Development of an electroplating robot in the maintenance of sugarcane mills and performance tests

Abstract

The sugar-energy sector is part of the cane agroindustrial system, one of the oldest and most important in the country. Since the 1970s, sugarcane production and grinding scales have grown, as productivity gains have been achieved and, in the current days with the RENOVA BIO public policy (strategy adopted by Brazil, the Paris Agreement), this sector will resume its growth. The process of producing sugar or bioethanol begins with activities in the field, and then the industrial process begins with the cleaning of the cane, followed by the milling operation, extracting the maximum of the broth by means of crushing of the sugarcane layer ready. The cane mills used in the extraction process are subjected to wear and tear, and, to protect their shirts, a hard coating layer, named "chapisco", is applied, which ends up favorably influencing the durability, wear resistance and extraction efficiency sucrose. The slab consists of solder spatters attached to the side of the crimping roller of the mill, forming a thick sanding effect to drag and squeeze the bagasse in the roller to be crushed. Its application occurs in two moments, one of them in the off season preparing the mill for the next harvest, and a second moment throughout the harvest and with it in operation. MC SUPPLY COMERCIO & INTERMEDIAÇÃO DE NEGOCIOS LTDA (brand name DUO Automation) develops, manufactures, markets and locates products aimed at the sugar-energy sector and, in this submission, the company will seek to develop the industrial product complement classified by the company as new applied automation technologies in the grinding operation of the cane by the use of robot of plate with the use of electrodes. DUO Automation completed the product development project, already being used by the industry, under the conditions of application of welding on the upper rollers of the mill, and in this proposal the company intends to develop the same principles under the conditions of the lower rollers. Proposes: 1) To adapt and to develop prototype called robot of "chapisco" with use of electrodes for the application in the inferior base of the mill; 2) Conduct the validation tests represented by field trials during a harvest supported by a partner company; and, 3) Strengthen the commercial development model of the product. The results of this proposal are in line with the pressures that the Ministry of Labor has been carrying out with the mills, regarding the working conditions in the operation of application of the "chapisco" (risk to the worker), that in the current days the service has been done by professionals classified as pliers (rough welders) or, with welding robots to wire base that do not totally replace human work. The maintenance activities of the milling rollers favor the exposure of the operator to unsafe and dangerous conditions exposing them to risks of accidents, for example exposure and high temperature conditions of the water used in the imbibition process, exposure to vapors produced by the imbibition water, and exposure to the fumes produced by the burning of the electrode coating, containing toxicity. (AU)