Technologies developed
Dept. of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering
| Sl.No. | Name of the equipment | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Paddy thresher/Winnower | 1972 |
| 2. | Paddy Winnower | 1972 |
| 3. | Helical blade puddlur | 1973 |
| 4. | Groundnut stripper (M) | 1973 |
| 5. | Maize sheller | 1974 |
| 6. | Dry land weeder | 1974 |
| 7. | Groundnut decorticator (hand operated) | 1974 |
| 8. | Cotton seed delinting machine | 1975 |
| 9. | Jasmine Oil extraction plant | 1975 |
| 10. | Groundnut grader | 1975 |
| 11. | Sweep (Animal drawn) | 1975 |
| 12. | Sunflower seed sheller | 1976 |
| 13. | Double walled bamboo bin | 1976 |
| 14. | Paddy harvester (belt type) | 1977 |
| 15. | Chaff cutter (power) | 1977 |
| 16. | Cup feed 5 row seed drill (AD) | 1978 |
| 17. | Husker sheller for maize | 1978 |
| 18. | Cup feed three row seed drill (AD) | 1979 |
| 19. | Groundnut decorticator (power) | 1979 |
| 20. | Kovai planter (AD) | 1980 |
| 21. | Multipurpose tool bar (AD) | 1980 |
| 22. | Low cost power tiller | 1980 |
| 23. | Combination Tillage tool | 1982 |
| 24. | Wide bed former cum seeder | 1982 |
| 25. | Tapioca sett cutter | 1982 |
| 26. | Bed furrow former (TD) | 1983 |
| 27. | Paddy transplanter (M) | 1985 |
| 28. | Improved Seed planter (AD) | 1987 |
| 29. | Improved gorru (AD) | 1987 |
| 30. | Cultivator seed planter | 1987 |
| 31. | Castor sheller (power) | 1988 |
| 32. | Broad bed former cum seeder (TD) | 1989 |
| 33. | Paddy seeder (TD) | 1989 |
| 34. | Self-propelled paddy harvester | 1989 |
| 35. | Low volume sprayer (battery) | 1991 |
| 36. | Chaff cutter | 1992 |
| 37. | Axial flow pump | 1992 |
| 38. | Auger digger | 1993 |
| Bush clearing machine | 1994 | |
| 40. | Egg scale seperator | 1995 |
| 41. | Terracer cum leveller | 1995 |
| 42. | Power weeder | 1996 |
| 43. | Low draft chisel plough | 1996 |
| 44. | Direct Paddy seeder | 1997 |
| 45. | Corcyra moth collector | 1997 |
| 46. | Areca sprayer | 1997 |
| 47. | Paddy harvester (0.75 m/SP) | 1998 |
| 48. | Coconut tree sprayer | 1998 |
| 49. | Fodder sorghum harvester | 1999 |
| 50. | Groundnut thresher | 1999 |
| 51. | Groundnut harvester (TD) | 1999 |
| 52. | Ridger seeder | 1999 |
| 53. | Trencher | 1999 |
| 54. | Axial flow pump model – II | 1999 |
| 55. | Paddy-green manure seeder | 2000 |
| 56. | Basin lister/ Broad bed former cum seeder | 2000 |
| 57. | Turmeric harvester (PT) | 2000 |
| 58. | Auger digger model – II | 2000 |
| 59. | Power rotary and earthing equipment | 2001 |
| 60. | Power tiller seeder | 2001 |
| 61. | Boom sprayer | 2001 |
| 62. | Air assisted seeder | 2001 |
| 63. | Turmeric harvester (TH) | 2001 |
| 64. | Lawn mower | 2002 |
| 65. | Para plough (TD) | 2002 |
| 66. | Hill drop mechanism | 2002 |
| 67. | Tapioca harvester (TD) | 2003 |
| 68. | Improved paddy seeder | 2003 |
| 69. | Foot wear – manual sprayer | 2003 |
| 70. | Banana Clump remover (TD) | 2004 |
| 71. | Cotton stalk puller (TD) | 2004 |
| 72. | Oil palm harvesting tool | 2004 |
| 73. | Groundnut harvester (PT) | 2004 |
| 74. | Semi-automatic three row vegetable transplanter | 2005 |
| 75. | Air assisted seed drill (PT) | 2005 |
| 76. | Mini paddy combine | 2006 |
| 77. | Coconut Tree climber | 2006 |
| 78. | Two row finger rotary weeder for paddy | 2006 |
| 79. | Seed cum fertilizer drill | 2006 |
| 80. | Power tiller operated slasher cum instu shredder | 2007 |
| 81. | Tractor operated rotary spading machine | 2008 |
| 82. | Tractor operated subsoil coir pith applicator | 2008 |
| 83. | Twin row precision organic manure cum fertilizer applicator | 2009 |
| 84. | Worker friendly arecanut stripper | 2009 |
| 85. | Multirow power weeder for SRI | 2009 |
| 86. | Needle type tray seeder for vegetable nursery | 2010 |
| 87. | Steering system for power tiller trailer combination | 2010 |
| 88. | Palmyra tree climbing device | 2011 |
| 89. | Automatic protray vegetable nursery machine | 2011 |
| 90. | Aerial access hoist for coconut harvesting | 2012 |
| 91. | Fertilizer dibbler for ratoon sugarcane | 2013 |
| 92. | SRI protray seeder | 2013 |
| 93. | Tapioca harvester (TD) | 2014 |
| 94. | Turmeric planter (TD) | 2015 |
| 95. | Cluster Onion harvester | 2016 |
| 96. | Device for controlled depth of puddling | 2016 |
| 97. | Tapioca detopper (TD) | 2016 |
| 98. | Self-propelled combine harvester for groundnut | 2016 |
| 99. | Automatic transplanter for SSI | 2017 |
| 100. | Automatic protray seeder for Red gram | 2017 |
| 101. | Tractor operated cluster onion harvester | 2018 |
| 102. | Automatic vegetable transplanting mechanism | 2018 |
Dept. of Food Process Engineering
| S. No. | Year | Technology |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1990 | Briquetting machine for coir pith |
| 2. | Seed coating machine | |
| 3. | Bottling of sugarcane juice | |
| 4. | 1993 | Adhesive from tamarind kernel powder |
| 5. | Stored grain insect trap | |
| 6. | 1995 | Insect trap |
| 7. | 1997 | Particle board from coir pith |
| 8. | 1999 | Stirring mechanism for starch settling |
| 9. | 2000 | Tomato seed extractor |
| 10. | Brinjal seed extractor | |
| 11. | Pulper cum washer for coffee | |
| 12. | 2001 | Process for tomato concentrate |
| 13. | 2003 | Mechanical thresher for pepper |
| 14. | Fluidized bed dryer for mushroom | |
| 15. | Extrusion cooking of finger millets | |
| 16. | 2004 | Improved turmeric boiler |
| 17. | Hand operated thresher for pepper | |
| 18. | 2005 | Peeler cum washer for production of white pepper |
| 19. | Cleaner cum grader for pepper and cardamom | |
| 20. | Garbling unit for cardamom | |
| 21. | Value added cabbage | |
| 22. | 2009 | Improved dhal mill |
Centre for Post Harvest Technology
1. Double Chamber Centrifugal De-Huller For Millets
Millets are highly nutritious with good quality protein, rich in minerals, dietary fibre, phyto-chemicals and vitamins. People have started realizing the importance of the millet and the consumption has gone up in recent years.
De-hulling is the one of the important post-harvest operations carried out for the removal of husk from millets. At present de-hulling is carried out with the abrasive roller type machines as exclusive de-huller for the millets are not available. In this process, along with the husk, bran and small portion of endosperm is also removed which leads to the depletion of nutrients. Moreover the de-hulled grains contain about 20% of brokens. To overcome these problems, a double chamber centrifugal de-huller has been developed at Post Harvest technology Centre, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Coimbatore.
The developed de-huller essentially consist of feed hopper, two centrifugal chambers made of cast iron, impellers with curved vanes, blower and separate outlets for collecting kernel and husk. The unit is powered by 5 h.p. motor with suitable power transmission system. An elevator is also provided for easy feeding of the grains in to the unit. In operation the grains from the hopper enter the impeller through feed housing where it gains momentum and thrown against the cast iron chamber at very high velocity. The splitting of the husk occurs due to impact and the kernel comes out of the husk. The husk and kernel mixture passes through a chamber where they are get separated by means of a blower provided at the bottom of the unit.
Special features
- 10 % more recovery (since the bran is retained in the kernel )
- Suitable for little millet, proso millet, foxtail millet, barnyard millet and kodo millet.
- The capacity of the de-huller is 300 kg of per hour.
- The efficiency of the unit is 95%
- Breakage of 4-5%.
- Labour required: one person
- Cost of the unit Rs.1,20,000
- Cost of operation Rs.5 per/kg
2. Hand Operated Aonla Seed Remover
Aonla is one of the oldest Indian fruits considered as “wonder fruit for health” because of its unique nutritional qualities and therapeutic properties. Despite the potential sourceof vitamin C traditional methods of processing provides a poor quality product with low nutrient content. Aonla fruit is perishable in nature and are available only for shorter periods. It is necessary to develop improved equipment and novel methods for new product developments for the value addition of aonla.
A hand operated equipment for the removal of seed from aonla fruit was developed at the post-harvest technology center. The equipment consists of a fruit punching rod, fruit resting seat, handle with extension and the frame to hold all the important movable parts. The parts of equipment coming in contact with fruit were made out of stainless steel (food grade) and all other parts were made of mild steel. The whole equipment was electroplated to avoid blackening of parts when it comes in contact with the fruit ascorbic acid.
Specifications of the equipment
| Capacity | 20 kg/hr |
| Efficiency of de-seeding | 90 percent |
| Percent juice wastage | 2 per cent |
| Cost of the equipment | Rs.2000/- |
| Cost of operation |
Rs.10/hr |
Hand operated aonla seed remover
3. Biocolor From Beetroot
Biocolour from beetroot was prepared by utilizing as natural colour in processed foods by replacing the synthetic colours. The beetroot was washed in water and the outer skin and stalks were removed. The peeled beetroot was cut into small pieces and pulped by adding aqueous solution containing 3.0 per cent acetone (4 part beetroot pulp: 1 part aqueous solution). The beetroot pulp was filtered and the extracted juice TSS was adjusted to 25 ° brix by adding maltodextrin. Citric acid (0.1%), calcium sterate (0.1%) and gallnut powder (2%) was added to the juice and mixed thoroughly and filtered. The filtered juice was spray dried at a temperature of 200 °c. The stability of the biocolour from beetroot powder was studied at different levels of pH, preservative and temperature respectively. The physico-chemical characteristics of the freshly prepared biocolour from beetroot powder contained sedimentation – nil, solubility -100 per cent, acetone residues – nil, colour values 88.66, 4.57 and – 2.13 L* a* b*, moisture – 2.07 per cent, pH – 4.2, carbohydrate – 69.36 per cent, protein – 5.50 per cent, fat – 0.2 per cent, fibre – 0.28 per cent, ash – 4.8 per cent, total antioxidant – 16.36 mg /g and tannin – 2.74 per cent.. The prepared biocolour was applied in processed foods viz., beverages (milk shake), jam, jelly, candies (jujups and lollipop), sweetmeats (halwa and kesari), icings and ice-cream and the level of incorporation of biocolour was optimized. Incorporation of biocolour in processed foods was ranged from 0.2 to 0.9 per cent and the synthetic colour was between 0.01 and 0.03 per cent. Organoleptic evaluation studies showed that the overall acceptability the processed products ranged from 8.0 to 8.6 initially and from 7.5 to 8.0 at the end of 180 days. For 100 kg of fresh beetroot yielded 19.0 kg of biocolour. The cost of the biocolour from beetroot powder was Rs. 56/. per 100 gram.
Dept. of Renewable Energy
The important technologies generated in this department by the scientist and students and released in our university so far are as follows.
TNAU fixed dome type biogas plant
The cost of the biogas plant is cheaper by 50% compared to the conventional KVIC model biogas plant. There is a good response from the farming communities for the adoption of TNAU fixed dome type biogas plant. The Govt. of India has also made the TNAU fixed dome type biogas plant for getting the central subsidy under the National project on Biogas Development and so far more than 2.00 lakh plants have been installed.
Fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) drum
In order to avoid the corrosion problem, the drum was replaced with fibre reinforced plastic drum with proper weight addition arrangement. The life of the plant is increased from 4-5 years to 15 years More than 30,000 units have been installed in Tamil Nadu.
Low cost biogas burner
The cost of burner was reduced by 60% to popularize among small and marginal farmers. There is good response for these burners form the farmers and more than 2500 farmers have adopted it.
Biogas balloon
In order to store the biogas for running the engine, a simple device as biogas balloon was designed, developed and released for the benefit of industries.
Biogas operated brooder
In order to reduce of cost of electricity for the poultry industries, biogas produced from poultry waste was utilized to operate the brooder at a cheaper rate. More than 10 industries have benefited from these units.
TNAU Sakthi Biogas plant
In order to reduce the area required for the construction of biogas plant and also to reduce the cost, the TNAU Sakthi model biogas plant was designed, developed and released. More than 100 plants have been installed so far.
Biogas cum Solar Powered Light Trap
In order to collect and kill the insects, a biogas cum solar powered light trap has been designed, developed and released which can be operated either by biogas or solar energy. Five farmers have adopted this devices
Biomass gas stove
This stove widens the market for agro wastes, makes possible a higher efficiency and reduces the time. Now installed in more than 200 places.
Community chulha
It is exclusively design and developed to Cates the needs of noon meal centres. It is efficient, smokeless and conserves feedstock.
Renewable Energy Park
Gadgets developed at the Department of Bio Energy since 1982 are displayed in the. More than 10000 people visited and appreciated the Park.
Rice husk gasifiier
It can be used for thermal applications in agro industries particularly in Rice Mills. Its thermal efficiency is 55 – 60%.
Wood based gasifier
It is designed to generate producer gas from wood wastes. Fast growing species such as Acacia, Prosopis and Casuarina can be successfully used as feedstock.
Thermal output: 50000 kal/h
Capacity: 20 kw
Wood consumption: 20-25 kg/h
Thermal applications for medium scale industries
Pilot plant for biodiesel
It is designed to produce Biodiesel from Jatropha oil. The biodiesel production unit consists of a vessel with heater, a stirrer, a container where chemical and oil are mixed, settling tanks and finally a washing tank. The developed unit can esterify 250 litres of biodiesel per day. Depending upon the need, the size of the unit can be scaled up to get higher production capacity.
Efficiency: 99% conversion efficiency
Cost: 1.5 lakhs
Biomass hot air generation system integrated with Solar tunnel dryer
A continuous auto controlled drying system with combination of solar and biomass as heat source for drying various agricultural products at temperature of 60°C. This hybrid dryer facilitates drying during sunshine and off sunshine hours with enhanced quality of dried products
Drying Capacity: 2 Tonnes/batch
Drying time: 48 h for coconut
Payback period: 3.5 years
15.Night soil biogas plant of 20 m3 capacity
The anaerobic digestion of human excreta produces biogas and also reduces pathogens in the excreta and its unwanted odour and environmental degradation. The biogas production from human excreta is a boon towards safe and hygienic disposal of excreta. The moisture content of the night soil is about 90 % of the total weight with the total solids accounting about 10 %. The volatile solids accounted for about 90% of the total solids. The carbon content, nitrogen content, total potassium and total phosphorus content are in the range of 40-45, 6-7.5, 1-2 and 4-6%, respectively. Biogas produced from night soil biogas plant is used for cooking and by this plant, nearly 10 to 12 LPG gas cylinders has been saved per month.
Pyrolytic reactor for biochar production
The biochar unit developed has a capacity of 2 kg and it is highly portable in terms of size and weight. The energy efficiency of the unit is very high (71%) compared to (40%) in traditional systems. This system was evaluated for biochar production and its capacity for carbon sequestration, a measure to mitigate global warming.
Biocoal production from lignocellulosic biomass
An energy efficient high pressure hydrothermal carbonization unit of 1 L capacity has been developed to produce bio-coal from lignocellulosic biomass materials. Calorific value of bio-coal has been estimated as 25 MJ kg-1. The produced bio-coal has been proved to be promising, sustainable, energy efficient and eco-friendly solid fuel.
Tar cracking gasifier
The removal of tar and particulates has mostly been practiced as a secondary measure with downstream of the gasifier system in India. For the first time a gasifier system using primary method for the cracking of tar has been developed. This helps in achieving the prescribed limits of tar and particulate matter when coupled with a secondary system. Primary tar cracking proved to be an effective method for tar elimination in producer gas with 83% cracking efficiency. This also leads to the production of hydrogen rich gas.
Hydrothermal liquefaction reactor for biocrude oil production
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process converts waste wet biomass into a liquid fuel called biocrude. In this conversion process, elevated temperature (200–350ºC) and pressure (5–15 MPa) are used to breakdown and reform biomass macromolecules into biofuel called biocrude oil. The retention time varied from 20 to 60 min. The recovered biocrude oil can be directly combusted and used as marine fuel or upgraded by integrating downstream processes to approach petroleum oils. The biocrude oil yield was found to be 60%.
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