Kokoa Kamili: Rain Protection for Drying Cocoa Beans in Tanzania
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Kokoa Kamili is a social enterprise in Tanzania that specializes in supplying high quality cocoa beans to specialty chocolate makers and paying their farmers fair wages. They primarily purchase wet cocoa beans from farmers and handle the processing of the beans. Their production season is disrupted by rain that interrupts and slows the drying process of fermented cocoa beans in preparation for use in chocolate making. Because of this, their production season is shortened by the rainy season each year. We are solving this problem by developing a rapidly deployable rain protection system to prevent the drying cocoa beans from becoming wet and developing mold as well as protecting the beans from being scorched by intense sunlight. We have researched the problem, designed a potential solution, and prototyped a scaled version of the final design. The design involves four bearing-mounted “tarps” rolled along the top of the greenhouse that can be quickly deployed and fastened to the frame to protect the beans from both rain and intense sunlight. We have conducted several tests to verify that the speed of deployment is significantly faster than the current method, the rain protection is effective, and the structure can withstand wind speeds typically experienced at the Kokoa Kamili facility. The results from our analysis and prototyping have left us with a scale model that validates the efficacy of our concept and requires additional work to determine how it will be modified to be successful at full size.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | 2021 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Dalman, Drew |
|---|---|
| Author | Rattanakongkham, Disney |
| Author | Shoch, Amy |
| Author | Shorr, Daniel |
| Advisor | Kurteff, Ethan |
| Advisor | Cohen, Shoshanah |
| Advisor | Bindra, Simran |
| Advisor | LoBue, Brian |
Subjects
| Subject | mechanical engineering |
|---|---|
| Subject | sustainability |
| Subject | cocoa beans |
| Subject | Tanzania |
| Genre | Student project report |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Dalman, Drew; Rattanakongkham, Disney; Shoch, Amy; Shorr, Daniel. (2021). Kokoa Kamili: Rain Protection for Drying Cocoa Beans in Tanzania. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/bv354tw4171
Collection
ME170 Mechanical Engineering Design
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