Rice De-husking machine for domestic level brown rice production Introduction- Rice grain is surrounded by a hard coat or husk, which protects the germ and the endosperm, the energy-rich starchy centre of the grain. For making rice ( palatable for human consumption, this protective layer is removed during rice hulling processes. During rice hulling in process (with conventional rice hullers) outer cover (hard coat) and inside bran (brown coat) get removed to produce white policed rice. The brown bran coating of has many nutrients and dilatory benefits (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/why-brown-rice-is-healthierthan-white/articleshow/19004946.cms). With increasing awareness on brown rice consumption, demand for it is also increasing with health conscious community. This gives scope for production of brown rice at domestic level as low cost, cottage scaled value addition business for farmers, rural youth, SHGs. With this background we at Vigyan ashram (Pabal) have developed Rice De-husking machine (prototype). The lab trials are successfully completed with following details- The said machine is developed for producing brown rice at domestic level. The machine specifications are as follow- Particular Specifications Product name /Model Rice dehiscing Machine 1-10 number Size / material used Size - L-800mm,W- 600mm,H-1400mm Body MS structure with grade de-husking rubber plats Weight - Max Approx wt 100-125kg Hopper size 10 Kg Exhaust blower Motor 1hp motor ( Crompton greaves ) with 230V AC, 0.75A Capacity 10 Kg / Hr (May vary with Rice variety / moisture content) Rice-de-husking machine (Prototype)
Comparison with convention rice-hullers available in market :- Sr. No. Specification 10 Hp Rice Huller (Semi-automated) 40 Hp Rice huller (Fully automated ) VA model Remark on VA model 1 Power supply 3 ph 3 ph 1 ph Cottage / domestic scale operation 2 Horse power 10 hp Total 36 hp 1 hp Low power consumption 3 Final product 2 Stage Polished rice 4 Processing stages Note - 2 Stage (1 st Stage- Hulling, 2 nd Stage- Polishing ) Polish rice 6 ( Elevator, Colander, Destoner, Crusher, separator, Polisher ) Roller rubber is used Brown rice pressure applied on crushing wheel) 1 ( Single stage de-husking) Brown rice with nutrient retention Easy operation, low maintenance. 5 Crushing mechanism Steel rod horizontally placed in casing Plates having rubber is placed horizontally 6 Flour area 4*2ft & 5*3ft Total 40*10ft 3*2fts Occupy less area 7 Production rate 40 kg/hr 1 ton/hr 10 kg/ hr Low capacity (Domestic use) 8 Price 70000/- 700000/- 20000/- Low cost 9 Breakage 10 to 15% (depends on quality of 15 to 20% quality of 5 to 10% quality of Less breakage 10 Labor Nearly 3 to 4 Nearly 2 Single operated Low labor 11 Percentage Almost 100% after Almost 100% after polishing polishing 85% to 90% quality of Conventional rice huller even removes part of bran layer while doing single pass hulling. Breakage due to using steel rod for hulling in rice mills.
Future development- Long kernel s paddy like Basmati variety make blockage in passage. Machine is not useful for hard coating paddy like Mahadi. We have planned to overcome these issues in next model of machine. Lab trial results on different rice varieties- Sr. no. Variety of rice (Local name) Percentage of rice obtain Remark 1 Kamal bhaat 89% Machine runs smoother 2 Var. No. 4008 90% Machine runs smoother 3 Kasbai 83% Machine runs smoother 4 Kalisaal 86% Machine take load 5 Mahadi 66% More rubber abrasion 6 Basmati 85% Blockage in hopper due to long paddy size 7 Kala bhaat 96% High quality is achieved 8 Indrayani 90% Machine runs smoother Variety vise de-husking photo specimens -
Acknowledgment This work is done with technical and financial support of Department of Science & technology (Core support project) and PRAJ Foundation, Pune (TIED project).
Sample of rice from 10hp rice huller :-