Design and Fabrication of Screw Conveyor Unit of a Maize Post-Harvest Handling Plant

A screw conveyor is an important means of transporting grains from one location to the other, especially for the loading of maize into silos for storage from the shelling system. Hence, a 100 kg/hr. maize screw conveyor was designed and fabricated. The machine conveyed shelled maize from a developed maize sheller to a silo. The major component parts of the machine include the frame, rotor shaft, and the power transmission system. The machine was tested by varying the maize moisture content into four levels: 16%, 18%, 20%, and 22%. A moisture level of 16 % resulted in the highest conveying efficiency of 99.52 %, while a moisture content of 22 % resulted in the lowest conveying efficiency of 31.56 %. The recovery efficiency ranged from 64.5% to 99.8%. A moisture content of 16% yielded the highest conveying efficiency of 99.82%, while a moisture content of 22% yielded the lowest conveying efficiency of 64.51%. With the decrease in moisture content level, both the conveying and recovery efficiency have increased. The development of this machine will reduce post-harvest loss, increase production, and utilization