Diseño y construcción de una briquetadora de biomasa para el laboratorio de operaciones unitarias de la Facultad de Ciencias

Abstract

The amount of organic waste produced by both large and small industries is not adequately managed; this may be due to lack of knowledge, as well as the fact that in some cases the treatment of these wastes is costly, so they avoid carrying it out, generating an environmental problem. The objective of this technical project was the design and construction of a biomass briquetting machine, for which a physicochemical analysis of the agro-industrial waste was conducted, taking into account five important design characteristics: shape, size, density, percentage of humidity and percentage of ashes. These results were used to calculate the motor power, pitch calculation, length and diameter of the extruder screw. First the type of briquetting machine was chosen according to the characteristics of the biomass ; it was decided to make an extruder ring briquetting machine since it provides a continuous and simple process, then the construction material was determined, considering that the final result is not for food consumption ; A36 steel was used for the casing and other parts of the machine, for the extruder screw, due to its mechanical and physicochemical properties, A304 steel is the main component. The briquetting machine consists of a feeding hopper that is directed to the extruder ring through which at the end the briquettes come out already compressed with a diameter of 2 cm; the cutting is carried out with the use of an external blade for the desired length. With the characterization data and the engine compaction tests, it was calculated and verified that the required power is 5 Hp. Thus, the most important variables for the operation of the equipment are; time, humidity, compaction pressure and temperature.