Senthil had observed people take out coconuts from the whole nuts harvested from the coconut trees using a crowbar. He developed an iron cutter that could split the whole nut into two halves to extract oil for culinary purposes. At present, the motor is fitted with 1/2 hp or 1 hp to mechanize the cutting of the nuts. He also advocates that instead of harvesting nuts from the tree people should just collect the ones that have fallen. This is because these nuts are fully mature and contain more oil to extract. Further, he also advocates storing these nuts for four and half months before extracting the oil from the kernels. Normally, nuts are stored for two months after the harvest. Duraisamy’s method of harvesting and storing can increase kernel’s weight and oil content considerably. From one quintal of kernels, 71/2kg of extra oil can be obtained and from one quintal of nuts 15 kg of kernels can be obtained instead of the normal 10 kg form the normally practiced method. Senthil also uses this cutter to extract oil from palmyrah nuts. The mechanized version of this cutter (that is, connecting to 1/2 hp or 1 hp motor) can break 8,000 nuts at a time. As an added benefit, the cutter helps to save labor cost. On an average, in one minute, 25 nuts can be broken manually. The machines currently in use are typically large and consume as much as 5,000 watt. Senthil’s machine, designed as part of an incubation project, is 46 per cent smaller in volume and consumes around 2,100 watt.
“Our machine can be easily customised according to the shape and size of the product to be manufactured. We have made thermoformed pieces using our machine with a cycle time of 3.5 seconds,” says Senthil.
The machine is priced at Rs. 1 lakh as against the existing products in the market, which cost around Rs. 8 lakh to 10 lakh. The cost of running the machine is low, which naturally lowers thethe product cost. The machine requires just one person to operate.
“It would be a boon for food packaging, toiletries, pharmaceuticals and electronics industries as these thermoformed products can prevent odour, moisture and gases from damaging the products that are packed” Mr. Senthil Kumar adds.
