Abstract:
The potato washing machine produced in this research can actually clean the dirt that remains on the surface of the potato tubers. The polishing mechanism of this machine uses a plastic brush roller that works continuously with the conveyor. By causing a powerful polish of the potato skin that is consistent with the hypotheses and research objectives of this research. The experimental result shows that the optimal time to cleaning the potatoes is 8 minutes by 50 kilograms of potatoes at a time. The production capacity of this machine is 3000 kilograms per day which can increase production capacity approximately 6 times compared with manual labor. In the process of potatoes washing, It was found that only 4.2% of potato skin abrasion was found during washing, which is acceptable in accordance with the Royal Project Foundation's Vegetable Quality Classification Manual, where the percentage of damage is not exceeded. 5%. From the analysis of economic data, it was found that using a continuous potato washing machine instead of workers can reduce the use of 8 manual labor to just 1 person, as well as reducing labor costs by 38,500 baht per month. The break-even point of a potato washing machine is 1 month.