Innovation in the Productivity of Banana Fibre Extracting Machine:

The Effectiveness of Comb Type Roller in Producing Fine Fibre and its
Production Speed.

Name of Researchers:

Glen Daniel T. Demafeliz

Nic Jason M. Gelogo
Anna Rosel A. Limpañgog
Carl John B. Mantac
Joemarie T. Ramos
Carl John P. Trespuentes
Nesty Cliff S. Yanson

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, TUP VISAYAS

INTRODUCTION
Background of the Project
Banana fiber is extracted from the pseudo stem Sheath of the plant. The extraction can be done
mainly in three ways: Manual, chemical and Mechanical. Of these, mechanical extraction is the best
way to ontain fiber of both good quality and quantity in an eco-friendly way. In this process the fiber
is extracted by inserting the pseudo stem sheaths one by one into a raspador machine. The raspador
machine removes non-fibrous tissues and the coherent material (known as sctcher) from the fiber
bundle present in the sheath and gives the fine fiber as output.

Recent studies shows that fiber extraction by machine has not been very successful in terms of
fiber quality. The manual version in feeding the banana stem into the machine and pulling it back
produces better quality than the automatic version which uses conveyors but produces lesser quantity
of fiber on a given amount of time.

The technological chain of the mechanical processes of fibre extraction comprises several stages,
which are suitable for long fibres or tow, among others:
● A breaking machine or a softener
● A scutching machine

Smoothness of the technology is related to keeping the key process parameters on the proper level.
The factors within the mechanical process that have to be controlled are:

● Distance between working elements

● Construction and diameter of feeler rolls

● Pressure of working elements on the material

● Rotary speed of rollers

● Operating speed

By modifying these elements, we can achieve a fine quality of fiber with higher productivity.

Justification of the Project

 Once the modification of the design of banana fiber extracting machine is incorporated,
efficiency of production will improve. This will greatly benefit the industry which manufactures
textiles from banana fiber.

Also, other manufacturers which uses different sources for fiber production such as pineapple
leaves, sisal, agave and sugarcane can rely on these study to produce better product quality.

Lastly, we can lessen the manpower needed to operate the machine during the extraction process
as the feeding of banana stem is done by a conveyor. After passing through the rollers, the extracted
fiber is carried by the conveyor and is then placed in a rack or a wooden stick for drying. This
process is much faster than the manual feeding of banana stem while producing a fine quality of
fiber.

Objectives of the Project

General / Main Objective:

The general objective of this study is to design an improved banana fiber extracting machine in
terms of product quality and productivity.

Specific Objective:

Specifically the study aims:

To design a more efficient banana fiber extracting machine by utilizing the use of a comb type
roller for producing a fine quality of fiber with less impurities compared to machines using smooth
surface rollers.

Measurable

Quantity Produced = mass of fiber / operating time

Mass of non-fibrous tissues = mass of banana stem - mass of fiber extracted

Hypothesis:

There is a significant improvement in terms of quality and productivity of banana fiber by using
a comb type roller in the banana fiber extracting machine.

METHODOLOGY

This study utilized an applied technical design with the focus on

analyzing information found in different reference materials in order to
develop a comprehensive basis for the project design of Banana Fibre
Extracting Machine. The research work will be conducted by using an
application that can simulate the entire process and that can check the
changes and improvement of the design made by the researchers compared
to the existing machines.

Independent variable:

Dependent variable:

Control variable:

Intervening variable:
Literature Cited:

Subagyo, A., & Chafidz, A. (2020). Banana Pseudo-Stem Fiber:

Preparation, Characteristics, and Applications. Banana Nutrition -
Function and Processing Kinetics. doi:10.5772/intechopen.82204

Rahamaththulla, S & Premnath, S & Ravi, V & Madheswaran, S &

Nagendran, Jayakumar & Student, U. (2018). Design & Fabrication of
Banana Fiber Extracting Machine. 2321-0613.

Englund, K (2009). Tribology of natural fiber polymer composites.

DOI10.1016/s1369-7021(09)70093-8.