Electronic intelligent module for a hydraulic briquetting press

A hydraulic briquetting press is industrial equipment that uses sawdust or small wood chips as raw material and outputs briquettes that can be used in heating equipment, being more energy efficient than using wood. Another use for this kind of hydraulic press is given by the need of companies to find low-cost methods of recycling their waste materials. A basic driving system for such pressing equipment can move two hydraulic cylinders using directional flow control valves some pressure and limit switches in accordance with its working cycle. This driving system uses only electric equipment, being expensive and not so easy to modify. We have developed a microcontroller based electronic schematic that offers flexibility and has a lower cost than the "all-electric" driving system. The microcontroller board features an output that can be connected to an I2C bus that gives the current state of the briquetting press. We used a microcontroller board for implementing the working algorithm, two contactors for main and auxiliary electric motors and smart highside power switches for driving six hydraulic electro-valves.