•

7:>1' BSME-ASME lnternatiolla[ Conference on Thermal Engineering

2-4 JUllItal)' 2004, Dhaka

Investigation for a Suitable Screw of a Briquetting Machine

Md. Nawsher Ali, Md. Mainul Islam and Chy. Md. Refaul Ferdous
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology,
Khuln<1 9203. Bangladesh

ABSTRACT
Briquetting is a well~established technology. But its crucial part is the screw wear, which
has a great influence on the cost of production. The aim of this study is to look .for the
suitable parameters of screw, which can make this technology attractive to the people. With
this objective, the study on existing Bangladeshi screw and few newly designed screws has
been done. Four different types of new screw have been constructed, the design and idea of
which are taken from the experience of Institute of Energy in Vietnam, The remarkable
features of the screw are that it is short in length and the thread is not made as an integra!
part of the base of screw. Different types of pitch and height of screw have been used for
this study.

1. INTRODUCTION
In our country, about eighty percent of total populations ljve in rural areas. The energy
consumption of almost all rural people lies in cooking and house lighting. The biomass
wastes like rice husk, rice straw, wheat straw, saw dust, bagasse, coconut coir, ground nut
shell etc. have high energy conteI1t and low bulk density. So these biomass have law heat
release per unit volume and the transportation and storage costs are high when tnese are
used as received condition.Onfol'tunately, the rural people use these wastes in an
unplanned, uneconomical and inefflcient manner. Therefore, people have been gaining very
little from those vast sources of energy [ 1] ,
The term briquetting refers to the process of compaction of residues between roller and
cavities into a product of higher bulk density t11<1n the original raw materinls and regular
shape. Briquetting of biomass in the form of solid fuel in an economically viable solution to
the problem of Jow"bulk density- biomass that creates many problems in its collection,-
handling, transportation and storage (21.
In the screw press technology, which is used for briquetting of biomass, has a screw to
compress the raw material through a taper die. This technology has been using for so many
years in part of Asia- and in European countries for briquetting some easily -available
materials. There are four types of Bangladeshi screws that have been inswlled and tested.
There are differences between the above screws in terms of shape, dimension, and profile
of screw, rotation speed of the screw and number of screw pitches. These differences
together with location and number of screw threads located in the die make differences in
production rate, amount of metal lost of screw due to wem and also specific energy
consumption. It is observed that in all areas of Bangladesh, the n1l.1in problem of running a
 .I .. ----- -- --,,-- . --- -- ...
---- ....- - - ---------
- -
~----
-
- - ... - .. ~

- - ._.- ... ---j "--- ,

;j;
/ machine is the screw wear. It was observed that the screw made of mild steel lasts for 2-3 1,
R.P.M. 477 480 480 478
hours. A rigorous study shows that all the screw wear takes place at the tip. Professor S. K. ,
/ Mishra of llT. Delhi in his publication described in details about the base material suitable
I
Weio-ht
Base Material
3.75 (kg)
Mild Steel
3.9 (kg)
Mild Steel
3.5 (kg)
Mild Steel
3.5 (ko)
Mild Steel
for screw. Based on his stud, y 13 samP les of low carbon
o steel havino
P carbon ercentao-e
ranging from 0.409-0.498 were tested in Biomass Briquetting Laboratory of BIT. Khulna.
During briquetting the sliding of biomass takes place on the screw surface. The sliding Table 7; SDecifications of die used in bl1Quettin o mac Ine
.action combined with high speed of the screw causes wear. The wear is more with more Item Dimension
abrasive material because the coefficient of friction between the material and screw surface Length 310 mm
increases. Inclination 2.45
Several conditions should be taken before running screw in briquettin'g machine. These Outside Diameter 90 mOl
include the selection of base materials in rnnking the screw. ha,rd facing of screw portion Inside diameter (Front) 61 mm
exposed to wear. For the purpose of resurfacing Ferro speed hard craft. Chrom Curb Inside diameter (Back) 73 mOl
N6006, electrode 700. XHD 2222 al~ used [3].
The aim of this study is to look for the suitable parameters of screw, which can make the
biomass briquetting technology attractive to the people. With this objective, the study on
existing Bangladeshi screw and few newly designed screws has been done. Four different
types of new screw have been constructed, the design and idea of which are taken from the
experience of Institute of Energy in Vietnam. The remarkable features of the screw are that
'in
it is short length and the thread is not made as an integral part of the base of screw.
Different types of pitch and height of Screw have been used for this study.

2_ DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF MODIFIED SCREW

The design of the modified screw was done by Institute of Energy (IDE), Vietnam
Construction work has been done here in the Biomass Briquetting Laboratory, BIT. Khulna.
However, specification of the existing Bangladeshi screws and die are given by Table 1 and
2 respectively. In addition, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 show the schematic diagram of the existing Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of Figure 2:Schematic Diagram of locally
screws in Bangladesh and Figure 5 shows the schematic diagram ofIOE screw. An eXisting Locally designed screw (No.1) designed screw (No.2)
die and its cross sectional view are also shown by Figure 6.
For the construction of modified screw, at first a mild steel (MS) rod of total length 463.55-
mOl having diameter of 35 mm was taken. Then the rod was centered for facing operation. , J'
,------

In Lathe machine, facing operation was done. Then taper angle of the base rod was
calculated for taper tllming. Taper turning operation was also done in Lathe machine. For
the proper setting of the screw and the briguetting machine, shaper operation was done on li~~<-~:~,_
the back end of the screw. The flights are made from mild steel of diameter 6.35 mm. Then .~
the flights are welded on the shaft. Grinding was done for proper working condition. >~

S 'fications 0 f the existino- Bano-ladeshl. Screw ~" ~::;~!

Tab c !: :)peCl
Dimension Dimension Dimension Dimension
,'. '; .__
'--~;-.q ,.,H_
Item (mm) for (mm) for (mm) for (mm) for
Screw No.1 Screw No.2 Screw No.3 Screw No.4 ,_L.J
Total Len!!th 463.55 444.5 438.5 457.2 ---:~~I-
Part of thread 304.8 273.05 304.8 279.4 Figure 3: Schematic Diagram of locally Figure 4: Schematic Diagram of locally
No. of thread 8 10 7 6 designed screw (NO.3) jesigned screw (NO.4)
Pitch of thread 38.5 28.62 37.2 49.53
Taper 2.45" 2.45 2.45 2.451) 3. EXPERIMENT ATJON
Depth of thread 11.45 Nowadays, there are several processes available for briquetting of biomass residues Among
10.79 11.27 11.98
Front end diameter 22.14 them, one of the most popular type is screw press with heated die. In Bangladesh almost all
25.32 21.73 22.12
the briquette manufacturers are using this type of machine. In this process, a screw through
Back end diameter 32.8 36.77 34.68 34.72
a die heated from outside, forces the materials. A number of ridges are prOVided inside the
894 895
 _4. RESULT AND D1SCUSSIOOI
-- ------",-'-'-""- --- I The study has been undel1aken to investigate the performance of screw for the production
. .' " .. --'----1 of briquette. The variable parameters are pitch of screw, revolution of motor, die
i~i~,--.t~:·:;~=--._. :
-<\--,----,-,-'>--_. -~ temperature, life of screw etc. Two main different types of screw have been considered, one
of which is designed by BIT. Khulna and the other is designed by IOE, Vietnam. Four
\
different pitches of Bangladeshi screw wei;e-tested and the data are shown in Table 3. The
results are presented both in t.:"tbular and graphical form in Tables 4,5 and 6, and in Figures
8,9 and 10 respectively, The base material for screw was selected to be AISI 1035, a low
carbon mild steel bar on the basis of easy availability and low 'cost.

T a bl e 3 D aa
t f or mo d·fi . f Illl' no. 2 , 34) B
I Ie d ( no. I) an d eXlS ano-
id a es I·
11 screws

Figure 5: Schematic Diagram of IOE Figure 6: Die and its cross sectional view g ~ c g~ .," '3 '0 ~Il:.a bo Co ~
-" 0. >-. ell.::L. E :.J,.-..
0 '2 :;; ''= Oh ~
~
E .0 .::: '--' ::::'2 c'::::" vC
Screw
die to prevent the free rotation of densified biomass with the screw. The bnquette IS usually
~
~
~
0 or a-
'"
u",
~3
~
0
otil C .-
> 0~ i5 g .~ ~ ~o,--,
E .2" '- ::;:
,-
~..c

"
0... c 0":::"'"
u
z 0 o v 0 '- :J V 6
<c -D-D-'" u
3-5 cm in diameter. Normally the die temperature is maintained at 300°C. The raw if> t= c: e U E if>

materials get heated up to 220°C in the process. The concept is to heat the biomass at a 2.7 2 250
I 15 477 90
temperature, which is sufficient to soften the lignin which is one of the major component of 2 260
2 15 478 80 2.8
all type of vegetation, as well as pushing through the die to get it compacted. In this I 1.25
3 15 480 73 . 2.75 2 255
process, the lignin itself is working as binding material. So there is no need to add any
4 15 479 75 2.77 2 267
binding material [4]. The modified briquetting machine at the Biomass Briquetting
1 15 479 76 2.8 2 252
Laboratory of BIT, Khulna was used for this study. Rice husk was mainly used as raw
2 15 475 73 3.0 2 265
materials for the tests. The screw used for briquetting of biomass is of tapered shape and 2 1.11
3 15 480 65 3.0 2 271
rotates at a speed of about 450-480 rpm. The temperature of the heated die ranges from
250° C to 3000 C. From experimental observation, it is found that good quality of briquette 4 15 477 62 3.1 2 272
can be obtained with an output of 90 to 110 kglhr if the temperature is set at 250°C. 1 15 477 81 3.0 2 250
The first section of the screw is used to convey the material. which becomes partially 2 15 478 85 2.9 2 260
3 1.23
compressed at the tapering section, Finally the briquette is obtained after the biomass 3 15 480 77 2.8 2 255
passed through the die and the pointed portion of the screw' called the guide rod that helps 4 15 477 74 2.92 2 267
in forming a hole at a center of the briquette. During briquetting, the sliding of biomass 1 15 475 84 2.85 2 252
takes place on the screw surfa~e, The sliding action combined with the high speed of screw 2 15 477 97 2.86 2 265
4 1.06
causes wear, because the biomass gets rubbed against the surface of the screw continuously. 3 15 480 103 3.43 2 271
The research was undertaken with an aim to protect the surface from severe wear so that the 4 15 479 91 3.33 2 272
screw could be used for a longer period of time. Figure 7 shows the block diagram of a
heated die screw press type briquetting machine. Table 4: Experimental result for modified (No.1) and existing (No. 2,3 4) Bangladeshi
The problems for modified screw are that sometimes the briquet'ting machine is overloaded Screws
and stopped and the screw faces rapid wear on it. During the testing of Vietnamese screw, it
is difficult to get product for the lack of proper die clearance and as it is a 15 hp motor, it is
not able to run the machine at loaded condition. 15
o
'0
o
z

477 0.163 0.022 0.60 0.044 0.644

2 478 0.147 0.Q25 0.67 0.05 0.725
3 480 0.135 0.027 0.735 0.057 0.790
4 479 0.120 0.026 0.815 0.053 0.860
2 479 0.147 0.026 0.735 0.054 0.778
Figure 7: Block diagram of a heated die screw press type briquetting Machine

896
 I
i

60
, 2 475 I 0.164 I 0.027 I 0.820 I 0.061 I 0.740 I 50
0.930 0.064 0.996 E 40
3 480 0.187 0.030 5
0.049 1.'10 30
4 477 0.228 0.032 1.14 ~ 20
0.148 0.024 0.74 0.040 0.789 0:
1 477 10
0.122 0.01 3 0.645 0.053 0.694
2 478 0
3 0.155 0.Q25 0.775 0.054 0.8'7 o 20 40 60 80 100
3 480
0.166 0.027 0.810 0.047 0.864
4 477 Cost of production (Tk)
0.1904 0.023 0.952 0.041 0.999
1 475 Figure 10: Variation of production cost with pitch of screw
0.117 0.020 0.585 0.039 0.266
2 477
4 0.019 0.65 0.043 0.686 5. CONCLUSIONS
3 480 0.129 The study on existing Bangladeshi screw and few nc\vly designed screws has been done.
0.021 0.73 '272 ().773
4 479 0.146 Four different types of new screw have been constructed, the design alld idea 0'[ which are
taken from the experience of Institute of Energy (IOE) in Vietnam. From this study, it can
Table 5: Experimental result for modified (No.1) and existing (No.2, 3,4) Bangladeshi
be concluded as foHows:
Screws (1) Considering all the parameters. Bangladeshi modified screw having pitch 38.5 111m is
Parameters Screw Screw Screw Screw
No.3 No.4 the most suitable one for briquetting machine.
No.1 No.2
103 (2) Cost of product reduces with the increase of production rate.
Production Rate (kg/hI') 90 76 85
(3) Production rate increases with the increase of pitch of the screw.
R.P.M. . 477 480
73.68
480
64.70
478
64. 72
Electricity cost for Production of 100 ko Briquette 60.00 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Fuel Cost for Production of 100 ko Briquette 4.44 5.26 4.70 3.88 Authors acknowledge their heartiest gratitude to Swedish International Development
Total Cost for Production of 100 kg Briquette 64.44 78.964 69.40 68.60 Cooperation Agency (SIDA) for financial assistant and also to AIT, Bangkok, Thailand for
Power Consumption Rate (kwh/ko) 0.12 0.147 0.129 0.190 their technical assistant. Thanks are extended to Grameen Shakti, Bangladesh for their kind
cooperation and other activities.
Table 6: Comparison of the cost of production of briauette (Electrical Svstem)
Total Cost for
Electricity cost Fuel Cost for REFERENCES
Production Production of Ali, M. N., Islam, M. M .. Rahman, A. N. M. M. and Gani, M. A., "Scope of Biomass
Types of R.P.M. or Production 0 roduction of 100
rate (kg/hI') 100 kg Briquetting in Bangladesh". Proceedings of the National Seminar on Utilization of
screw 100 kg Briquette kg Briquette Briquette Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources for Sustainable Development (NSURAESD'
90 477 60.00 4.44 64.44 98). BIT, Khulna-9203. Bangladesh. March 1998. PP 51-65
Screw no.1
480 73.68 5.26 18.94
Screw no.2 76
85 480 64.70 4.70 69.40 Bhattacharya, S. C. and Shrestha. R. M., "Biocoal Technology and Economics", Regional
Screw no.3
103 478 64. 72 3.88 68.60 Energy Resources Information Center, AIT, Bangkok. Thailand, 1990"
Screw no.4
6) •
.S 100. ~31 Ali, M. N., Final Report on Pilot Project on Briquetting of Biomass Fuels: Manufacturing
v ~40 and Marketing: Renewable Energy Technologies in Asia. A Regional Re-earch and
~'21OJ'
';' 3J.
~~J dissemination Program. SubmitLed to AIT, Thailand, 1998
'0-600,: ~aJ
10
~ Ali, M. N, Final Report on Development and Dissemination of Improved Biomass
~ 0: o
Briquetting System and Briquetting Stoves: Renewable Energy Technologies in Asia: A
o 31 100 o 2J 40 ED 8) 10) 12)
Regional Research and Dissemination Program, Phase-II. Submitted to AlT. Thailand.
F\OOuclirn RllC (kg/hr)
O:l'itof p:cdll:.1:iCXl(Ik} December 2001.
Figure 8: Variation of cost of Figure 9: Variation of production rate
production with production rate with pitch of screw