PYROLYSIS PROJECT
ABOUT MY PROJECT
This Project is a compilation of past projects, tasked to the seniors of CWU by The Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation (JCATI) to create device that can separate the carbon fiber from the resin in so that it can be reused. The method that CWU students chose to accomplish this goal is a heating process called Pyrolysis. This project specifically takes the Oven and Cover created in the past and attempts to create an automated system for it, hence the name “Automation of Pyrolysis”. Below is a copy of my report which will be updated as the year goes on.
ELEVATOR SPEECH
CONCEPT SKETCHES
This sketch is one of the first drafts of the Design created in Fall Quarter.
ANALYSES
This section contains a copy of the 12 analyses that help prove that the design for this project will meet the requirements set for it.
Some of the Analyses needed to be reworked as the year went on or couldn't be finished until after the Device was built. For example, Analysis A11: "Chip Fall-Off From Panel" was an Analysis that was finished after the Device was built. This was because the "Panel" that the Analysis refers to would not be attached to the Device until the final assembly.
The button below downloads a document containing the Analyses used in the Project.
CONSTRUCTION
This Section breaks up the Construction process into three Phases: Design and Drafting, Manufacturing of Parts, and Assembly of Device.
The Manufacturing Process proved to be the most difficult step for creating this Project. The original design that was drafted in Fall quarter could not be created due to lacking the necessary equipment at the school, so the design needed to be reworked when Winter Quarter began. This would be the first of about 5 reworks that the design would undergo. When construction of the parts began it was still difficult to move forward with the project as the parts were made by hand which led to them being misshapen and imprecise.
DESIGN AND DRAFTING
January 2020
The First Design was drafted in Fall Quarter and seemed fine, however due to the lack of welding equipment and a lack of machining experience, the Design could not be built and had several oversights that would cause it to fail anyways. Most of Winter Quarter was spent Redrafting the Design so that the Part Manufacturing phase could begin. The image to the left is a drawing from one of these failed designs.
MANUFACTURING OF PARTS
February 2020
The Manufacturing Process was used to create the 7 Major Parts of the Device which are described in the section below. The most difficult part about the Manufacturing Process was creating the sheet metal parts. It was assumed that there would be a device that could precisely cut out the shapes needed however the parts needed to be made by hand so the sheet metal parts came out misshapen.
ASSEMBLY OF DEVICE
March 2020
Spring Quarter was the Final Phase of the Device and creation of the Automation System. A lot of time was spent cutting out the neccesary slots and holes in the Cover as it was very important that no mistakes were made. A difficult aspect of this phase was that the Parts were all different Dimensions than predicted and since the parts alignment was based on the relative distance between the parts and not a shared relative point, it made mapping out cuts very tedious. The VEX system was constructed and programmed during this time.
SEVEN MAJOR PARTS OF DEVICE
A compilation of images and videos showing the construction process of the 7 major parts.
DISPENSER
This part was purchased off of Amazon from Zevro.
SHAFT
The 2 shafts were created by cutting a long 0.5 in diameter rod to 7 inches long.
PANELS
Sheet metal was cut down to 2.5 inches by 5 inches.
WALL
The wall was cut from sheet metal into a 5 by 5 inch square shape. After that, a 5 diameter circle was drawn onto the shape and then the excess metal was cut then put to the grinder. Finally, a 0.5 inch diameter hole was punched into the center.
HOUSING
The housing was cut from sheet metal then bent into a 90 degree angle.
GEARS
The gear was cut to a depth of 0.5 inches from gear stock.
GEAR HOUSING
The material for the gear housing needed to be put on the lathe and turned to a diameter of 1.75. then the housing was cut to a depth of 0.25 inches.
TESTING
There are three areas that needed to be tested to prove that the Device works. The first, was a test on the dispensing system to see how much Material gets dispensed each rotation and to make sure that the Material would be able to reliably flow into the Device. The next test was the Hardware and Parts Functionality Test which was to see if the Parts were properely aligned and functional. A set amount of Material was placed in the dispenser and the result would be the percentage of Material that passed through. The last test was the Automation Test which was conducted to see how well the device operates independently. To test this, the Device was tasked with processing all the Material in the Dispenser without any assistance. There was a known amount of material in the dispenser and the result is taken as a percentage of material that passed through successfully.
There were two initial problems when the testing was first performed. The first was that the Device was not completely finished. The Device was operational at the time however it was not Automated so the test would not reveal anything about the Device's independent ability to run the system. The data was still valuable as it revealed a problem with the Conveyor Belt which is explained in the Results Section. The other problem was that there was not enough material to accurately test the functionality of the Dispenser. This was overcome by using wooden chips in place of the Material, however the Oven was not activated while testing, this test was only to see how long the Automation System could operate independently.
RESULTS
Test 1: Dispenser Functionality
The Dispenser dispenses an Average of 4.78 grams per full rotation with a 20% Range. This means that the dispenser is more inconsistent than predicted and is recommended that this be improved upon in the future, however it still performs it's function so it gets a pass.
Test 2: Hardware and Parts Functionality
When testing the Hardware Functionality, it was discovered that a lot of the Material falls through the slots in the Conveyor Belt, so they were covered with tape. Afterwards, the Device was able to process a majority of the Material so the Test was concluded, Improvements were made, and the Last Test was conducted. In the future, if the heat function wants to be used, the tape should be removed and replaced with more wiring to fit between the slots or a heat resistant yet flexible material. The heat can be used without doing all this but the automation process won't be useful anymore.
Test 3: Automation Functionality
In order for the device to be considered a success, it must be able to operate independently and efficiently. In the first trial, the Device operated poorly due to the Motors either being too forceful or operating inconsistently so a large portion of the material fell directly below the First Panel inside the Cover. This was fixed by adding a little slide between the gap of the Panel and the Oven. This will be tested on June 3rd.
BUDGET
Due to most of the parts and materials being available at Central Washington University, there is not much need for outside parts. So far there has been only 3 different parts that needed to be bought: two bearings, and a dispenser. This has come to an estimated total of $65.22. Tax will be taken into consideration after purchase as the parts are still being ordered. If all goes well, these will be the only parts that need to be bought. The only other potential drain in the budget is in labor costs, but that is assuming worst case scenario and is unlikely to occur.
As of June 2nd, there has been no additional costs which means the total expense of the Project is estimated to be the previously stated $65.22.