Automatic Charcoal Briquette Making Machine Tool with PID Control Approach Using Ziegler-Nichols Tuning Method for Energy Efficiency and Productivity

As population and economic growth continues, the demand for energy rises daily. Charcoal briquettes, a form of renewable energy, offer an efficient fuel source for maintaining flame. Traditionally, briquette production relies on manual labor for crushing, mixing, and molding, which is time-consuming and physically demanding. Automated tools have been developed to streamline this and reduce human effort and production time. The tool integrates three processes: crushing, mixing, compacting, and cutting. The PID control method is applied in the crushing and mixing stages to adjust motor speed for stability. PID, which stands for Proportional, Integral, and Derivative, is a feedback-based control system that ensures system precision. A PI controller (ProportionalIntegral) with Kp = 1 and Ki = 0.3 is used. The optocoupler sensor test shows an RPM range of 10.32 to 60.34, with an average error of under 1%. The density test indicates that coconut shells have the highest density at 1.17 g/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup>, followed by corn cobs at 1.04 g/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup>. Rice husks have the lowest density at 0.8 g/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup>, making them more prone to breaking under pressure. While effective for crushing rice husk charcoal, the shredder is less efficient for coconut shell and corn cob charcoal.