A study was conducted to evaluate the parameters affecting the dewatering of cassava mash during processing. First, studies on the pressure distribution within the mash during the dewatering were carried out. Experimental equipment consisting of tyre tube filled with water, a copper tube, and a pressure gauge was designed and fabricated to measure pressure used in expressing the juice contained in the grated cassava mash. It also included a cylindrical dewatering tank made of galvanized steel plate and a sack which was used as control. The tank had 7mm holes drilled at the base to allow the flow of juice. The volume of juice was measured using a measuring cylinder and the stopwatch measured the time. IITA TMS 4(2) 1425 variety of cassava at three levels of maturity age of 9, 12 and 15 months was utilized in the study. The dewatering pressure is from hydraulic jack used to press the grated mash. The dewatering parameters investigated were pressure drop, face area of the filter medium and mash resistance. The results showed that mash resistance varied with the age of the cassava with the highest value of 54,000,000,000 m/kg recorded. Medium Resistance also varied with the age, 33,000,000,000/m was the highest value recorded for 15 months old sample. 0.00371m3 volume of filtrate was obtained from the 12 months old sample with 0.0945 kg mash cake deposit on the filtering medium as the highest deposit. The Kozemy constant value for TMS 4(2) 1425 variety of cassava was found to be 11400000 and Porosity 0.0181, the result presents the distribution and values of identified parameters numerically for equipment designers use.
