Indonesia
English
The EngineerTech UNY team consisting of five excellent FT UNY students, namely Khakam Maruf, Yanuar Agung Fadlullah, Sahid Ramandhani, Bagus Putra Setiyawan, and Rizal Justian Setiawan had the opportunity to collaborate and obtain research funding from PT Pertamina Patra Niaga TBBM Cikampek. The collaboration and research funding program focuses on the manufacturing and utilization of hybrid-powered water hyacinth dryers for community empowerment in the Walahar village area, Kutapohaci, Klari sub-district, Karawang district, West Java province.
Handcrafts or knitted products from water hyacinths are one of the products that drive a very important economic sector for local communities in Walahar Village. Small industrial centers and home industries that make products from water hyacinth materials are intended for distribution outside the region and export markets. Water hyacinth processing is a solution carried out by the Walahar village community to overcome the problem of water hyacinth that thrives in the Walahar Dam, this utilization has a good impact in turning weeds into products of economic value. However, the production process of raw materials which is still carried out traditionally by relying on sunlight for drying often causes various problems such as a very long drying time of about 7 days, minimal sunlight during the rainy season, and ergonomic problems experienced by the community when carrying out dryingÍ activities.
Based on this problem, PT Pertamina Patra Niaga TBBM Cikampek through its CSR (corporate social responsibility) program and also as a state-owned company that facilitates assisted villages in the Walahar area, invited students from Yogyakarta State University who are members of the EngineerTech team to collaboratively find solutions to the problems of the community around Walahar village.
The EngineerTech team believes that the best solution is to create a practical, efficient, and effective dryer called Hybrid-Ecodry. "When it comes to this condition and previous research, an appropriate technology-based solution is the best idea, in other words, we will modernize water hyacinth drying in Walahar village by creating a Hybrid-Ecodry tool that uses solar energy and electrical energy from the grid as a backup. This is what you propose to PT Pertamina Patra Niaga Cikampek," said Khakam the team coordinator.
Then with ½ Hp engine specifications equipped with a reducer, Hybrid-Ecodry can produce power up to 1400 Rpm. This can certainly optimize the water hyacinth drying process to the maximum, besides that the dimensions of the Hybrid-Ecodry machine of 60 x 200 cm can accommodate water hyacinth up to 10 Kilograms in the first trial of the machine being applied, then with a maximum capacity of 25 Kilograms certainly provides a large drying space so that it is effectively applied on an MSME scale.
In addition, for the utilization of electrical energy in machine operations, the UNY team and PT Pertamina Patra Niaga TBBM Cikampek have discussed implementing energy from solar panels so that the drying machine used can support the Sustainable Development Goal. "Karawang is a lowland and has sufficient sunlight, the implementation of solar panels as a means of energy conversion of the drying machine can be used, this is very much by SDGs 7 related to affordable and clean energy," said Rizal, one of the EngineerTech members.
To support the digitalization of technology in the Walahar village community, the EngineerTech team developed an Internet of Things system on the Hybrid-Ecodry dryer as a feature that facilitates the community. "People in Walahar village, especially those who manage water hyacinth business centers, mostly use Android smartphones. The use of IoT-based remote monitoring will greatly help them in monitoring the dryer so they don't need to go back and forth to check," said Khakam.
The remote monitoring system is designed using an ESP-32 device integrated with the Blynk application in which there is an application program to monitor the engine temperature in real-time at any time so that users will find it easier to supervise the water hyacinth drying process. In addition, the use of fire-resistant DS18B20 sensors allows temperature readings up to 125 degrees Celsius.
Furthermore, a representative from PT Pertamina Patra Niaga TBBM Cikampek, Mr. Taufik Ismail, commented that this research collaboration program is very good for the advancement of community service programs facilitated by Pertamina, where the results of research from students and companies can produce a work that can help increase the productivity of MSMEs and the welfare of the community.