Design, fabrication and evaluation of a seaweed chopper

The study was conducted to design and evaluate the performance of the seaweed chopper intended for local seaweed pre-processing. The fabrication was done at Rubit’s Machine Shop in Lapuz, Iloilo City from October to November 2016 and the performance testing and evaluation were conducted on November 28, 2016 and December 6, 2016, respectively, at the Appropriate Technology Center of the College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences, Central Philippine University in Jaro, Iloilo City. The seaweed chopper consists of the following parts: a) main frame structure that holds the whole machine for stability, b) chopping board where seaweed materials are cut, c) guide frame that guides and secures the chopping assembly when mounted, and d) chopping assembly responsible for cutting of seaweeds. The machine chops seaweed materials into a length of 1.27 to 2.54 cm (1/2 to 1 in.). The operation of the chopper starts from the loading of seaweeds into the cutting area and are cut by the vertical shearing action of the chopping blades. The chopped seaweeds are then discharged into a container by pulling the chopping board sideward. Results revealed that the machine has an average chopping capacity of 0.60 kg/min or 36 kg/hr with an overall chopping efficiency of 97.13%, resulting in a chopped length of 2.16 cm of seaweeds. It has an investment cost of Php7,000.00. The fixed and variable costs per day amounted to Php 12.85 and Php2,576.00, respectively, giving a total cost of Php2,588.85 per day. With this, the cost incurred in operating the machine is Php 11.99 per kg of seaweed material.