xm, A, 6 Valencia: Mechanical Extraction of Coir 279 



and that long soaking also reduces the fiber-extracting power 

 not a little. The minimum period of maceration is stated at 

 seven days. Some of the husks defibered at the Bureau of 

 Science were soaked in ordinary tap water at room temperature 

 for about ten days and the others were subjected to the cleaning 

 process as received. No appreciable difference was noticed be- 

 tween the especially soaked husks and those used as received 

 with regard to the ease of working and quality of product. This 

 was probably due to the fact that the husks were received so 

 moist that after pressing in the crusher they still appeared Wet. 

 The husk-crushing machine consists of a massive cast-iron 

 frame upon which are mounted two cast-iron, fluted, gear-driven 

 rolls revolving in opposite directions. The clearance between 

 the rolls is adjustable by a hand wheel and, to prevent breakage 

 due to too heavy feed or to the accidental introduction of stones, 

 tools, or other hard bodies, one of the rolls is free to move away 

 against the reaction of two powerful helical springs. The husks, 

 after being torn into fifths to facilitate crushing, were fed 

 into the sheet-iron hopper located above, which has the same 

 width as the rolls. The crushing machine subjected the husks 

 to a kneading and flattening action that loosened the adhering 

 pulp from the filaments. It was necessary to pass the material 

 through the crusher several times before it was sufficiently 

 mashed for the fiber-extracting machine. At the first crushing 

 the clearance of the rolls was at a maximum in order not to 

 clog the machine. At each successive pass the roll clearance 

 was reduced. If the crusher were used in sets, each pair of 

 rolls having less clearance, it is believed that the crushing opera- 

 tion could be carried on more satisfactorily and with less labor. 

 In the manufacturers' catalogue this machine is said to have a 

 capacity of from 5,000 to 8,000 husks per day according to their 

 size, with a drive-pulley speed of 80 revolutions per minute and 

 2 horse power. 



Table I. — Test of crnsher. 



Husks fed: 



Kilograms 1,523.5 



Number 2,900 



Husk capacity of machine: 



Per hour 187 



Per 10-hour day 1,870 



Power required for driNing: 



Kilowatts 1.5 



Horse power 2 



Time required when each husk is crushed four times: Total, 

 15 hours, 31 minutes; per husk, 19 seconds. 



