Selection of the Electric Drive for the Wood Waste Compacting Unit

This work presents the study of the compaction and unloading process wood post-production waste, i.e., oak sawdust. The sawdust was compacted employing the forces F = 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 and 50,000 N. Each compacted sample was compressed so as to determine the force value Fc required for the destruction of the sample. For each compaction force, the coefficient of the friction value µ1 was determined for the sawdust–steel material pair, which was used in the construction of the sleeve and stamp compacting system employed in the study. The determined parameters of the compressive force Fc and the coefficient of friction µ1 as a function of the compaction force F enabled to determine the optimal process parameters. A proposed construction of the compacting unit with an electrical drive is provided in the following part of the work comprising a motor, gear wheels, cam and a compacting piston. The selection of the parameters for the compaction process and the drive is of key importance from the standpoint of its energy consumption, influencing the energy balance, i.e., the ratio of input process energy and the energy obtained from the manufactured briquette. For the purpose of selecting the drive system, a mathematical model was developed utilizing earlier results of experimental studies. This model enabled to determine the maximum torque value Ms necessary to drive the proposed compacting unit. As a result of the carried-out work, it was determined that the maximum compaction force F is not ideal, considering other process parameters and their influence on its performance, allowing to lower the maximum torque and power of the proposed compacting unit.