ARUSHA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

DIPLOMA OF ENGINEERING IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

NTA LEVEL 6

PROJECT TITLE:DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF A CASSAVA GRATER MACHINE

PRESENTED BY:

S/ NAME ADMISSION NUMBER

N
01 ELKANA JOHN RYOBA 21061212020
02 FAUZIA JUMANNE JUMA 22061202004
03 JIMMY GERVAS MLELWA 21061202013

2024
DECLARATION

We here by declare to the best of our knowledge that the project presented here is a partial
fulfilment of academic requirement of Ordinary Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. The
contents used in this project report are our own, except where explicitly indicated otherwise.

Whenever we have used information from other sources, we have given credit by proper and
complete referencing of the source material so that it can be clearly discerned what is our own
work and what was quoted from other sources. We acknowledge that failure to comply with the
instructions regarding referencing will have regarded as plagiarism. If there any doubt about the
authenticity of our work, we are willing to attend an oral ancillary examination /evaluation about
the work.

PARTICIPANTS.

Name: Elkana John Ryoba

Signature……………. Date …………….

Name: Fauzia Jumanne Juma

Signature………….. Date ………….

Name: Jimmy Gelvas Mlelwa

Signature…………..Date …………….
CERTICIFICATION

The under designed certify that they have the project title “Design And Manufacture of a
Cassava Grater Machine” in the fulfillment for the Ordinary Diploma in Mechanical Engineering
of Arusha Technical College (ATC).

Supervisor Names:

Eng; Kelving Limo

Signature…………….
ABSTRACT

Currently, the cassava is one of the most used food in world wide. There are advantages and
disadvantages of cassava, but the advantages are more than disadvantages. The most serious
advantages of cassava are, it contains more than one type of food including Its leaves and roots.
So there is need of preserving and processing for further production of other products. The
machine is used for processing of cassava tubers such as grating.

The available machines used to grate are very costly, traditionally. So the intension behind this
project is to process a cassava tuber in small pulpy by grating. Benefits of this machine are the
reduction of labor work which results in cost reduction.

The design of a cassava grating machine involved review of literature and data collection.
Literature review was taken from Arusha Technical College (ATC) lectures text books and
internet browsing. Data were collected from Arusha Regional, Tengeru Small Industries
Development Organization (SIDO) Arusha Town, krokoni. This was done through visitation in
the various areas to see physical activities of how cassava is extruded, grating in small scale
industries. Through these data above, alternatives based on drive were ranked and the best
alternative was selected which is Belt drive.
CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
Cassava has been used as a staple food of many nations. It also known as manioc yucca and
tapioca. Its origins lie in Latin American, where it was discovered by indigenous Indian
population more than 4000 years ago. After its discovery by the European traders who come to
Central America, the crop was taken to Africa as well as Asia for food security purposes and for
the extraction of starch. The plant can be grown throughout the year and is known exist under
several climate, being particular suited to conditions of low nutrients availability and able to
survive drought. Its tuber the swollen root of the plant is the most popular form of consumption,
although the leaves are also consumed at times for medicinal purposes.

Cassava has the greatest conversion in terms of transforming solar energy into soluble
carbohydrates per unit of area. Among the starchy staples, cassava gives a carbohydrate
production that is about 40% higher than rice and 25% more than maize. Cassava also consists of
essential micronutrients, such as vitamins A, B and C, iron and Zinc, even though it is considered
not having a limited nutritional value. It is a major source of carbohydrate for many populations,
and it is the third largest source of carbohydrate in the world with Africa being the largest center
of production. Cassava is increasingly popular with African farmers because of its agricultural
advantages and potential to feed rapidly increasing populations. Nigeria is the largest producer of
cassava out of all the African countries. It is the third largest producer of cassava in the world
after Brazil and almost double the production of Indonesia and Thailand

In Tanzania, cassava is an important subsistence food especially semi-arid areas and sometimes
considered as a famine reserve when cereals fail due to its drought tolerance. 84% of the total
production in the country is utilized as human food, the remaining percentages are for other uses
like starch making, livestock feed and export. Both roots and leaves of cassava are of major
nutritional importance in the country. The estimate annual growth of cassava consumption
demand for the period from 1980-2000 is 3.4%whic is similar to the estimate for maize. Cassava
is cultivated and produced in all regional of Tanzania. The main producing areas are; Mwanza,
Mtwara, Lindi, Shinyanga, Tanga, Ruvuma, Mara, Kigoma, Coast regional and most regions in
Zanzibar.

1.1 Background
Cassava is a starchy tuberous root crop belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae . After rice, sugar,
and maize, it is the fourth source of dietary energy in the tropical region and the ninth globally. It
is also the staple food of roughly 800 million people worldwide. In the developing countries,
cassava is considered as the drought, war, and famine crop. It is commonly grown by low-
income and smallholder farmers because of its tolerance to low soil fertility, drought, and most
pest and diseases. Thus, dependence on this crop will expectedly rise in the coming years with
the aggravation of climate change (Howeler R., Lutaladio, N., & Thomas, G, 2013).

A major limitation of cassava is its rapid postharvest physiological deterioration. It should be

processed immediately after harvest because it is highly perishable. Deterioration normally starts
within 48 to 72 hours after it is taken from the ground. Hence, it is crucial that the tubers are
processed as early as possible. Moreover, processing the cassava decreases its cyanide content
which is poisonous. Consequently, this prolongs the product’s shelf life, reduces post-harvest
losses, and prevents contamination of the products which will convert the crop safer and more
merchantable.

Cassava processing leading to size reduction includes peeling, grating dehydrating, milling and
sieving. A typical cassava processing plant should therefore consist of units produced to achieve
all the stages or steps mentioned above.
The aim of this paper is therefore to present the result of efforts made in producing a device that
is used in granting. The transformation of cassava tubers into pulp form is called grating.

Traditional tools used in Garri processing includes: Millstone, grinding stone, pestle and mortar.
In these methods have low productivities and low hygienic solution to these problems that lead
to the designing and construction of machine that can grate, the cassava of high quality in short
period of time and reduce human drudgery. Some of machines include: roller crushing, mill,
hammer mill, bar mill, grater etc. all having one problem or other.

(Oyesola G. O.,1981.) reported that, the traditional method of grating involves placing of the
local grater, which is made of perforated metal sheet on the table where it is convenient for
effective use and brushes sheet metal. The cassava turns into pulp and drop into container that is
being used to collect the grated pulp cassava.

(Adejumo S. O.,1994.) in his design used a wooden grater in which the cassava forced into a
hopper is rubbed against the grater which is being electrically power. Enhanced quantity of
cassava can be grated using this method. However, the durability of grater is low because of its
wooden nature.

(Ndaliman, 2006) described a pedal operated cassava grinder which is powered by human efforts
applied to pedal. The grinder pulverizes the cassava tubers into paste which can pass through a
wine sieve. The effective performance of the design was at 60%.

The current design consists basically of 3 units: the hopper unit, the grating drum and the
delivery channel. All these components are mounted on an angle iron frame. The machine
assembly is powered mechanically or manually in case of electricity failure. It can be used in
rural settlements where electricity supply might not in existence. Apart from faster rating rate, it
required less him involvement. The grating drum is made of metallic pipe that carries a Leonardo
Journal of Sciences perforated plate which served as the grater. This overcomes the problem
faced in the wooden grating drum.