Design and Sizing of a Press Based on Sawdust Pellets in Cameroon

Abstract

This paper presents the procedure of setting up an industrial production unit of wood pellets from sawdust in Cameroon and in sub-Saharan Africa in general. The purpose of this work is to present a designing and sizing approach of a prototype for a wood pellets press with a reasonable capacity between 100 kg and 500 kg/h. From the analysis done, it appeared that the appropriate technique is that of the category of pelletizers, precisely the one related to the «Flat Die Pellet Mill» according to which we designed and sized the prototype with a production rate of 256 kg/h. This choice is based mainly on the strong yields of densification of pelletizers. These type of press are adapted to a wide range of raw material and are easy to maintain, space saving, and have a long life span if the wear of the die and rollers is well monitored. Ultimately, a tool to assist in the sizing of the pellet press is designed to facilitate the analysis and design of large capacity in the industrial production units of wood pellets made of sawdust. It is also known that the cost of production is strongly influenced by the cost of the motor and the speed reducer at a range of 64%.