Small Scale Industrial Applications Research Articles

Trajectory Planning, Kinematics, and Experimental Validation of a 3D-Printed Delta Robot Manipulator

This paper presents the implementation, trajectory planning, kinematics, and experimental validation of an open-source 3D-printed delta robot manipulator. The robot’s hardware consists of three servo motors, an Arduino Uno microcontroller, and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) servo module. The software includes a trapezoidal velocity profile planner and an inverse and forward kinematics solver to calculate the motor angles required to achieve a desired end-effector position in task space. The 3D printed parts were obtained from an open-source Thingiverse project and assembled to form the robot’s kinematic structure. The robot’s performance was evaluated in terms of its accuracy, repeatability, and maximum speed for a pick-and-place task. Experimental results show that the robot can achieve a positioning accuracy of 2.2 mm, with a top speed of 0.4 m/s, 30 picks per minute, and load carrying capacity up to 200 g. These results are satisfactory, considering the ease of assembly and the cost-effectiveness of the robot. The comparison of the calculated motor angles with actual motor angles obtained through additional potentiometer wires soldering shows promising results. The proposed robot’s cost-effective characteristics, utilization of open-source additive manufacturing, and motion planning algorithms make it suitable for various applications, including education, research, and small-scale industrial applications.

Development and Performance Evaluation of Double Shaft Plastic Bottle Crusher for Small Scale Industrial Application

Plastic pollution is a problem that is affecting many aspects of human endeavour. Searches are being made for ecofriendly alternatives and waste management practices that can lessen the impact of plastic pollution. On the list are waste plastic reuse, use of bioplastics, reduction of reliance on plastic usage, and plastic waste recycling. In this technical brief, a Plastic shredder was developed to recycle plastic waste in the value chain. Plastic shredder is a machine that turns used plastic bottles to smaller particle sizes to enhance portability, easiness and readiness for use into new products. While in operation, the prime mover drives the transmission shafts with low speed in the range of 25 to 65 rpm to give shredding torque that masticates materials fed in, into desired granular size. Bivariate Linear regression was the statistical model used to understand the relationship between the two variables of evaluation, the predictor x (speed) and the response variable y (shredding capacity). Since significance F (0.0216) is less than 0.05, there is 95% confidence that there is linear relationship between speed of rotation and shredding capacity of the machine. Model equation is therefore given as Y= 0.952 X1 – 11.725 ± 2.53. The machine respectively gave highest shredding capacity for PET bottles, Tin can and wastepaper as 56.52 kg h-1, 29.60 kg h-1 and 42.09 kg h-1 at optimum speed of 65 rpm. If operated for 8 hours in a day, it can favorably shred almost half a ton of plastic bottles (452.16 kg day-1). The machine was developed at an affordable cost of $817.72. The paper shredded with the machine can be pulped and made into poultry egg crates and paper print used in building industry. The machine is less stressful to operate and economical to run and maintain. If the machine is widely adopted, the menace caused by nonbiodegradable materials like plastic will be ended.

A Review on Stair Climbing Trolley

This paper provides the detail study of stair climber trollies for material handling. In this paper illustrates the various reviews about the stair climber material handling System for small scale industrial application considering the average requirement of small Indian organization where the lifts are not available. Therefore, in this paper, an attempt has been taken to summarize the past and current research in the material handling. The main objective of this paper is to present the review about the stair climber material handling System. After studying the previous concept of material handling system we try to make it automatically without damage the material.

Thermal performance assessment of the coaxial pipe evacuated tube solar air heater in Bilaspur climatic conditions

The present era finds the implementation of small-scale solar thermal applications to overcome emissions caused by fossil fuels. In this connection, a forced convection co-axial pipe evacuated tube solar air heater is fabricated and examined under various operating parameters and in Bilaspur Chhattisgarh climatic conditions in the months from October 2021 to March 2022. The performance parameters under consideration were outlet air temperature, collector efficiency, exergy efficiency, and overall system efficiency. The experiments have been performed for different mass flow rates 9.36, 15.84, 18.36, 22.32, and 26.28 kg/h of air. The ambient air temperature varied in the range of 20.8 °C to 41.6 °C. The air temperature at the inlet of the heater varies from 28.4 °C to 66.7 °C. The maximum outlet air temperature and temperature rise recorded were 82.9 °C and 37.2 °C in the month of March and February, respectively, for the low mass flow rate of 9.36 kg/h. It was observed that the maximum collector efficiency, exergy efficiency, and overall system efficiency were achieved as 82.95%, 6.4%, and 81.92%, respectively, for a moderate mass flow rate of 15.84 kg/h. All the performance parameters seem to be strongly dependent on the solar intensity and were found to be highest when the intensity was at its peak value. It is found that the increase in mass flow rates beyond 15.84 kg/h tends to decrease the temperature rise as well as the efficiency of the solar heater. No significant temperature rise is observed for a mass flow rate beyond 26.28 kg/h. The study finds that the fabricated setup can effectively produce a low to moderate temperature range (40 °C–80 °C) and can be used for domestic as well as small-scale industrial applications.

Electrification of Africa through CPV installations in small-scale industrial applications: Energetic, economic, and environmental analysis

This paper aims to evaluate the energetic, economic, and environmental performances of small-scale concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) power systems under 107 African climatic and financial zones with different energy mixes. The proposed concept focuses on small-scale installations for small- or medium-scale industrial premises as such devices are involved in the international strategy about micro-grids. Yearly average electric productions, capacity factors, economic and environmental considerations, and sensitivity were all analysed. The mathematical methodology for calculating the power of a concentrated triple-junction solar cell, the annual energy conversion of a CPV plant, the costs, and the CO2 mitigation were assessed.The parametric study shows that the capacity factor becomes highest for a cell area of 5.5 cm2 or if the concentration ratio reaches the value of 2400. Furthermore, LCOE is lowest for Errachidia in Morocco with 15.88 c$/kWh followed by Fada in Chad with 16.82 c$/kWh, while it is highest in Wad Hajm in Sudan as 5.23 × 1016 c$/kWh. Moreover, South Africa allows the highest reduction of indirect CO2 emissions. Furthermore, energy produced is greatest in Errachidia in Morocco (606.27 GWh), Tiaret in Tunisia (601.11 GWh), and Upington in South Africa (598.11 GWh). Results are shown on innovative GIS maps of Africa.

Performance Evaluation of Raphia Palm (R. vinifera) Seeds Briquettes with Cassava Starch as Binder

The evaluation of the potentials of Raphia palm seeds briquettes as fuel source was carried out to obtain optimum particle size, binder ratio and compaction pressure with cassava starch as binder for domestic heating applications. The seeds were collected, dried, hammer-milled and sieved into four different particle sizes (1.18, 1.70, 2.36 and 3.35 mm) and were densified. Four compaction pressures (2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 MPa) and four binder ratios (15, 20, 25 and 30 %) were used. Proximate analysis of the briquettes was carried out in a bomb calorimeter and their effects on the combustion properties of the briquettes evaluated using the least significant difference (LSD) by employing two-way analysis of variance. The results revealed that the briquette with particle size 3.35 mm, binder ratio 20 % and compaction pressure 2.5 MPa gave the highest energy value of 12,785 kJ/kg, fixed carbon of 10.91 %, volatile matter of 64.30 %, ash content of 11.85 % and moisture content of 12.86 % which was the best quality briquette compared to the other samples. A predictive model for the heat value of the briquettes was developed and found to be adequate (p-value ≤ 0.0001) for use to predict the heat value of the briquettes produced. Optimization of the energy value of the briquettes was also carried to determine the optimum heat value and the probability that the result is achievable was 100 %. The optimization process gave the heat value of the briquettes to be 12,821.7 kJ/kg at the optimal condition value (24.12 % binder ratio, 1.18 % particle size and 3.00 MPa compaction pressure). The briquettes show good promise for use as fuel for household heating and small scale industrial applications.

Sustainable Development and Environment of Biomass from Agriculture Residues

The demand for energy continued to outstrip supply and necessitated the development of biomass option. Residues were the most popular forms of renewable energy and currently biofuel production became much promising. Agricultural wastescontained high moisture content and could be decomposed easily by microbes. Agricultural wastes were abundantly available globally and could be converted to energy and useful chemicals by a number of microorganisms. Compost or bio-fertiliser could be produced with the inoculation of appropriated thermophilic microbes which increased the decomposition rate, shortened the maturity period and improved the compost (or bio-fertiliser) quality. The objective of the present research was to promote the biomass technology and involved adaptive research, demonstration and dissemination of results. With aview to fulfill the objective, a massive field survey was conducted to assess the availability of raw materials as well as the present situation of biomass technologies. In the present communication, an attempt had also been made to present an overview of present and future use of biomass as an industrial feedstock for production of fuels, chemicals and other materials. We may conclude from the review paper that biomass technology must be encouraged, promoted, invested, implemented, and demonstrated, not only in urban areas but also in remote rural areas. (1) The biomass energy, one of the important options, which might gradually replace the oil in facing the increased demand for oil and may be an advanced period in this century. Any county can depend onthe biomass energy to satisfy part oflocal consumption. (2) Development of biogas technology is a vital component of alternative rural energy programme, whose potential is yet to be exploited. A concerted effect is required by all if this is to be realised. The technology will find ready use in domestic,farming, and small-scale industrial applications. (3) Support biomass research and exchange experiences with countries that are advanced in this field. In the meantime, the biomass energy can help to save exhausting the oil wealth.

Design of Used PET Bottles Crushing Machine for Small Scale Industrial Applications

In this study, PET bottles crushing machine was designed to convert used PET bottles into shreds readily available for recycling. Preliminary tests and mechanical factors were extensively evaluated on the conceptual designs to ensure that the concept with optimal performance and efficiency is selected. Experimental test was conducted to determine the power required to overcome the shear stress of the PET bottles and it was found out that 10hp was the power required. With a set of crushing forces ranging from 1000-3000N, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed for five different scenarios on the 201 Annealed Stainless Steel cutting blade to inspect the material response to stresses and corresponding deformations. The maximum von Mises stress was 2.089e+006N/m^2. The material yield strength was found to be 2.92e+008 N/m^2, and applying a force of 3000N on the cutting blade produced a maximum displacement of 2.220e-003 mm. This therefore imply that the material will not deform or fail under a force equal to or below the material yield strength value. Tests carried out on the final machine design indicated efficiency of 82.2% which is only 6% less than the efficiency of existing ones.

Physicochemical and heavy metal analysis of pond water quality of Mau-aima vicinity, Allahabad (India)

Surface water is an important source of water which is commonly used for multiple uses such as in agriculture, drinking purposes, small scale industrial applications, and for household works. Due to rapid industrial growth, population explosion, and increased fertilizer application the surface and ground water have been continuously polluted. In the present study, monitoring and assessment of some physicochemical parameters of different pond water of Mauaima area (Allahabad district, India) has been carried out to decipher the pollution load in the fresh water ecosystem. Several physicochemical parameters such as turbidity, salinity, total hardness, TDS, DO, BOD, COD, and heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr, and Zn) have been analyzed for water samples.

Optimal sizing and cost analysis of hybrid power system for a stand-alone application in Coimbatore region: a case study

Abstract This paper presents the optimal sizing of PV/Wind/Fuel Cell/Battery Hybrid Energy System for energizing a Small Scale Industrial Application or a village domestic load of 200 kW. HOMER software is used for simulation of the complete system. The solar radiation data and wind speed data used in this paper are for the place of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India which is located 11.0183° N longitude and 76.9725° E latitude. The optimized sizes of components of Hybrid Power System (HPS) are found based on Levelised Cost of Energy (LCE) and total Net Present Cost (NPC). The results are presented and compared for five different combinations of HPS components. Suggestions are also presented to choose the low cost system which produces energy at low LCE.

Optimisation and Scale-up of α-Bromination of Acetophenone in a Continuous Flow Microreactor

Abstract To expand the knowledge base for fundamental organic reactions in continuous flow, the α-bromination of acetophenone was successfully transformed from a known batch procedure to a continuous flow process in 99 % yield through D-optimal optimisation and subsequent scale-up of the validated optimum. Using a preparative scale system, a space–time yield of 0.26 kg/m3/s (comparable literature batch reaction 0.24 kg/m3/s) was achieved under conditions suitable for laboratory and small-scale industrial application where high yield or purity is required, e.g., when expensive substrates are used.

Small scale industrial application of rubber seed oil in soap manufacture

The oil, which was extracted from the rubber seed using the mechanical pressing method, was of high acid value, that is, the free fatty acid content is high and the oil is not edible, with an average saponification value. Its pH was slightly basic which makes it suitable for use in soap manufacture. It was, therefore, used as a substitute for palm kernel oil in the production of soaps (bar soap and detergent soap). Tests for the foam capacity and stability of the soaps exhibited good visual foam stabilities and capacities. These make it suitable for washing and cleaning.Ife Journal of Science Vol. 8 (2) 2006: pp 207-210