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The Oat Dehuller
The Oat Dehuller
The oat dehuller is a piece of equipment that is used to separate the grain kernel from its husk.oat dehuller This is a crucial step in ensuring the quality of finished products, especially bread, as it removes the hull, which contains toxins and other contaminants. Techniques for removing the husk have been developed since einkorn was first cultivated in the Neolithic period (Nesbitt and Samuel, 1998).
The process of separating the grains from their hulls is done by physical means--the hulls are separated from the seeds by rubbing them together under high friction.oat dehuller The different specific gravities of the hulls and seeds allow this separation, which can be accomplished using friction, mechanical scarification, or impact. A variety of specialized dehulling machinery is available, though the simplest model is an abrasion dehuller that uses metal disks with teeth that rip hulls away from the seeds. This is accomplished by the difference in their specific gravity, which causes them to repel each other. The mixture of seeds and hulls can then be separated by air or by running it over a gravity table to sort the product by size (Dong and Edberg, 1990).
Dehulling is an essential step in creating value-added products from ancient grains.oat dehuller Many small-scale millers and artisan bakers want to offer these grain products, but the cost of dehulling may prohibit them from doing so. In addition to the purchase price of the dehulling equipment, there are operating costs and labor intensive per unit of dehulled grain produced. This makes a profit on these products only possible if the grain sells for a premium over the cost of production and transportation, or if there are other revenue streams that can offset the dehulling costs.
A variety of equipment is needed for dehulling, including a feed bin or silo to hold the raw material.oat dehuller Separate bins or storage units are also needed for the hulls, which must be either disposed of or incorporated into some other product. In addition to these equipment requirements, a substantial amount of labor is required, as the work requires considerable manual handling. Dust controls are also required to ensure the safety of operators and others who will be working with this process.
A basic abrasion dehuller can be built by adapting a Corona hand mill used for grinding flour with a rubber disk (Dong and Edberg, 1990).oat dehuller This is an inexpensive option but is very labor intensive. It may be feasible for very small operations that can employ a full-time worker at minimum wage or better, but such an operation would generate negative cash flow and require significant capital investment to break even. A more sophisticated design incorporates a food-grade rubber disc over the metal burrs, which can be impregnated with sand to increase friction. This model can be modified for spelt, emmer, and einkorn by changing the configuration of the disks. Other designs utilize hammers and an impact mechanism that resembles a blender (Dorn, 2012). Each hulled grain has its own tolerances and settings that must be adjusted, which complicates the development of a universal dehuller.
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