A simplified twin screw co-rotating food extruder: design, fabrication and testingS.A.M.A.N.S. Senanayake a, B. Clarke b,* Division of Agricultural and Plantation Engineering, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala, Nugegoda, Sri LankaDepartment of Postharvest Technology, School of Agriculture, Food and Environment, SilsoeCollage, Cranfield University, Silsoe, Bedfordshire MK45 4DT,UKReceived 6 July 1998; accepted 10 February 1999AbstractA simplified co-rotating twin screw food extruder was designed, fabricated and tested in England, followed by extensive testing in Sri Lanka. It was built as a model to meet the specific product and financial constraints of less developed countries and was expected to be used in those countries to widen the production capabilities of extruded foods. The machine had an estimated delivery of 10 kg/h and was made mainly with mild steel. Two types of screw were made, one with a constant pitch of 14 mm and the other with varying pitch in segments of 14, 12 and 10 mm. The machine was powered by a 2.2 kW electric motor with electronic speed control .The machine also had electrical heating with a temperature controller and a pressure sensing device. The cost of fabrication of themachine was estimated at 2000 with most of the parts built in a fairly simple workshop. A mixture of rice and dried banana was successfully extruded as a potential snack food and on the basis of maximum expansion the best results was obtained from a barrel temperature of 120C, screw speed 125 rpm, feed moisture 15% and with a die orifice size of 3 mm. When the alternative compress ion screw was tested very similar results were achieved with no significant improvement in product expansion. 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.Keywords: Twin screw extruder; Design; Low cost; Snack food; Continuous cooker; Local construction; Cereal mixturesNomenclaturea Die diameter (mm)B Channel width (mm)C Screw circumference (mm)d Screw core diameterD Outer diameter of screws (mm)H Flight depth (mm)M Moisture content (% wet basis)n Number of fight turnsN Speed angular (rev/min)p Pitch (mm)Q Delivery rate (mm3/min)S Total helical length of screws (mm)t Temperature ()T Residence time (min)a Overlap angle of screw fights (degrees)d Calender gap (mm)e Side clearance (mm)q Product density (g/mm3 )/ Helix angle (degrees)* Corresponding author. Fax: +01525-863277; e-mail: b.clarkecran-eld.ac.uk0260-8774/99/$ see front matter1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.PII: S 0 2 6 0 - 8 7 7 4 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 9 71. IntroductionExtrusion cooking is finding ever increasing applications in the food process industry. Apart from providing a means of manufacturing new products, it has successfully revolution is many conventional manufacturing processes (Harlow, 1985, Frame, 1994). Today, extruders come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and method of operation. There are three types of food extruder found in industry: hydraulic ram, roller and screw type extruders (Frame, 1994). The screw extruders are very different to the other two having special features such as continuous processing and mixing ability. Single and twin screw types are both widely used in the food process industry. Unfortunately, most of the food extruders available in the market are either so costly that less developed countries cannot afford to buy them except by some form of assistance or outside investment or else are not appropriate for the wide variety of materials that need to be processed. As a result the growth of extrusion technology of food into these countries has been hindered despite its many advantages. Fig. 2. Plan drawing of the twin screw extruder with drive system. 1-V belt pulley, 2-gear box, 3-food seal, 4-ange clamp bolt, 5-die plate, 6-die, 7-two segments of the extruder chamber, 8-extruder screw.were made so that they could be externally screwed to the die plate.2.5. Drive system The machine was driven by an electric motor of 2.2kW using a twin belt drive between the motor and a gearbox shown in Fig. 2. The speed reduction in the box was2.08 while an electronic speed controller was used to control the speed continuously over the range required.Fig. 3. Front portion of barrel showing provision for heaters, temperature and pressure sensors. 1-slots for heaters, 2-end flanges, 3-side flanges to barrel, 4-hole for pressure sensor, 5-twin holes to form the barrel.2. Motor powerIn twin screw extruders the motor power is utilized mainly to compress and shear the food dough that squeezes through various gaps in the intermeshing screws and the gap between the screws and the barrel. When dealing with a wide range of foods under different process conditions the shear resistance can vary widely because of changes in the rheological behaviour which would prevent accurate estimate of the motor power. Owing to the unknown character therefor