Abstract
Keywords: Full Belly Project, Sheller, lightweight concrete
Background
The Full belly Project is an organization which creates low cost, simple technological solutions to be implemented in developing countries. One of these solutions, the Universal Nut Sheller, minimizes the work load of women in Western Africa by allowing nuts to be shelled through this device rather than by hand.
Problem Statement and Criteria
Currently in West Africa, the nut sheller that are in use, weighing some ninety pounds are placed on the back of bicycles and transported long distances. This presents serious drawbacks in terms of trasnportability and raises the risk of breakage. Additionally, the cement in West Africa is costly and of poor quality. For these reasons, the Full Belly Project's executive director helped Team Nuts for Peace come up with the following criteria:
- Cost
- To reduce the cost of the Universal Nut Sheller
- Transportability
- To improve the transportability
- Durability
- To maintain or increase the durability of the UNS
- Safety
- The degree of safety required for the final product
- Ease of Construction
- To minimize the number of specialists in the implementation process
Costs
The design costs for Team Nuts for Peace during the design process are as follows:
Materials
Product | Quantity | Price ($) |
---|---|---|
Cement | 1 bag (94 lb) | 15.00 |
sand | 1 bag (60 lb) | 12.00 |
clay (dry) | 2 gallons | harvested |
Machine Grease | 1 can | 4.00 |
Threaded Rod | 1 | 15.00 |
UNS Mold | 1 | provided by Full Belly Project |
Total costs | 46.00 |
Specifications
Technical specifications including a schematic (CAD, pictures of the device).
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Construction instructions
Equal mix (by volume) of cement, sand, clay and sawdust. Use fine grained clay, obtained by running dry, crushed clay through a sieve or screen. Also use fine sawdust, as opposed to wood shavings. Mix material dry, then slowly add water while mixing until desired consistency is obtained. This should be enough water for all materials (especially cement) to be wet, but is not too hard to mix. A slightly less-than cottage cheese wetness is acceptable. Follow Full Belly instructions as normal. Instructions http://www.fullbellyproject.org/Documents/UNS.pdf
Next steps
While improvements were made to the UNS, additional materials testing could result in a mixture that more thoroughly meets the Fully Belly Project's criteria. The final mixture decided upon is a base to move from.