Application of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly: Development of a Multifeedstock Biodiesel Processor

Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) is the method for process and cost opti- mization of subsystems, whole system as well as the entire manufacturing process. While minimizing assembly operations, it helps in eliminating component redundancy, facilitates assembly and manufacturing of products that are cost effective in terms of material require ments, parts production, labor and overhead. In this study, a multi feedstock biodiesel proces - sor with intelligent systems for control and monitoring was developed using the principles of design for manufacturing and assembly. It consists of a 2 kW variable speed sparkless electric motor, reaction chamber, a thermostatically controlled 3 kW electric heater, saw dust insula tion, ball valve, thermostat, funnel, a stirrer of diameter 20 mm with five blades that rotate in the reaction chamber and two baffles to control the splashing. The stirrer is driven by the elec tric motor. A 2 mm thick galvanized steel was used in the fabrication of the reaction chamber because of its high resistance to corrosion. This work provides a design framework for both small and large scale biodiesel plant for industrial, laboratory and experimental purposes. In addition, the assembly operations of the processor’s components via the principles of DFMA were simplified to reduce ambiguity and redundancy. Hence, the overall processor is cost effective in terms of material requirements, parts production, labor and