels 5, 8, 10, and 13 millimeters with a motor speed of 1400 revolutions per minute at a blade angle of 10 millimeters gave the appropriate size of 9.70–9.76 millimeters for use in cattle farming. And the lowest electricity consumption rate in chopping is 0.01291 - 0.01480 kilowatts, and the average time used is 47 - 54 seconds. The results of the hypothesis found that the energy storage period of wind turbines and solar cells is different at a statistical significance level of .01, the charging ampere of wind turbines and solar cells is different at a statistical significance level of .01, and the converted electricity used for chopping banana stalks of wind turbines and solar cells is not different. In terms of the cost of a banana stalk chopper for animal feed with 3 energy sources, it is 11,000 baht, which, when considering the cost data of cattle feed, is 9,398 baht.