Design and Preliminary Evaluation of a Snail Shelling Machine

Abstract

Snail meat is an alternative source of rich protein in the tropics and an important part of many diets. Despite its wide popularity as a cheap source of dietary protein, very little investments have been made into the processing of snail meat in terms of processing equipment and other value addition technologies. Up till now, many farmers utilize manual methods in breaking snail shells which are very demanding and tiring.  Furthermore, existing technology of snail shellers are not only expensive but the technology is beyond the reach f many local farmers thereby discouraging many from exploring the abundant potentials of the processing value chain. Hence, this study designed and evaluated a snail shell cracking machine using standard engineering procedures and locally available materials that will specifically replace human efforts in snail shell removal. The components of the machine include: the hopper, cracking chamber, rollers, discharge chute transmission shaft, chain drive and a prime mover. Preliminary test of 20 mature snails at a constant speed of 410 rpm showed that the average cracking time for the snails was 1.73 seconds while a total of 34.65 seconds was spent in the process. A throughput achieved during testing translates to 330kg/hr and an efficiency of 96.03% was also recorded during the testing. The total cost of the machine. Hence, this study establishes that snail processing can be achieved using mechanical means at very reasonable cost and further processing opportunities can be explored using the technology