DEVELOPMENT OF A FORM – FILL SEALING MACHINE FOR ROSELLE (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) PARTICULATE PROCESS PLANT

Abstract

The demand for packaging has increased recently due to consumption and market trend which tend to open up packaging material and machinery. Roselle tea (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.), popularly known as Soborodo in Nigeria has been found very useful medically in lowering high blood pressure, preventing diabetes, among others, in human being and thereby increasing its demand. A processed Roselle tea is difficult to preserve because of its perishable nature. This led to rebranding the tea into particulate extract form which is facing packaging challenges. Roselle particles sizes were examined and it was discovered that it can be filtered off through heat – sealed filter paper, hence the need for the development of form fill sealing machine. The sealing machine, being an integral part of the process plant, was designed with two different units namely; the feeding chamber and slider – crank mechanism. The feeding chamber comprises the hopper, sealing unit, low friction rollers, and gears. While the slider – crank mechanism consists of: the slider which bears the sealing bar; the slot which controls the linear movement of the slider; connecting rod and the crank which is driven by electric motor. Detailed analysis of the design was done, animated and simulated using SolidWorks CAD software. Prototype of the machine was fabricated, tested and manually controlled with switches. The expected sealed tea bags was estimated to be 9 bags per minute (540 bags per hour) and the average actual sealed tea bags was estimated to be 6.75 bags per minute (405 bags per hour) which gives an overall efficiency of the machine to be 75% (𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡). The overall estimated cost of the developed machine is ninety – four thousand, five hundred naira only (₦94,500).