Technical Performance Evaluation of a Solar-powered Cereal Mill in Benin
Bertrand Vigninou Gbenontin *
Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Agricultural and Food Technologies, Agonkanmey Agricultural Research Centre, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin, Cotonou, 01 BP 884, Benin.
Hugue Zannou
Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Agricultural and Food Technologies, Agonkanmey Agricultural Research Centre, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin, Cotonou, 01 BP 884, Benin.
Valère Dansou
Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Agricultural and Food Technologies, Agonkanmey Agricultural Research Centre, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin, Cotonou, 01 BP 884, Benin.
Abel Bodéhoussè Hotegni
Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Agricultural and Food Technologies, Agonkanmey Agricultural Research Centre, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin, Cotonou, 01 BP 884, Benin.
Paul Ayihadji Ferdinand Houssou
Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Agricultural and Food Technologies, Agonkanmey Agricultural Research Centre, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin, Cotonou, 01 BP 884, Benin.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Cereal milling is an essential operation in Benin, where conventional electric and diesel-powered mills are widely used and solar-powered alternatives remain uncommon. This study evaluated the technical performance of a 1 HP Phaesun Pro Farina solar-powered mill relative to conventional electric (8 HP) and diesel-powered (10 HP) mills at a research station in Porto-Novo, Benin. Maize, sorghum and millet were processed in 10 kg batches, with three replicate tests for each cereal and milling system. Processing time, capacity, milling passes, effective mechanical energy consumption, flour yield and particle size were evaluated. For the solar mill, mean milling times were 190.6 ± 4.01 min for maize, 104.2 ± 0.4 min for sorghum and 38.6 ± 1.3 min for millet. Corresponding processing capacities were 3.15, 5.76 and 15.54 kg/h. The solar mill consumed 2.14 ± 0.13, 1.17 ± 0.03 and 0.43 ± 0.01 kWh of effective mechanical energy, respectively. Conventional mills processed all three cereals more rapidly, although the mills generally produced comparable flour yields and particle size distributions. The solar mill required fewer milling passes but had substantially lower processing capacity, particularly for maize. Under the tested conditions, the system demonstrated technical feasibility for milling locally consumed cereals, while indicating a need for improvements in motor–millstone matching and throughput. The non-equivalent motor ratings and single-site experimental design limit direct generalisation of the performance comparison.
Keywords: Energy consumption, processing, crushing force, solar-powered mill, Cereals, millstones