Engineering Properties of Bitter Kola Nuts and Shell As Potentials for Development Processing Machines

The knowledge of engineering properties of any biomaterial is fundamental. It facilitates the design and development of equipment for harvesting, handling, conveying cleaning, delivering, separation, packing, storing, drying, mechanical oil extraction and processing of agricultural products. The study was conducted to investigate the physical, mechanical and frictional properties of bitter kola nut and shell, namely, axial dimensions, 1000 unit mass, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, surface area, sphericity, aspect ratio, bulk density, true density, porosity and angle of repose and coefficient of static friction were determined using standard methods. The engineering properties of bitter kola nut and shell were investigated at the moisture content of 20.8% and 23.1% dry basis respectively. The result obtained from the study revealed mean length, width, thickness, arithmetic and geometric diameter, sphericity, surface area and 1000unit mass ranged from 21.90-24.13 mm, 11.65-12.96 mm, 12.07-19.10 mm,15.21-22.03 mm, 14.55- 18.14 mm, 65- 75%, 447.9-1033.9 mm² and 3087.05- 3350.12 g respectively. The coefficient of static friction was determined for four frictional surfaces, namely, fibreglass, plywood, galvanized steel and rubber. The coefficient of static friction was the highest for bitter kola nut and shell on rubber surface and lowest for fiberglass.