Documentation and analysis of avocado oil extraction technologies in Leguruki, Tanzania

• Main Author: Wang, Lesley
• Other Authors: Amy Smith.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2016
• Subjects: Mechanical Engineering.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105662

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2016. === Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. === Includes bibliographical references (pages 56-57). === A team of MIT students and researchers as well as a local team in Leguruki, Tanzania has been working on extracting oil from excess supplies of avocados since 2014 with the goal of adapting oil extraction methods to small-scale farmers. Through this process of extracting oil, the team has explored several iterations of avocado dryers, presses, and centrifuges. Analyzing this machinery has given a broader picture of the commonalities and requirements of the designs. A set of evaluation criteria can be extracted from this analysis. Having these guidelines in place for future designs for oil extraction will streamline and aid the process, facilitating the small-scale production of avocado oil, and eventually augmenting the incomes of small-scale farmers. === by Lesley Wang. === S.B.