Electro-pneumatic Actuation of a Six-mould compartment Mini-sized Briquetting Machine

Abstract

The demand for energy is becoming a critical challenge for the world as the population continues to grow. This calls for sustainable energy production and supply such as renewable energy technologies. Renewable energy technologies are safe sources of energy that have a much lower environmental impact than conventional energy technologies. Briquetting which is the process of compressing raw materials under high pressure to give a round or square briquette depending on the mould used which can be used for heating purpose is one of the renewable sources of energy that was devised to address problems regarding global warming, energy crisis, as well as solid waste management. In this study, an electro-pneumatically controlled six-mould briquetting machine was developed by using pneumatic controllers. The materials employed include metal sheet, three double acting cylinders, three manually operated switches and angle bar. An experimental setup was carried out by using fluid-SIM to test the performance of the designed circuit connections of the three double acting cylinders. On that note, the design and fabrication of an electro-pneumatically controlled six mould briquetting machine was successfully carried out which works both electrically and pneumatically, and findings were made that in rural areas where their wastes are mostly agricultural residues, these residues can be used as sources of energy with the use of the developed electro-pneumatically controlled six-mould briquetting machine.