The International Symposium on Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering (ISABE) 2013 B1 - 1 Technical Analysis and Performance Test of a Small Scale Banana Milling Machine Ade M Kramadibrata 1 Totok Herwanto 1 and Boy Ricardo 2 1 Faculty of Agro-Industrial Technology; University of Padjadjaran, E-mail: kramadibrata@yahoo.com 2 Alumnus of Agro-Industrial Technology; University of Padjadjaran Abstract Technical specification of a small scale milling machine (MPP-0112) had to be reevaluated due to its unpropered performance result. Descriptive method employed to analyze machine components and to determine machine performances. Results obtained from machine components analysis indicated that the machine should have: 1) a hopper volume of 0.00435 m3, 2) a transmission unit of 2 belts, 3) a minimum shaft diameter of 15.48 mm, 4) a torsion deflection of 0.01, 5) a critical torsion of 2777.03 rpm, 6) a minimum pin diameter of 7.71 mm, 7) a bearing lifetime of 7461.64 hours, 8) vertikal, horizontal, and deflections of 0.01, 0.04, and 0.02 mm, respectively, a support frame force of 213.86 N, a support engine force of 196.2 N, and a support welding strength of 36.25 N. Whereas from performance tests showed that the machine had: 1) actual and theoretical milling capacities of 17.26 and 7339.28 kg/h, respectively, 2) an engine efficiency of 66%, 3) a mass lost of 2.72%, a mass shrinkage of 1.76%, 4) an engine power required of 986.08 W, 5) a specific energy of 207.16 kJ/kg, 6) a ratio of uniformity index of 1:4.42:46.79, 7) milling quality at a water content of banana flour of 7.39% at a flour fineness modulus of 0.5 and at an average diameter of flour of 0.15 mm. Keywords: milling machine, technical analysis and performance test, banana flour Introduction Currently Indonesia is broadly very dependent on the use of imported wheat flour. Hence, any changes of world economy would affect also its local price that suffer the common need of communities who consumen wheat flour-base foods. This has to be anticipated by starting to use a lot of non wheat base flour which function is to balance the use of wheat base and non wheat base flour, at least to vary foods and reduce the consumption of wheat base flour that undoubtedly has become such an essential need of common Indonesian communities. Program of intensive banana flour supply is one of the efforts to reduce the dependency on wheat base flour. The effort is aimed not only to cut down the high devisa for importing wheat flours (> 40% from total flour supply as reported by Adi Sasono, 2007) but also to actualize the more effective program of food diversification. The sufficient supply of banana base flour can be fulfilled amongst others by empowering small scale industries, particularly household enterprises which are commonly run by housewives. In efforts to increase significant banana flour production there is however a strong need of simple milling machines which are easily found in the local market and can be afforded by small scale enterprises and particularly can be simply operated by housewives. Another problem linked with that is due to the limited access for information and technology that limits banana flour production, i.e.; a barrier for small scale metal/manufacture industries