NTU-Earthlink Solar Innovations 2004 : Re.Fuse

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NTU-Earthlink Solar Innovations 2004 Re.Fuse
The Challenge Design a mechanism that is able to
separate waste into different categories (paper
,metal ,glass etc)
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Overview
Ferrous Metal Non-Ferrous Metal Plastic
Paper Other Junk
Ferrous metal removed by magnetic attraction
Non- Ferrous Metal Plastic Paper Other Junk
Non -Ferrous metal removed by infra-red detection
Plastic Paper Other Junk
Plastic and paper removed by air currents
Other Junk
Separated by flotation
Plastic
Paper
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Separation of Ferrous Metals

• The rubbish is loaded on a conveyor belt and
  moved along until it reaches the roller lined
  with an electromagnet.
• As it passes the roller, the electromagnet will
  attract the metal to it, causing it to be
  attached to the roller.
• The metal then moves up with the roller and is
  deposited into the collection bin.
• The collection slide is positioned very near the
  roller such that it will just scrape the metal
  off the roller as the metal approaches it.
• The remaining scrap material is carried on the
  conveyor belt until it drops into the
  funnel-shaped collection bin.

Animation
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Separation of Non-Ferrous Metals

• Mechanism to extract non-ferrous metal
• Waste is loaded onto a platform full of pistons
• Heater heats up waste and metal
• Metal gains heat faster as it is a good conductor
  of heat
• Picture is taken by infra-red camera and it is
  sent to computer which identify the hotspots
• Pistons surrounding hotspots are fired which
  encloses the non-ferrous metal of a higher
  temperature
• Mechanical arms tilt the platform, resulting in
  the falling of other waste
• The non-ferrous metals remain caged by pistons
• Pistons is then retracted and metal pushed by a
  broom into collection bin
• Process is repeated several times

Model
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Separation of Non-Ferrous Metals

• Mechanism to operate piston
• To fire the piston, the valve for that particular
  piston is opened and the pressure will force the
  piston to fire out.
• To retract the piston, the pressure is lifted and
  the valve closed when the piston returns to its
  original position.
• The tip of the pistons are coated with
  heat-resistant thermoform plastic, so that they
  themselves do not register as a hotspot

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Removal of Paper and Plastic from remaining waste

• The refuse is transported by conveyor belt into
  the separation chamber
• The fan is operated at high speed so that paper
  and plastic in the refuse tend to fly up to the
  height of the trap door
• Within a few seconds, the trapdoor is closed.
  Paper and plastic is then collected
• Paper and plastic at the top of the chamber, and
  remaining refuse at the bottom of the chamber,
  are pumped out of the chamber by their respective
  outlets.

Animation
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Separation of plastic and paper

• The mixture is dumped into a transparent plastic
  chamber filled with water.
• Plastic materials float as they have a low
  density
• Cloth which is porous, soaks up water, becomes
  dense, and then sinks.
• However, plastic sheets could be trapped within
  the soaked cloth at the bottom.
• Bubbles are blown into the container and it stick
  to the plastic, allowing it to float to the
  surface.
• On the other hand, no bubbles stick to cloth.

Model
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Separation of plastic and paper

• Air pump is switched off.
• After the operator observes that cloth has
  settled at the bottom, the flaps are raised.
  Plastic and cloth are effectively separated.
• Water is then drained so that plastic settles on
  the separation flaps.
• After separation, the upper pipe drains the
  plastic together with out of the cylinder. Paper
  is easily removed together with the fine net
  lining at the base of the cylinder.

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Benefits Unique features

• Environmentally friendly
• Smooth transit from one separation stage to
  another
• Handling of a large volume of refuse at any one
  time
• High degree of automation

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Application

• Separation of recyclable materials
• Leftover materials can be sent for incineration.
  Energy from incineration can contribute to power
  grid.

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THE END
NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE
Teacher in-charge Ms Yee See Ling
Team members Tan Thong Lip Alvin Chan Li
Yun Chan Wei Sheng Daniel Fang Kok Boon Yeo Shi
Wei Jason