Process Study, Design and Integration with Automation for Selective Phytochemical Industries

by

Syed Adeel Ahmed (Roll No. : 2010202)

Supervisors: Internal: Dr. S. K. Jain External: Mr Syed Anwar Ahmed

Discipline: Electronics and Communications Engineering PDPM INDIAN INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING JABALPUR (10th May 2013 25th May 2013)

Introduction:
This project involves the study and design of a complete phytochemical process plant and possible automatization using PLC or SCADA or any other related software that are generally used in such industries like Solidworks or other related simulation software. This undertaking also demands the basic knowledge of some of some sensors (both mechanical and electrical) used in the various processes like temperature sensors, gas sensors, strain gauges etc. Most of the other essential things including the design and simulation of the process along with development of program modules (if necessary) would be taught by the Supervisor and other training instructors in the industry. By taking part in this undertaking it is hoped that I can put good use of the skills that have been acquired by me during the last 3 years of college.

Progress during the 15 days:

During the first 15 days the company allowed me to get to know the basic inner workings of the company by allowing to study the various departments functioning in the company like the Research and Development Department, Design Department, Engineering Department, Marketing Department, Manufacturing Facility and the Workshop etc. This was done so as to have a preliminary knowledge of the various processes and technologies used by them for the various phytochemical processes and also to get the basic knowledge of how an industry works. Small assignments were given which involved study of the basic principles of some technologies like primary extraction processes of natural products for phyto chemicals, concentration of extracts, spray drying, agglomeration systems, freeze drying system , etc. which are more commonly used in the phytochemical industry today. Tours of the R&D centre were also taken to show and tell about the various pilot plants installed there which includes evaporators, dryers etc. This was all done in preparation for the main project to be undertaken and also to get awareness of the individual strength and weaknesses in various fields so as to improve upon them.

Results and Discussions:

In the first 15 days of working with the company I was able to understand the work structure of the various departments functioning within the company along with gaining new knowledge about various new technologies used by the phytochemical
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industries in this day and age. Even though only the basic knowledge was provided it helped me understand the inner workings of some of the processes with ease like instant tea production, instant coffee production etc. which would be beneficial later in the project with possible automation using different automation softwares like PLC, SCADA and HART systems.

Conclusion:
By getting a better understanding of the different processes used in the industry today, I am able to get a better perspective of the scope and magnitude of development of new processes which can help me enhance my skills in interdisciplinary fields. In the next few days I will continue to study the different processes at their basic level along with starting the study and design of different blocks of one of the process (decided later by the external supervisor) one at a time.