Dynamic Stability of a Sieve Shaker Used in a Pachouli Oil Refining Process

One of the problems causing low quality of essential oils is the high content of solvent resulting from traditional extraction process employing low purity metallic components. This extracted oil therefore requires further process to improve the patchouli alcohol content of the oil by removing unwanted components. One of the process is by mixing the oil with bentonite and zeolite. In this study, a sieve shaker is designed to be used at an integrated equipment for patchouli oil refining process. In order to have a dynamically stable shaker, it is necessary to investigate the effect of various components for the stability, particularly the spring stiffness. The simulation was conducted using Autodesk Inventor using a one degree of freedom model. It is shown from the result that, for the defined condition, the sieve shaker shown a stable condition for the spring stiffness value at least 10 kN/m. Spring stiffness lower than the value could cause detachment of the roll follower from the cam, resulting in impact between the components.