The development of the agri-food sector in West African countries is limited by energy and technological factors. As a result, the main shea nut producers in these countries, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Mali, export their production to the benefit of large industries in northern countries. One of the most difficult operations involved in transforming shea nuts into shea butter is grinding. Processing shea kernels into shea butter requires a mill or grinder. The types of energy (diesel and electricity) used by these mills are fossil-based, difficult to access and pose huge environmental issues. The objective of this work is to design a mill, operating with photovoltaic solar energy as an energy source, in a design approach using design rules and industrial engineering tools. To this end, a survey on the practices of the networks of agri-food equipment stakeholders on the use of renewable energy and the characterization of the network of solar mill stakeholders were carried out. The results of the surveys and the network characterization of the stakeholders, combined with those of the literature review, made it possible to define rules for integrating renewable energy into the design of the solar mill. The use of functional analysis and a tool to help choose energy-efficient technological solutions enabled to apply the rules for integrating renewable energy into the design of the shea kernel solar mill for validation purpose. The results of the functional tests of the solar mill showed a production capacity of 270 Kg of shea kernel paste, a solar energy consumption of 11,532 kWh equivalent to an energy consumption of 1.82 USD in 6 hours operational time per day.
Published in | Science Journal of Energy Engineering (Volume 12, Issue 4) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11 |
Page(s) | 67-80 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Agri-Food Equipment Design, Solar Mill, Socio-Technical Network, Solar Energy, Shea Butter, West Africa
[1] | Totouom, A., Les obstacles au développement industriel de l’Afrique. L'Actualité économique, 2018. 94(3): p. 363-387. |
[2] | Gérardin, H. and O. Damette, Quelle transition énergétique, quelles croissance et développement durables pour une nécessaire transition écologique ? Présentation. Mondes en développement, 2020. 192(4): p. 7-23. |
[3] | Bass, H. -H., Promoting the Production of Cashew, Shea, and Indigenous Fruits in West Africa. 2013. |
[4] | Lovett, P. N. (2015). Shea butter: Properties and processing for use in food. In Specialty oils and fats in food and nutrition (pp. 125-158). Woodhead Publishing. |
[5] | Goumbri, W. B., et al., Procédés d extraction et qualité physicochimique du beurre de karité du Burkina Faso utilisé comme matière première pharmaceutique et agroalimentaire. 2 ème Congrès International de la Société Ouest Africaine de Pharmacie galénique et Industrielle (SOAPGI), 2021. |
[6] | Elsewedy, H. S., T. M. Shehata, and W. E. Soliman, Shea Butter Potentiates the Anti-Bacterial Activity of Fusidic Acid Incorporated into Solid Lipid Nanoparticle. Polymers (Basel), 2022. 14(12). |
[7] | Noumi, E. S., M. -H. Dabat, and J. Blin. Développement durable de la transformation traditionnelle du karité en valorisant énergétiquement les résidus organiques. Page de garde du CIFEM. 2012. |
[8] | Marouzé, C., Proposition d'une méthode pour piloter la trajectoire technologique des équipements dans les pays du Sud. Application au secteur agricole et agroalimentaire. 1999, Paris, ENSAM. |
[9] | Azouma, Y. O., Intégration de la fabrication et de la maintenance dans une démarche de conception pluridisciplinaire d'équipements agricoles et agroalimentaires pour l'Afrique. 2005, Besançon. |
[10] | Boroze, T. T. E. (2011). Outil d'aide à la conception de séchoirs pour les produits agricoles tropicaux Université de Lom. |
[11] | Hounsounou, J., Proposition de Méthode pour une Approche Intégrée d’Eco conception d’Equipements dans les PMEs de Manufacturing d’Agroéquipements au Bénin. 2022, Université d'Abomey-Calavi (Bénin). |
[12] | Handra, N. and A. Indra, Briquette of Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber as an Alternative Substitution for Binderless Fuel Methods. Makara Journal of Technology, 2023. 27(3): p. 1. |
[13] | Soulama, Y. S., Bationo, F., & Tapsoba, F. W. B. (2024). Evaluation of the Performance of the ATESTA Forced Convection Dryer when Drying Pineapples. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 17(14), 1252-1262. |
[14] | Bationo, F., Marouze, C., Boujut, J. F., & Giroux, F. A. (2009). Socio-technical networks: a tool for integrating the maintenance dimension in the design of equipment for small food-processing units in Western Africa. Journal of Design Research, 8(1), 23-41. |
[15] | Bationo, F., Taking maintenance sociotechnique network into account of the equipment design (Prise en compte du réseau sociotechnique de maintenance dans la conception d’équipements). 2007, Institut national polytechnique de Grenoble, Université de Grenoble. |
[16] | Hoareau, É., sociotechnique et Innovation: le cas du réseau QualiREG. Gestion et management 2014, Université de la Réunion. |
[17] | Sanwogou, Y., et al., Conception d’un système solaire photovoltaïque pour alimenter le laboratoire de physique de l’Université de Kara, Togo. Afrique SCIENCE, 2019. 15(5): p. 238. |
[18] | Palm, S. F., et al., Performance Evaluation of Burkina Faso’s 33 MW Largest Grid-Connected PV Power Plant. Energies, 2023. 16(17): p. 6177. |
[19] | Hounkpatin, H. W., et al., Techno-Economic and Environmental Feasibility Study of a Hybrid Photovoltaic Electrification System in Back-up Mode: A Case Report. International Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 2023. 12(2). |
[20] | Kuo, T. C., Huang, S. H., & Zhang, H. C. (2001). Design for manufacture and design for ‘X’: concepts, applications, and perspectives. Computers & industrial engineering, 41(3), 241-260. |
[21] | Rulazi EL, Marwa J, Kichonge B, Kivevele TT. Techno-economic analysis of a solar-assisted heat pump dryer for drying agricultural products. Food Science & Nutrition. 2024; 12(2): 952–970. Available from: |
APA Style
Soulama, Y. S., Bationo, F., Boroze, T. T. (2024). A New Approach to Integrating Renewable Energies in the Design of a Shea Kernel Solar Mill. Science Journal of Energy Engineering, 12(4), 67-80. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11
ACS Style
Soulama, Y. S.; Bationo, F.; Boroze, T. T. A New Approach to Integrating Renewable Energies in the Design of a Shea Kernel Solar Mill. Sci. J. Energy Eng. 2024, 12(4), 67-80. doi: 10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11
@article{10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11, author = {Yamako Soungalo Soulama and Frederic Bationo and Tchamye Tcha-Esso Boroze}, title = {A New Approach to Integrating Renewable Energies in the Design of a Shea Kernel Solar Mill }, journal = {Science Journal of Energy Engineering}, volume = {12}, number = {4}, pages = {67-80}, doi = {10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjee.20241204.11}, abstract = {The development of the agri-food sector in West African countries is limited by energy and technological factors. As a result, the main shea nut producers in these countries, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Mali, export their production to the benefit of large industries in northern countries. One of the most difficult operations involved in transforming shea nuts into shea butter is grinding. Processing shea kernels into shea butter requires a mill or grinder. The types of energy (diesel and electricity) used by these mills are fossil-based, difficult to access and pose huge environmental issues. The objective of this work is to design a mill, operating with photovoltaic solar energy as an energy source, in a design approach using design rules and industrial engineering tools. To this end, a survey on the practices of the networks of agri-food equipment stakeholders on the use of renewable energy and the characterization of the network of solar mill stakeholders were carried out. The results of the surveys and the network characterization of the stakeholders, combined with those of the literature review, made it possible to define rules for integrating renewable energy into the design of the solar mill. The use of functional analysis and a tool to help choose energy-efficient technological solutions enabled to apply the rules for integrating renewable energy into the design of the shea kernel solar mill for validation purpose. The results of the functional tests of the solar mill showed a production capacity of 270 Kg of shea kernel paste, a solar energy consumption of 11,532 kWh equivalent to an energy consumption of 1.82 USD in 6 hours operational time per day. }, year = {2024} }
TY - JOUR T1 - A New Approach to Integrating Renewable Energies in the Design of a Shea Kernel Solar Mill AU - Yamako Soungalo Soulama AU - Frederic Bationo AU - Tchamye Tcha-Esso Boroze Y1 - 2024/11/22 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11 DO - 10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11 T2 - Science Journal of Energy Engineering JF - Science Journal of Energy Engineering JO - Science Journal of Energy Engineering SP - 67 EP - 80 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2376-8126 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjee.20241204.11 AB - The development of the agri-food sector in West African countries is limited by energy and technological factors. As a result, the main shea nut producers in these countries, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Mali, export their production to the benefit of large industries in northern countries. One of the most difficult operations involved in transforming shea nuts into shea butter is grinding. Processing shea kernels into shea butter requires a mill or grinder. The types of energy (diesel and electricity) used by these mills are fossil-based, difficult to access and pose huge environmental issues. The objective of this work is to design a mill, operating with photovoltaic solar energy as an energy source, in a design approach using design rules and industrial engineering tools. To this end, a survey on the practices of the networks of agri-food equipment stakeholders on the use of renewable energy and the characterization of the network of solar mill stakeholders were carried out. The results of the surveys and the network characterization of the stakeholders, combined with those of the literature review, made it possible to define rules for integrating renewable energy into the design of the solar mill. The use of functional analysis and a tool to help choose energy-efficient technological solutions enabled to apply the rules for integrating renewable energy into the design of the shea kernel solar mill for validation purpose. The results of the functional tests of the solar mill showed a production capacity of 270 Kg of shea kernel paste, a solar energy consumption of 11,532 kWh equivalent to an energy consumption of 1.82 USD in 6 hours operational time per day. VL - 12 IS - 4 ER -