International Journal of Waste Resources

Abstract

Development of a Wood Plastic Composite Extruder

WA Akinfiresoye, OJ Olukunle and AA Akintade

Wood plastic composites (WPC) is the recycling of wood flour and plastic into new products like particle boards, floor tiles and other structural building applications. An extruding machine is developed at the workshop of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering Department of The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State to handle the production of these products. The major components of the machine include the melting/mixing chamber, the extruding chamber, the frame and the discharging chamber. The working principle of the machine is by allowing the recycled shredded plastic to melt at 200°C before adding the wood flour and mixed thoroughly. This is now fed into the extruding chamber at same temperature which further kneads the mixture into slurry before discharging it into a mould of dimension 150 mm × 80 mm × 70 mm. The machine is powered by 10 Hp three phase electric motor. Specimen produced is now hot-pressed at 120°C to a thickness of 13mm and allowed to cool before removal. The machine had a throughput of 0.78 kg/hr and functional efficiency of 86%. The total production cost as at the time of fabrication is Three Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Naira Only (N 315,000). It is recommended for small and medium scale entrepreneurs.