Abstract—This study discusses the plastic garbage problem in the environment, which is mostly caused by poor waste management habits. A lack of knowledge about disposal separation and recycling results in improper treatment methods such landfilling or incineration. The study aims to develop a dry plastic waste cleaning machine to reduce these problems. To maximize its efficiency, the machine has been developed as a plastic cleaning device and used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The machine’s design focuses on two components: the beating rotor and the outer shell. While the propeller-equipped rotor assembly deliberately beats the garbage and produces axial flow velocity, the outer shell helps manage the garbage flow and avoid splashing. Using SolidWorks software, three models of the dry waste plastic cleaning machine: type of thread, number of propellers, and propeller pattern, were created and subjected to simulation and airflow analysis. The velocity and pressure distributions that resulted from varying the shaft speed parameters from 500 to 2,000 rpm were investigated. The results of the airflow simulation showed that varied propeller configurations resulted in diverse internal airflow behaviors. In particular, the propeller configuration models have affected the axial flow rotation speeds between 500 and 1,500 rpm. Furthermore, axial flow was found to diminish after 1,500 rpm, and there was no discernible variation in air pressure between the three models. This knowledge will contribute to improving the efficiency of the cleanup procedure that is a part of recycling plastic garbage.

Keywords—cleaning machine, plastic garbage, propeller, mechanical cleaning, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Cite: Sutthinan Srirattayawong, Sutham Arun, Wichaphon Fakkeaw, Md. Hamidur Rahman, and Rachaneewan Aungkurabrut, "CFD-Enhanced Design: Dual-Propeller Advanced Dry Garbage Cleaning Machine for Efficient Plastic Waste Management," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 153-162, 2025. doi: 10.18178/ijmerr.14.2.153-162

Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).