Automatisk Separator
(2010) MMK820 20091Innovation
- Abstract
- The purpose of this Master Thesis was to design an automatic separator, a machine that would separate organic from non-organic waste through a mechanical process. The use of a mechanical process was one of the target specifications given by WTM AB, the company that initiated the project. WTM is a small machine design company located in Ängelholm, Sweden, who designs machines for different kind of material handling sectors.
The group began the project with establishing the specifications for the machine, including the ones from WTM, the biogas plant and the groups own. The specifications then included:
• Maximal area to uphold 2 m2
• Handle at least 100 kilo waste per hour
• Store about 1000 kg
• Mechanical separation
• Use... (More) - The purpose of this Master Thesis was to design an automatic separator, a machine that would separate organic from non-organic waste through a mechanical process. The use of a mechanical process was one of the target specifications given by WTM AB, the company that initiated the project. WTM is a small machine design company located in Ängelholm, Sweden, who designs machines for different kind of material handling sectors.
The group began the project with establishing the specifications for the machine, including the ones from WTM, the biogas plant and the groups own. The specifications then included:
• Maximal area to uphold 2 m2
• Handle at least 100 kilo waste per hour
• Store about 1000 kg
• Mechanical separation
• Use stainless steel as much as possible
• Separate the waste fragments at a purity grade that satisfies the gas plant.
With the specifications set, the group started developing the concept using a method from Ulrich & Eppingers ”Product Design and Development” [1]. Using brainstorming as the main method to generate new concept the group soon realized that no matter what concepts they came up with it was divided into smaller problems. These smaller problems contained two primary, separation and preparation, and two secondary problems, storage and feed slot. From the brainstorming different concepts were generated and from these a concept for the whole machine was selected through concept scoring derived from the method. At this stage the project plan was modified to include the actual prototype building since the group was well ahead of their initial schedule. The group started to collect information from manufactures and also started to redefine the CAD-files that would be sent to the metal workshop. These files where redefined from those earlier used to illustrate the concept for WTM. The concept at this stage contained three pairs of vacuum rollers, one band knife and one cutter.
As parts started to get delivered to LTH where the group built the prototype they noticed that many parts, both the custom made ones and those bought from different manufactures, had to be modified to fit. During assembly of the prototype, testing of the product architecture was done automatically as it’s mainly a test to see if things fit where they are supposed to fit. The parts or smaller systems tested for functionality were the cutter, the motion of the rollers and the vacuum in one roller. The first result was negative due to the fact that the vacuum in one roller was far from sufficient which meant the whole vacuum system has to be modified. As both the cutter and the motion of the rollers worked fine the only modification necessary would be to enforce the set part of the cutter. The testing of the band knife could not be done and this was due to two separate reasons. First off the motor designed to drive the band knife could not be mounted in the assembly of the prototype within the groups timeframe and the second reason was the fact that the architecture was not fully operational which meant that using a motor for the knife would have been hazardous. Architectural recommendations were given were functional could not, i.e. for the band knife and the electrical system, feed slot and storage. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1567480
- author
- Cedergren, Christian LU and Högenberg, Johan LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MMK820 20091
- year
- 2010
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- prototype development, organic waste, biogas, Automatic separator
- other publication id
- ISRN LUTMDN/TMKT 10/5380-SE
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1567480
- date added to LUP
- 2010-03-15 14:10:35
- date last changed
- 2010-03-15 14:10:35
@misc{1567480,
abstract = {{The purpose of this Master Thesis was to design an automatic separator, a machine that would separate organic from non-organic waste through a mechanical process. The use of a mechanical process was one of the target specifications given by WTM AB, the company that initiated the project. WTM is a small machine design company located in Ängelholm, Sweden, who designs machines for different kind of material handling sectors.
The group began the project with establishing the specifications for the machine, including the ones from WTM, the biogas plant and the groups own. The specifications then included:
• Maximal area to uphold 2 m2
• Handle at least 100 kilo waste per hour
• Store about 1000 kg
• Mechanical separation
• Use stainless steel as much as possible
• Separate the waste fragments at a purity grade that satisfies the gas plant.
With the specifications set, the group started developing the concept using a method from Ulrich & Eppingers ”Product Design and Development” [1]. Using brainstorming as the main method to generate new concept the group soon realized that no matter what concepts they came up with it was divided into smaller problems. These smaller problems contained two primary, separation and preparation, and two secondary problems, storage and feed slot. From the brainstorming different concepts were generated and from these a concept for the whole machine was selected through concept scoring derived from the method. At this stage the project plan was modified to include the actual prototype building since the group was well ahead of their initial schedule. The group started to collect information from manufactures and also started to redefine the CAD-files that would be sent to the metal workshop. These files where redefined from those earlier used to illustrate the concept for WTM. The concept at this stage contained three pairs of vacuum rollers, one band knife and one cutter.
As parts started to get delivered to LTH where the group built the prototype they noticed that many parts, both the custom made ones and those bought from different manufactures, had to be modified to fit. During assembly of the prototype, testing of the product architecture was done automatically as it’s mainly a test to see if things fit where they are supposed to fit. The parts or smaller systems tested for functionality were the cutter, the motion of the rollers and the vacuum in one roller. The first result was negative due to the fact that the vacuum in one roller was far from sufficient which meant the whole vacuum system has to be modified. As both the cutter and the motion of the rollers worked fine the only modification necessary would be to enforce the set part of the cutter. The testing of the band knife could not be done and this was due to two separate reasons. First off the motor designed to drive the band knife could not be mounted in the assembly of the prototype within the groups timeframe and the second reason was the fact that the architecture was not fully operational which meant that using a motor for the knife would have been hazardous. Architectural recommendations were given were functional could not, i.e. for the band knife and the electrical system, feed slot and storage.}},
author = {{Cedergren, Christian and Högenberg, Johan}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Automatisk Separator}},
year = {{2010}},
}