DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A BURNER FOR THE PROCESSING OF COW HIDE FOR 'WELE' PRODUCTION

Abstract

The traditional means of processing ‘wele’ involves a very long and tiring procedure which ends up making the final produce unwholesome for human consumption due to the source of fuel used in singeing the cow hide. The purpose of this study was to design, build, and test a burner that would be used to remove fur from cow hides in order to produce "wele." The inadequacies of the existing techniques for singeing cow hides were examined, and design specifications that would address the issues identified were developed and applied in the creation of three unique burner concepts. Following the assessment of the concepts and selection of the optimal design, the machine was constructed and its functioning was assessed by subjecting it to three separate samples of tough cow skins at temperatures of 100°C, 200°C, and 350°C, at which point the stainless-steel press turned red-hot. It has been shown that, although it will affect the singeing time, singeing the hides at lower temperatures will provide the highest quality hide. Additionally, it was discovered that singeing at higher temperatures causes the hide to become less moist than at lower temperatures and, if improperly managed, can result in charring of the hide. It was determined that the device offered a quicker and safer way to singe cow skin for "wele" production without sacrificing the calibre of the meat being generated.