A NOVEL MSW BAG OPENER’S BLADE DESIGN

Abstract

This paper presents a novel MSW bag opener blade, based on a waste characterization study in Egypt. The characterization study was conducted in Sohag, Egypt, representing the Upper Egypt socio-cultural aspects. The MSW characteristics are measured using ASTM standards. The blade design was developed using SOLIDWORKS, a 3-D modeling software. The MSW study showed that the average MSW characteristics were 255 kg/m3 bulk density, 37% moisture content, 36.65 % over 80 mm screen, 11.94 % from 60 to 80 mm screen, 51.41 % lower than 60 mm screen, and 65 % organic fraction. The blade strength, performance, and durability are assessed using static and fatigue finite element analyses under a pressure of 1 MPa. The results indicate that the proposed design can achieve a capacity of about 29 ton/hr with a power consumption of 22 kW. The blade design shows that the Von Mises maximum stress and the minimum factor-of-safety for the four blade models (A, B, C, and D) are 33.15, 29.47, 28.17, and 21.86 MPa, and 8.3, 9.3, 9.8, and 12.5, respectively. The fatigue stress analysis showed that all types of blades had a life cycle of 106 cycles. It is concluded that model D has the best strength, FOS, and durability. The paper proposes a novel blade design for MSW bag opener machines that can achieve high efficiency, low power consumption, low maintenance cost, and long service life, based on a proposed MSW study that can capture the diversity of the waste composition in Sohag Governorate, Egypt.