Sunday, September 25, 2011
SONDU/MIRIU HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER PLANT
SONDU/MIRIU HYDROPOWER PROJECT- A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
The Project is the first major hydro power project located in Nyanza Province about 60km south of Kisumu City alongside Lake Victoria. On completion, the power station was expected to have a maximum capacity of 60 MW from two units and an average annual energy production of 330.6 GWh. The feasibility study for the Sondu-Miriu River Hydropower Project was undertaken in 1985. At that time, the hydropower development was proposed as a component of an overall basin development programme that included the Magwagwa Multi-purpose Dam and the Kano Plain Irrigation Project. This multi-purpose programme depended on the construction of a large flow regulating reservoir at Magwagwa and would have resulted in major changes in the river flow regime, diverting water to another basin. However, this multi-purpose programme was not implemented. Water was diverted from the Sondu river at the Intake through a 6.2 km long tunnel constructed under phase I of the project. A surface mounted penstock will then take the water down the Nyakach escarpment to the Power Station below. In the Powerhouse, harnessing the water and the head, the turbines are turned to generate the electricity. The water is then returned to the Sondu river approximately 13km downstream of the intake via a 4.7km long Outlet Channel. A new Transmission Line approximately 50km long will be constructed under the SMHPP to connect the Power Station to the Kisumu substation.
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
The plant is owned and maintained by KenGen whose objectives are:
1. To be an employer of choice to thousands of people and give back to the communities in which they operate in.
2. To be market leader in the provision of reliable, safe, quality and competitively priced electric energy in the Eastern Africa region.
3. To efficiently generate competitively priced electric energy using state-ofthe-art technology, and skilled and motivated human resource to ensure financial success.
4. To achieve market leadership by undertaking least cost,environmentally friendly capacity expansion. Consistent with their corporate culture, core values will be adhered to in all their operations.
PROCESSES
Hydro-electric power generation in Sondu Miriu.
Unlike the other major hydropower projects in Kenya, the Sondu-Miriu Project does not have a major dam and associated reservoir but relies on the flow of the river with only a small storage capacity at the Intake. Hence Sondu-Miriu is not a dam but a weir, water is diverted to the power generation house and returned to its normal stream after generation.
Some water is diverted to the power station via the intake tunnel while the rest is usually left to flow downstream into the original course of the river. There is on-going construction of a tunnel 6.2 km long and 4.2 m in diameter. This takes the water to the top of the Nyakach Escarpment.
In addition, there is the penstock construction at the top of the Nyakach Escarpment and take the water down the escarpment, a fall of approximately 200m to the Power Station to be constructed below. The water is then taken back to the original river, approximately 13km downstream of the Intake, by a 4.7 km long and 2.6 m bottom wide outlet channel. The electricity will be distributed via a new transmission line to the Kisumu Substation. A 49km transmission line of 135 kV is also to be constructed under the project. There is a control room at the intake facility where the gates are controlled to regulate the run-off. The intake facility has the following structures
a) Intake weir- This is the overall water retention structure used. It is blocked by gates which are controlled to regulate run-off. It is 70m in width and 18m in height and has three 15m width and 10.6m height fixed wheel with 4.0m width and 1.85m height flap gates.
b) Siltation bay- The siltation bay is built in a slanting manner, such that silt settles at the bottom, after a period of time, the sand flushing gates are opened to drain the sand. These gates are controlled by a programmed simulation. The programme controls the three spillway gates and one sand-flushing gate.
c) Trash rack- This is used to fish out any floating debris on the water. There are two 5.0 m width and 9.0 m height inclined type trash racks used for this purpose.
d) Just before the start of the pentstock is the surge tank. The purpose of a surge tank is to neutralize rises and falls in pressure to prevent system failures, blowouts as well as to quickly provide extra water during a brief drop in pressure along the pentstock. It is attached at the highest point of the system. When pressure rises, forcing fluids upward, they shift into the tank rather than blowing out the pentstock.
e) The pentstock- A penstock is a channel used to feed or carry away water. The flow of the water through the penstock can be controlled with a sluice or gate that is raised and lowered. It’s dimensions are: diameter- 3.6 m in tunnel, 3.6 m, 3.4 m and 3.2m at inclined surface section, 2.2 m and 1.65 m after spherical branch; length- Total 1,214.33 m consisting of 53.0 m, 1,139.13 m and 22.20 m in tunnel and at inclined and horizontal surface sections.
The general electricity production technique in the powerhouse is as follows:
i. Turbines- This has propellers which are turned round by the onrushing water from the pentstock. The turbine is connected to the generator by a shaft which rotates due to the propellor rotational force. It provides a coupling for the generator which it is connected to.
ii. Generator-(Check image below) This is the power producer. When the turbine converts thhe energy of flowing water into meechanical water, the hydroelectric generator converts thisenergy into electric energy. The operation of the generator is based on the Faradays principles. When a magnet is moved past a conductor, it causes electricity to flow. The electromagnets are made by circulating direct current through loops of wire around stacks of maagnetic steel laminations. These are called field poles and are mounted at the perimeter of the rotor. The rotor is attache to the turbine shaft and rotates at a fixed speed. When the rotor rotates, it causes the field poles (the electromagnets) to move past the conductors mounted on the stator. This, in turn, causes electricity to flow and a voltage to develop at the generator output terminals. The Turkwell generator outputs 106MW at 11KV which is then stepped up to 32KV and fed to power lines from Jinja (Uganda) and taken to Lessos sub station.
iii. Transformers- Modern electric power systems use transformers to convert electricity into different voltages. With transformers, each stage of the system can be operated at an appropriate voltage. In a typical system, the generators at the power station deliver a voltage of from 1,000 to 26,000 volts. Transformers step this voltage up to values ranging from 138,000 to 765,000 V for the long-distance primary transmission line because higher voltages can be transmitted more efficiently over long distances. At the substation the voltage may be transformed down to levels of 69,000 to 138,000 V for further transfer on the distribution system. Another set of transformers step the voltage down again to a distribution level such as 2,400 or 4,160 V or 15, 27, or 33 kilovolts (kV). Finally the voltage is transformed once again at the distribution transformer near the point of use to 240 or 120V.
iv. Transmission Lines- The lines of high-voltage transmission systems are usually composed of wires of copper, aluminum, or copper-clad or aluminum-clad steel, which are suspended from tall latticework towers of steel by strings of porcelain insulators. By the use of clad steel wires and high towers, the distance between towers can be increased, and the cost of the transmission line thus reduced. In modern installations with essentially straight paths, high-voltage lines may be built with as few as six towers to the kilometer. In some areas high-voltage lines are suspended from tall wooden poles spaced more closely together.
v. Switchyard- At the switchyard, 11KV voltage output for each generator is connected in a system of buses to the main generator transformer for step-up to 132KV for transmission. In the switchyard there is a series of lightning arresters. There is also a communication cable next to the neutral running which is a fibre optic for monitoring the transmission line. For the conductors, aluminum is used but steel is used for tension purposes.
For lower voltage distribution lines, wooden poles are generally used rather than steel towers. In cities and other areas where open lines create a safety hazard or are considered unattractive, insulated underground cables are used for distribution. Some of these cables have a hollow core through which oil circulates under low pressure. The oil provides temporary protection from water damage to the enclosed wires should the cable develop a leak. Pipe-type cables in which three cables are enclosed in a pipe filled with oil under high pressure (14 kg per sq cm/200 psi) are frequently used. These cables are used for transmission of current at voltages as high as 345,000 V (or 345 kV).
SAFETY MEASURES
i. There is a developed plan to shut down quickly if any beyond-measures emergency occurs in the operation time of the facility.
ii. There is yearly maintenance of the plant when all the machines are closed down for maintenance and check up. Old and worn out machine parts are replaced during such a period.
iii. There are numerous emergency doors to enable quick escape in case of emergency.
iv. The management carries out awareness training to all new employees and trainees to inform them on safety measures.
v. All employees put on safety wear e.g. helmets, overalls and safety boots.
vi. There are fixed alarm gadgets that alert employees if an emergency occurs in the operation time of the facility.
PROBLEMS FACED
The plant has faced several problems ever since its inception. The problems brought foward before construction were as follows:
i. Environmental impact- The hydrological and ecological formation of the river was greatly disturbed when the river was eventually diverted. Wildlife, especially the colobus monkey and hippopotamus, dependent on the river water were forced to seek water sources at the lower populous Nyakwere plains disturbing their habitat.
ii. Socio-economic effects- The project displaced more than 1,000 households through resettlement. Loss of arable land coupled with inadequate compensation is adversely affecting the livelihood of these predominantly subsistent communities.
iii. Cultural Effects- The diversion of the river occurs upstream of the breathtaking Odino falls. The community attaches a lot of cultural values and beliefs to the falls. According to the community, the falls is the harbinger of good and bad omen. It is the home of prosperity or death.
The aftermath of the construction has had issues also. Both within and around the plant:
iv. The rainfall pattern in western Kenya can be described as steady but erratic and this unpredictable nature has made it difficult to plan operations at the power plants. The river’s water levels is natural and a fall would mean a depriciated generation capacity.
v. Because of the nature of hydroelectric systems, the water run-off often takes on a higher temperature, loses oxygen content, experiences siltation, and gains in phosphorus and nitrogen content.
SOLUTIONS & FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
i. Electricity and piped water in the homes
ii. Jobs at the plant have been awarded to the locals. KenGen through its CSR has done a lot to the Community Such as giving Scholarship to bright needy students in all KenGen Stations Community Schools.
iii. It also help in donations such as to the children orphanages, helping kids with heart diseases, helping in famine relief by giving food and other domestic items.
iv. New schools and dispensaries in their remote villages. KenGen has done a lot regarding the building of schools such as Aomo Primary School, Apondo Kasaye Primary School and Thurdibuoro Secondary School. It has also help in building of Thurdibuoro AIC Church and furnished it with pews.
v. KenGen has so far dug more than five boreholes in remote villages in Nyakach and Kasipul Kabondo. Last year, the company handed over water projects worth Sh143 million to villagers living around River Sondu Miriu.
vi. Fortunately the water quality problem has been dealt with by the production of "fish ladders". These structures provide a pathway for fish to navigate past the hydroelectric dam construction.
RECOMMENDATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
Hydropower is the cheapest way to generate electricity today. No other energy source, renewable or nonrenewable, can match it. Producing electricity from hydropower is cheap because, once a dam has been built and the equipment installed, the energy source-flowing water-is free. Although Hydropower does present a few environmental problems the inherent technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix. Weighing up the benefits and environmental disadvantages is difficult. Until recently, projects deemed to be for ‘the greater good’ of the country werecarried out regardless of the local human and environmental cost. This haschanged recently, but it is still very difficult to balance. For example, Egypt’s communities have benefited from receiving electricity, yet the effect of buildingthe Aswan dam has been to starve the farming communities of nutrient-rich silt
that used to be brought down on the floods each year.
The benefits of electricity are undisputable for both economic and social development, and if the balance is between providing electricity that reduces the human mortality rate and protecting the environment, the former must be chosen. To choose the latter is arrogance on our part, sitting in well-lit comfy buildings, legislating for an effect that will never harm us. The theoretical amount of hydroelectric power available world-wide is about four times more than has been exploited at the present time. It is clear that the actual amount of hydroelectricity generated will be much less than this total, due to the growing anxiety about environmental costs and the economic cost of developing many of these sites. Although it is feasible for large scale hydroelectric power projects to be developed I do not believe this to be desirable because of the huge environmental impact. However an increase in SHP schemes should be
encouraged to meet local needs.
REFERENCES
a) Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Sondu Miriu Hydro-Electric Power Project premises on the 22nd of June 2011.
b) The official KenGen website- http:// www.kengen.co.ke
c) The Wikipedia website- http://en.wikipedia.com
Saturday, September 24, 2011
South Nyanza Sugar Company Limited (Sony Sugar)
SONY SUGAR- A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
South Nyanza Sugar Company Limited (Sony Sugar) was established in 1976 with the objective of increasing national sugar production to reduce dependence on importation, creating employment opportunities and enhancing regional development. SonySugar - located in Rongo District of Nyanza Province, lies 160 km south of Kisumu. SonySugar also has offices in Nairobi for liaison purposes and for availing it products and services closer to its customers.SonySugar is a key player in the sugar sub-sector serving over 30,000 farmers spread in the seven districts of Homa Bay, Gucha, Transmara, Kuria, Migori, Uriri and Rongo. The Management of SonySugar has changed over the years from Mehta Group International at inception in 1979, to Booker Agricultural International (Booker Tate Ltd) in 1985 and reverted to Kenyan management in March 2000.
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
The company aims to to manufacture high quality sugar and associated products by utilizing leading edge technology and investing in our people in order to deliver superior customer value, maximize shareholder returns and satisfy other stakeholder interests. As afore mentioned, the major objectives of establishing Mumias Sugar Company were to:
i. Increasing national sugar production
ii. Reduce dependence on importation
iii. Creating employment opportunities
iv. Enhancing regional development
Future Plans
The processing of cane has been constrained over the years by inadequate cane transport infrastructure, limited factory capacity and aging factory progressively exhibiting declining efficiency numbers and high operating costs. Over the years, the factory equipment and machineries have undergone several rehabilitation, upgrading and replacement to strengthen, enhance efficiency and increase capacity. Significant opportunity exists in developing the factory and diversifying it to its full potential to process all available cane. The lower opportunity cost of sugar cane at SonySugar makes the investment viable and the site suitable. The cane is available and the land already developed besides primary roads infrastructure. The debottlenecked factory would produce annually 90,000 tons of sugar from increase volume from improved recovery rate and 7 MW of power using available cane. The economic viability is premised on keeping fixed and saving costs comparable to current levels and optimising existing resources e.g sugar cane, bagasse, and Power TA’s and other factory plant (improving economies of scale in unit processes).
PROCESSES
The step by step processes followed in sugar processing are as follows:
i. Cane receiving- cane is grown by either contracted or non-contracted farmers. Most of the cane is from the nucleus estates within some kilometers of the company. At the weigh bridge, goods entering (mostly sugarcane) and leaving (sugar or molasses) are weighed so as to keep track of the company’s production line. Therefore the weigh bridge acts as an input/output checker. The basic arithmetic calculation takes place: Gross weight¬- Tane weight= Net weight. The cane is stored in the cane yard so as to keep the machines running i.e. avoid downtime because of lack of sugar.
ii. Pre-Mills- This is where the cane is prepared for juice extraction. Hydro unloaders unload the cane into rollers that take the canes into the cutting chambers. There are two types of knives in these chambers- sharp knives that cut the cane into small pieces and blunt knives which hammer these pieces into fibre-like material hence releasing the juice.
iii. Mills- this is the juice extraction sector. Here there are four mills each with three rollers. The feed roller rotates clockwise thus pulling in the shredded cane, the top roller acts as a squeezer to extract juice from the cane while the third roller acts as the discharge to churn out bagasse. This is as illustrated in the image below.
Cane fibre Bagasse out
Extracted Juice
iv. Boilers- The main purpose of the boilers is steam generation. Baggase is burnt to boil water which is supplied from the nearby River Kuja. The boilers used are the water tube types where the water is in a tube furnace heated by fire outside. There are two boilers each generating 20tonnes per hour of steam. Air is supplied by a secondary air fan. There is also a discharge fan which removes the burnt air. The steam generated is used for:
a) Driving turbines in electricity generation plant
b) Drive rollers in the milling process
c) Boiling the juice in the processor house
d) Drying of sugar
Processor House:
v. Clarification- This is simply the purification of juice. This is done in processes as follows;
a) Addition of phosphoric acid e.g. DAP fertilizer. This activates sucrace in the juice.
b) The juice is primarily heated to 70oC
c) Addition of milk of lime which attracts suspended solids and neutralizes excess acid.
d) Secondary heating to 120oC
e) Allowance of gaseous escape by pouring the juice over an umbrella-like structure.
f) The juice is then taken to the clarifier where flocculants are added, juice stirred
g) The juice is then taken through five evaporators- the first three boil at 135oC while the last two boil at a lower temperature to avoid crystal formation at this stage. This juice is now called syrup.
vi. Crystallization- This is done in closed air-tight pans where ready made sugar approximately 4kgs in uniform size and methanol is added. The aim here is to multiply the number of crystals. This is added to the syrup and injected to the pans. The pans are heated in a vacuum making methanol evaporate thus leaving crystals. More syrup is added as sucrose particles are attracted to the crystals. Molasses is the byproduct of this process. Sieving is done to separate molasses from sugar. The sugar obtained here is class A. molasses act as methano, too and is recycled twice to give class B and C sugars. Class A is released to the markets while classes B and C are refined to reach class A. Separation is done by centrifugal processes leaving sugar at the centre.
vii. Drying- Sugar is then taken through a rotating tunnel. One end has a radiator while the other has a motor fan which sucks dry air from the radiator through the sugar which is then dried. This is illustrated below.
Radiator Sugar Inlet Motor fan
Sugar outlet
viii. Packaging and Storage- The sugar bin has outlet pipes with sensors and gates to measure sugar being packaged. The packaged sugar is moved by a conveyor belt which has a weight detector machine called the weight checker to ensure uniformity. This is then moved to the warehouse for storage and ready transportation.
SAFETY MEASURES
a) Being on the watch out- this calls for keenness in the factory and taking note of any incidences, accidents and requirements in any of the production units.
b) Inspection of concern areas of safety at the factory plant and acting accordingly to the gapping loopholes.
c) Provision of first aid medicament and safety tools including masks gloves. These are provided to all the employees during their working and also to visitors visiting the factory premises.
d) Various sign posts and warning signs are placed in different places warning against working without protective wears.
e) There are instruction manuals attached to each machine in the several factories to aid in its running and maintenance.
f) The risk of fire is taken seriously by the management. In addition to various fire assembly points, they have their own fire-fighting brigade on stand-by for any emergency.
g) Employee safety training-This is done for all the new company employees. The induction program prepares the recruited staff for their day to day activities. He also has the responsibility of training and coordination of all the safety teams which include the first aiders and the firefighters. These two teams comprise of employees in the various sections strategically placed, who will at the event of an emergency start dealing with it before help arrives. The teams are also trained to notice and point out unsafe conditions.
PROBLEMS FACED
a) New Government Policies: The government imposes policies that hinder some of the company’s operations. Taxation is a big issue as the company incurs costs in pay taxes and this leads to the addition of the cost of production making the company’s product to be expensive.
b) Inadequate cane transport infrastructure: the roads feeding the factory from the feeder sugar cane farms are not well maintained and thus the company has to incur costs in vehicle repairs and also road maintenance. The company therefore faces a lot of problem when transporting raw materials, other supplies and also the product to its outlet especially during rainy seasons.
c) Stiff competition: The company faces tight competition from other sugar producers as it’s located near a sugarcane producing area. Given the fact that they do not get subsidies from the government their product is expensive. The importation of sugar from other countries has also affected the company’s product so much.
d) Rising costs in production: The Company gets no subsidy from the government like other sugar producing firms hence experiences a lot of production cost in petroleum products and electricity. The capital to start and run the factory is also very high. The maintenance cost is also sky high.
e) Limited factory capacity and aging factory machinery- the company is an old one hence the machines which were installed years ago have warred down over time hence increasing maintenance costs.
f) Poor farming methods- This leads to substandard cane supplied to the factory hence lower productivity and low sugar quality in the long run. Small-scale land-holders are the major cane suppliers to the factory. However, they are not able to provide mechanized tillage services on their own.
SOLUTIONS
a) The company has invested in heavy transportation machineries which are capable of traversing the terrains where roads are inaccessible during rainy seasons. This is a costly affair and hence the company has now outsourced the transportation of cane to the farmers’ choices. Road maintenance is also part of the company’s objectives.
b) To ward off competition, the company has raised standards by installing new machineries in their production system; this has helped increase the publicity of the company above its rivals.
c) The Company has been able to cut on costs by outsourcing some of the secondary services that prove costly in the company. Example of this is the manufacture and printing of packaging bags and also part of transportation.
d) To enhance good farming skills, the company recruits, contracts and organizes out grower farmers and loans these services to them to ensure sustained sugarcane supplies in the future. The loans are recovered when the plots are harvested.
e) The company has looked inture future solutions to curb costs, achieve objectives and increase productivity. Over the years, the factory equipment and machineries have undergone several rehabilitation, upgrading and replacement to strengthen, enhance efficiency and increase capacity.
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
The factory was completed and commissioned in 1979 with an initial design capacity of 2,000 tonnes of cane per day (TCD) but was later rehabilitated and expanded between 1994 and 1996 thereby increasing its capacity to 2400. The processing of cane has been constrained over the years by inadequate cane transport infrastructure, limited factory capacity and aging factory progressively exhibiting declining efficiency numbers and high operating costs. Over the years, the factory equipment and machineries have undergone several rehabilitation, upgrading and replacement to strengthen, enhance efficiency and increase capacity.
Significant opportunity exists in developing the factory and diversifying it to its full potential to process all available cane. The lower opportunity cost of sugar cane at SonySugar makes the investment viable and the site suitable. The cane is available and the land already developed besides primary roads infrastructure. The debottlenecked factory would produce annually 90,000 tons of sugar from increase volume from improved recovery rate and 7 MW of power using available cane. The economic viability is premised on keeping fixed and saving costs comparable to current levels and optimising existing resources e.g sugar cane, bagasse, and Power TA’s and other factory plant (improving economies of scale in unit processes). The major reason for Agricultural Engineering interventions in sugar-cane farming is to reduce drudgery, (back-breaking manual work e.g. where people sweat the whole day hoeing on uncomfortable postures)
REFERENCES
a) Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Sony Sugar Company premises on the 15th of June 2011
b) Sony Sugar Company official website - http://www.sonysugar.co.ke
South Nyanza Sugar Company Limited (Sony Sugar) was established in 1976 with the objective of increasing national sugar production to reduce dependence on importation, creating employment opportunities and enhancing regional development. SonySugar - located in Rongo District of Nyanza Province, lies 160 km south of Kisumu. SonySugar also has offices in Nairobi for liaison purposes and for availing it products and services closer to its customers.SonySugar is a key player in the sugar sub-sector serving over 30,000 farmers spread in the seven districts of Homa Bay, Gucha, Transmara, Kuria, Migori, Uriri and Rongo. The Management of SonySugar has changed over the years from Mehta Group International at inception in 1979, to Booker Agricultural International (Booker Tate Ltd) in 1985 and reverted to Kenyan management in March 2000.
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
The company aims to to manufacture high quality sugar and associated products by utilizing leading edge technology and investing in our people in order to deliver superior customer value, maximize shareholder returns and satisfy other stakeholder interests. As afore mentioned, the major objectives of establishing Mumias Sugar Company were to:
i. Increasing national sugar production
ii. Reduce dependence on importation
iii. Creating employment opportunities
iv. Enhancing regional development
Future Plans
The processing of cane has been constrained over the years by inadequate cane transport infrastructure, limited factory capacity and aging factory progressively exhibiting declining efficiency numbers and high operating costs. Over the years, the factory equipment and machineries have undergone several rehabilitation, upgrading and replacement to strengthen, enhance efficiency and increase capacity. Significant opportunity exists in developing the factory and diversifying it to its full potential to process all available cane. The lower opportunity cost of sugar cane at SonySugar makes the investment viable and the site suitable. The cane is available and the land already developed besides primary roads infrastructure. The debottlenecked factory would produce annually 90,000 tons of sugar from increase volume from improved recovery rate and 7 MW of power using available cane. The economic viability is premised on keeping fixed and saving costs comparable to current levels and optimising existing resources e.g sugar cane, bagasse, and Power TA’s and other factory plant (improving economies of scale in unit processes).
PROCESSES
The step by step processes followed in sugar processing are as follows:
i. Cane receiving- cane is grown by either contracted or non-contracted farmers. Most of the cane is from the nucleus estates within some kilometers of the company. At the weigh bridge, goods entering (mostly sugarcane) and leaving (sugar or molasses) are weighed so as to keep track of the company’s production line. Therefore the weigh bridge acts as an input/output checker. The basic arithmetic calculation takes place: Gross weight¬- Tane weight= Net weight. The cane is stored in the cane yard so as to keep the machines running i.e. avoid downtime because of lack of sugar.
ii. Pre-Mills- This is where the cane is prepared for juice extraction. Hydro unloaders unload the cane into rollers that take the canes into the cutting chambers. There are two types of knives in these chambers- sharp knives that cut the cane into small pieces and blunt knives which hammer these pieces into fibre-like material hence releasing the juice.
iii. Mills- this is the juice extraction sector. Here there are four mills each with three rollers. The feed roller rotates clockwise thus pulling in the shredded cane, the top roller acts as a squeezer to extract juice from the cane while the third roller acts as the discharge to churn out bagasse. This is as illustrated in the image below.
Cane fibre Bagasse out
Extracted Juice
iv. Boilers- The main purpose of the boilers is steam generation. Baggase is burnt to boil water which is supplied from the nearby River Kuja. The boilers used are the water tube types where the water is in a tube furnace heated by fire outside. There are two boilers each generating 20tonnes per hour of steam. Air is supplied by a secondary air fan. There is also a discharge fan which removes the burnt air. The steam generated is used for:
a) Driving turbines in electricity generation plant
b) Drive rollers in the milling process
c) Boiling the juice in the processor house
d) Drying of sugar
Processor House:
v. Clarification- This is simply the purification of juice. This is done in processes as follows;
a) Addition of phosphoric acid e.g. DAP fertilizer. This activates sucrace in the juice.
b) The juice is primarily heated to 70oC
c) Addition of milk of lime which attracts suspended solids and neutralizes excess acid.
d) Secondary heating to 120oC
e) Allowance of gaseous escape by pouring the juice over an umbrella-like structure.
f) The juice is then taken to the clarifier where flocculants are added, juice stirred
g) The juice is then taken through five evaporators- the first three boil at 135oC while the last two boil at a lower temperature to avoid crystal formation at this stage. This juice is now called syrup.
vi. Crystallization- This is done in closed air-tight pans where ready made sugar approximately 4kgs in uniform size and methanol is added. The aim here is to multiply the number of crystals. This is added to the syrup and injected to the pans. The pans are heated in a vacuum making methanol evaporate thus leaving crystals. More syrup is added as sucrose particles are attracted to the crystals. Molasses is the byproduct of this process. Sieving is done to separate molasses from sugar. The sugar obtained here is class A. molasses act as methano, too and is recycled twice to give class B and C sugars. Class A is released to the markets while classes B and C are refined to reach class A. Separation is done by centrifugal processes leaving sugar at the centre.
vii. Drying- Sugar is then taken through a rotating tunnel. One end has a radiator while the other has a motor fan which sucks dry air from the radiator through the sugar which is then dried. This is illustrated below.
Radiator Sugar Inlet Motor fan
Sugar outlet
viii. Packaging and Storage- The sugar bin has outlet pipes with sensors and gates to measure sugar being packaged. The packaged sugar is moved by a conveyor belt which has a weight detector machine called the weight checker to ensure uniformity. This is then moved to the warehouse for storage and ready transportation.
SAFETY MEASURES
a) Being on the watch out- this calls for keenness in the factory and taking note of any incidences, accidents and requirements in any of the production units.
b) Inspection of concern areas of safety at the factory plant and acting accordingly to the gapping loopholes.
c) Provision of first aid medicament and safety tools including masks gloves. These are provided to all the employees during their working and also to visitors visiting the factory premises.
d) Various sign posts and warning signs are placed in different places warning against working without protective wears.
e) There are instruction manuals attached to each machine in the several factories to aid in its running and maintenance.
f) The risk of fire is taken seriously by the management. In addition to various fire assembly points, they have their own fire-fighting brigade on stand-by for any emergency.
g) Employee safety training-This is done for all the new company employees. The induction program prepares the recruited staff for their day to day activities. He also has the responsibility of training and coordination of all the safety teams which include the first aiders and the firefighters. These two teams comprise of employees in the various sections strategically placed, who will at the event of an emergency start dealing with it before help arrives. The teams are also trained to notice and point out unsafe conditions.
PROBLEMS FACED
a) New Government Policies: The government imposes policies that hinder some of the company’s operations. Taxation is a big issue as the company incurs costs in pay taxes and this leads to the addition of the cost of production making the company’s product to be expensive.
b) Inadequate cane transport infrastructure: the roads feeding the factory from the feeder sugar cane farms are not well maintained and thus the company has to incur costs in vehicle repairs and also road maintenance. The company therefore faces a lot of problem when transporting raw materials, other supplies and also the product to its outlet especially during rainy seasons.
c) Stiff competition: The company faces tight competition from other sugar producers as it’s located near a sugarcane producing area. Given the fact that they do not get subsidies from the government their product is expensive. The importation of sugar from other countries has also affected the company’s product so much.
d) Rising costs in production: The Company gets no subsidy from the government like other sugar producing firms hence experiences a lot of production cost in petroleum products and electricity. The capital to start and run the factory is also very high. The maintenance cost is also sky high.
e) Limited factory capacity and aging factory machinery- the company is an old one hence the machines which were installed years ago have warred down over time hence increasing maintenance costs.
f) Poor farming methods- This leads to substandard cane supplied to the factory hence lower productivity and low sugar quality in the long run. Small-scale land-holders are the major cane suppliers to the factory. However, they are not able to provide mechanized tillage services on their own.
SOLUTIONS
a) The company has invested in heavy transportation machineries which are capable of traversing the terrains where roads are inaccessible during rainy seasons. This is a costly affair and hence the company has now outsourced the transportation of cane to the farmers’ choices. Road maintenance is also part of the company’s objectives.
b) To ward off competition, the company has raised standards by installing new machineries in their production system; this has helped increase the publicity of the company above its rivals.
c) The Company has been able to cut on costs by outsourcing some of the secondary services that prove costly in the company. Example of this is the manufacture and printing of packaging bags and also part of transportation.
d) To enhance good farming skills, the company recruits, contracts and organizes out grower farmers and loans these services to them to ensure sustained sugarcane supplies in the future. The loans are recovered when the plots are harvested.
e) The company has looked inture future solutions to curb costs, achieve objectives and increase productivity. Over the years, the factory equipment and machineries have undergone several rehabilitation, upgrading and replacement to strengthen, enhance efficiency and increase capacity.
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
The factory was completed and commissioned in 1979 with an initial design capacity of 2,000 tonnes of cane per day (TCD) but was later rehabilitated and expanded between 1994 and 1996 thereby increasing its capacity to 2400. The processing of cane has been constrained over the years by inadequate cane transport infrastructure, limited factory capacity and aging factory progressively exhibiting declining efficiency numbers and high operating costs. Over the years, the factory equipment and machineries have undergone several rehabilitation, upgrading and replacement to strengthen, enhance efficiency and increase capacity.
Significant opportunity exists in developing the factory and diversifying it to its full potential to process all available cane. The lower opportunity cost of sugar cane at SonySugar makes the investment viable and the site suitable. The cane is available and the land already developed besides primary roads infrastructure. The debottlenecked factory would produce annually 90,000 tons of sugar from increase volume from improved recovery rate and 7 MW of power using available cane. The economic viability is premised on keeping fixed and saving costs comparable to current levels and optimising existing resources e.g sugar cane, bagasse, and Power TA’s and other factory plant (improving economies of scale in unit processes). The major reason for Agricultural Engineering interventions in sugar-cane farming is to reduce drudgery, (back-breaking manual work e.g. where people sweat the whole day hoeing on uncomfortable postures)
REFERENCES
a) Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Sony Sugar Company premises on the 15th of June 2011
b) Sony Sugar Company official website - http://www.sonysugar.co.ke
AGRO-CHEMICAL AND FOOD COMPANY LIMITED
AGRO-CHEMICAL AND FOOD COMPANY LIMITED – A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Agro-Chemical and Food Company Limited is an applied industrial Biotechnology Plant. Here-in, Agro-Chemical and Food Company is referred to as the Company or by its acronym, ACFC. It was incorporated in 1978 as a Joint Venture between the Government of Kenya through the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) and the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) on one hand and the International Investment Corporation (Mehta Group) on the other. The plant was initially set up to produce Power Alcohol and Bakers’ yeast from cane molasses using one of the best technologies in the world – Vogelbusch of Austria. ACFC faced lots of difficulties in marketing Power Alcohol in the initial years due to resistance by oil companies in blending it with petrol. For the first three years of starting commercial production, capacity utilization remained as low as 30%. Sales improved subsequently and reached 75% of the plant capacity in 1988. By the efforts of Mehta Group, export market was found in Europe in 1990/1991 and the company diversified its production from Power Alcohol to Industrial Alcohol and other grades of alcohol. It is heartening to note that a number of production and sales records have been achieved since 1991 in spite of several constraints. ACFC has also embarked on expansion and diversification into other related products. Amongst these products was Neutral Alcohol whose production was started in response to the market need for more refined alcohol for beverage spirit and pharmaceutical formulations. From the year 2000 the market need for better quality beverage alcohol prompted ACFC to plan for the way forward. Feasibility studies were launched that culminated in installation of the new Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) plant that is yet to be launched. (Official website information)
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
The core objectives of the company, as stated in the company’s profile on their website are future inclined and are goals set to be achieved within some period of time. These aims include:
a) To produce quality spirits for potable, industrial and domestic applications.
b) To produce Active Dry Yeast and wet yeast to satisfy various market segments.
c) To continually embrace dynamics in technology application to satisfy customer needs and monitor a consistent growth of profitability.
d) Procure adequate land for expansion.
PROCESSES
1) Molasses:
i) Receiving molasses- Molasses is received at the company’s weigh bridge transported by lorries from the nearby Muhoroni Sugar factory or other sugar factories. This is the main raw material of the entire process. The molasses is weighed, analyzed and stored in overhead tanks.
ii) Analysis- This is where the molasses is sampled and checked whether it’s fit for use in the next processes. The right concentration of acceptable molasses is 78% soluble solid (brix).
iii) Dilution- From tanks the molasses is pumped via a strainer (to separate it from particles) to an overhead tank. The dilution tanks are first cleaned using caustic soda solution then rinsed. Then steam is passed for two hours to sterilize the tank. Molasses then gets into the tank where water is also added. The tank is connected to a densimeter to measure the density. A specific density is reached at 120kg/m3.
iv) Clarification- This is a process that uses centrifugal forces. It’s the process whereby heavier molasses particles are separated from the lighter fine liquid. The separated liquid is then taken through the next process which is sterilization.
v) Sterilization- This is a process that simply entails the elimination of microbiological organisms to achieve asepsis, a sterile environment. This is done to ensure that there are no external organisms that will affect the next processes.
vi) Cooling and nutrient addition- The sterilized molasses is now cooled and nutrients added to it. The nutrients added include; Urea and Hydrogen Sulphate which aids in increasing phosphorous (a much needed element) and reduction of pH.
2) Yeast:
a) Culturing- Molasses is fed into culture vessels that contain small traces of yeast i.e. in small quantities. Yeast is facultative in nature therefore this process needs air supply to increase binary fusion. The aim is to increase the yeast’s biomass.
b) Prefermentor- The main principle of this process is this: the addition of cell retention time would be reduced nine fold, and the extent of converting substrate to product would be increased by 25% and accomplished almost entirely by maintenance metabolism.
c) Main fermentor- This is where more nutrients are added. Binary fusion is enhanced by more supply of air. Also yeast now breaks down into fine coalesced particles. The objective of propagation is to produce large quantities of yeast with known characteristics for the primary role of fermentation, in as short a time as possible
d) Separation- This process uses the centrifugal forces theorem. The machine rotates at 6000rpm thus the heavier particles move outwards while the finer and lighter particles remain in the middle.
e) Filtration- The light material is cooled and then taken into a rotary vacuum filter where the residue is taken off and the filtrate taken for further use. This is then dried and the end product is yeast.
3) Alcohol Production:
Alcohol production is one of the oldest arts to have been started by man. In this process, yeast, the world's most heavily used microbe, converts sugars to ethanol and carbon dioxide. The ethanol content in practice 10 - 13% is then concentrated. Yeast, a facultative anaerobe, and in a situation of insufficient oxygen with substrate (cane molasses) level exceeding 0.1% weight: volume ratio, ferments the sugars to ethanol. Yeast under these conditions will use the glycolic pathway to breakdown the sugars into energy and intermediates that are required for growth with the final products being ethanol and CO2. ACFC applies the continuous fermentation for its ethanol production. The Alcohol content after fermentation is normally 10 - 13%. This alcohol in the form of mash which is a mixture of alcohol, water, yeast cells and other minor constituents taken through a series of separators to remove the yeast. The separated alcohol–rich mash is taken to the distillery where unwanted constituents are removed and the ethanol concentrated to the required achievable purity. At the distillation tower the mash is physically separated into various products, the ethanol content is concentrated to over 94% and the quality of the ethanol purified to acceptable standards. The alcohol end products are:
a) Rectified spirit
This is the raw form of spirit. It is suitable and versatile enough to serve different industries mainly as a solvent. It may also be redistilled to Neutral Spirit.
Main Applications
i. Base for preparation of Methylated spirits
ii. Industrial solvent for making paints, cosmetics, thinners and lacquers.
iii. Base for potable spirits on further processing (dilution, secondary purification and distillation).
b) Extra Neutral Spirit
A pure potable alcohol used in the manufacture or blending of alcoholic beverages conventionally prepared as Gins, Vodkas, Whiskies, Brandies, and Rums. It is also widely used in fortification of wines and cream liqueurs. It is also used for a wide range of other industrial manufacturing applications where it is usually referred to as "highly quality industrial alcohol".
The product is refined from Neutral Spirit to a high degree of purity to satisfy the requirement for the International Standard Specifications.
Main Applications
i. For manufacturing or blending in potable spirits such as Whiskies, Gins, Rums, Vodkas, Brandies.
ii. For fortification of wines.
iii. For manufacture of cream liqueurs, cordials.
iv. For wide range of other Industrial manufacturing applications especially the high quality/sensitive products.
v. Pharmaceutical applications.
Packaging and Storage
As Neutral Spirit should be virtually oduorless and tasteless except only for that of pure ethyl alcohol, care must be taken in handling and storage to prevent it from acquiring oduors and tastes from other materials. Any piping and tanks used for Neutral Spirit should be checked carefully, drained and flushed with some Neutral Spirit prior to use. Rubber or plastic hoses should be avoided if possible and flexible stainless steel hoses used where necessary. If rubber or plastic hoses or gaskets must be used, they should first be tested for any reaction with ethanol.
c) Kenya Methylated Spirit
This spirit is denatured to conform to the mandatory Customs and Excise regulations. The addition of methyl violet gives the product its regular beautiful violet colour.
Kenya Methylated Spirit is used as an antiseptic in hospitals, solvent in paints, inks, vanishes, a cooling medium and other domestic applications. This spirit has been denatured to render it unpalatable and unfit for human consumption
Main Applications
i. Antiseptic in hospitals, barber shops, domestic use.
ii. Solvent in industries
iii. Cooling medium
iv. Heating fuel in buffets
d) Industrial Methylated Spirit
Unlike the Kenya Methylated Spirit, Industrial Methylated Spirit is not coloured with methyl violet and is denatured to conform to the mandatory Customs and Excise regulations. This product is mainly used in the manufacture of skin care products and other special Industrial applications calling for this grade of spirit, including shoe polish, printing inks etc. This spirit has been denatured to render it unpalatable and unfit for human consumption.
Main Applications- Solvent in wide range of industrial applications e.g. skin care products, shoes polish, printing inks, thinners etc.
SAFETY MEASURES
i. Because the entire production line in the factory has highly flammable substances, measure is taken to ensure there are neither open flames, sparks nor contact with strong oxidants.
ii. A closed system and use of explosion-proof electrical equipment and lighting are used to curb incidences of explosion (ethanol).
iii. The factory ensures proper ventilation and a local exhaust system to take care of hazardous gases produced within the production lines.
iv. The employees and visitors are all mandated to wear protective clothing, gloves, helmets and safety goggles during work or visiting the production line.
v. Warning signs and instruction manuals are placed all over the factory premises to enhance the principle of safety first.
PROBLEMS FACED
Ethanol is a colorless liquid with a characteristic odour. Its associated dangers are:
a) The vapour mixes well air hence explosive mixtures are easily formed
b) It can react slowly with calcium hypochlorite, silver oxide and ammonia causing fire and explosion hazards.
c) It reacts violently with strong oxidants such as nitric acid, silver nitrate, and mercuric nitrate or magnesium per chlorate causing fire and explosion hazards. The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation of its vapour and by ingestion. A harmful contamination of the air will be reached rather slowly on evaporation of this substance at 20°C.
d) The substance irritates the eyes. Inhalation of high concentration of vapour may cause irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract. The substance may cause effects on the central nervous system.
e) The liquid defats the skin. The substance may have effects on the upper respiratory tract and central nervous system, resulting in irritation, headache, fatigue and lack of concentration. Chronic ingestion of ethanol may cause liver cirrhosis.
Solutions to the problems
i. The company has taken measures to curb with any incidences of fire by installing their own fire brigade system.
ii. A closed system and use of explosion-proof electrical equipment and lighting are used to curb incidences of explosion (ethanol).
iii. Training of employees on the hazardous effects of the byproducts of the production line and hence the principle of safety for user first.
iv. Ensure that the condenser is free, unobstructed and away from high temperatures
v. Ensure that dust and flour is blown away from the condenser twice a week.
vi. Ensure that the cooler doors are NOT left open excessively
vii. Ensure that the coolers are serviced and checked for leaks, temperature setting adjusted and level of gas checked at least once after every three months.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The company has identified several long-term projects that will aim to benefit the surrounding community, and these include:
i. Community Water Points - Water collection points have been built around the Plant to enable the local community to draw clean drinking water. The water is taken from River Sondu, treated within the Plant and then piped to the various points.
ii. Education and Literacy Projects- The most promising initiative in the fight against Poverty is the provision of education for all. The company has initiated sponsorship programs with neighbouring schools that seek to provide necessary equipment and facilities to aid in the provision of quality education within the community.
iii. Subsidized Medical Community Expenditure- Spectre International has established a policy of providing subsidized medical treatment for its employees at the community hospital. Arrangements are also being made to provide the same benefits for community members in order to enable easier access to health facilities for all.
With such a respectable corporate social responsibility profile, the company can be accredited for the increased standards of living in the surrounding area. It is worth noting that the company’s productivity and profitability have been on the rise since the inception of the company back in 1978. This shows how goal-oriented and focused the team is. However, I would recommend stern measures be taken in consideration to the environment. Impurities in gaseous form are released into the atmosphere which in the long run is disastrous to the neighbouring environment.
REFERENCES
a) Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Agro-Chemical and Food Company Limited on the 8th of June 2011
b) The official ACFC website http://www.acfc.ac.ke
Agro-Chemical and Food Company Limited is an applied industrial Biotechnology Plant. Here-in, Agro-Chemical and Food Company is referred to as the Company or by its acronym, ACFC. It was incorporated in 1978 as a Joint Venture between the Government of Kenya through the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) and the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) on one hand and the International Investment Corporation (Mehta Group) on the other. The plant was initially set up to produce Power Alcohol and Bakers’ yeast from cane molasses using one of the best technologies in the world – Vogelbusch of Austria. ACFC faced lots of difficulties in marketing Power Alcohol in the initial years due to resistance by oil companies in blending it with petrol. For the first three years of starting commercial production, capacity utilization remained as low as 30%. Sales improved subsequently and reached 75% of the plant capacity in 1988. By the efforts of Mehta Group, export market was found in Europe in 1990/1991 and the company diversified its production from Power Alcohol to Industrial Alcohol and other grades of alcohol. It is heartening to note that a number of production and sales records have been achieved since 1991 in spite of several constraints. ACFC has also embarked on expansion and diversification into other related products. Amongst these products was Neutral Alcohol whose production was started in response to the market need for more refined alcohol for beverage spirit and pharmaceutical formulations. From the year 2000 the market need for better quality beverage alcohol prompted ACFC to plan for the way forward. Feasibility studies were launched that culminated in installation of the new Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) plant that is yet to be launched. (Official website information)
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
The core objectives of the company, as stated in the company’s profile on their website are future inclined and are goals set to be achieved within some period of time. These aims include:
a) To produce quality spirits for potable, industrial and domestic applications.
b) To produce Active Dry Yeast and wet yeast to satisfy various market segments.
c) To continually embrace dynamics in technology application to satisfy customer needs and monitor a consistent growth of profitability.
d) Procure adequate land for expansion.
PROCESSES
1) Molasses:
i) Receiving molasses- Molasses is received at the company’s weigh bridge transported by lorries from the nearby Muhoroni Sugar factory or other sugar factories. This is the main raw material of the entire process. The molasses is weighed, analyzed and stored in overhead tanks.
ii) Analysis- This is where the molasses is sampled and checked whether it’s fit for use in the next processes. The right concentration of acceptable molasses is 78% soluble solid (brix).
iii) Dilution- From tanks the molasses is pumped via a strainer (to separate it from particles) to an overhead tank. The dilution tanks are first cleaned using caustic soda solution then rinsed. Then steam is passed for two hours to sterilize the tank. Molasses then gets into the tank where water is also added. The tank is connected to a densimeter to measure the density. A specific density is reached at 120kg/m3.
iv) Clarification- This is a process that uses centrifugal forces. It’s the process whereby heavier molasses particles are separated from the lighter fine liquid. The separated liquid is then taken through the next process which is sterilization.
v) Sterilization- This is a process that simply entails the elimination of microbiological organisms to achieve asepsis, a sterile environment. This is done to ensure that there are no external organisms that will affect the next processes.
vi) Cooling and nutrient addition- The sterilized molasses is now cooled and nutrients added to it. The nutrients added include; Urea and Hydrogen Sulphate which aids in increasing phosphorous (a much needed element) and reduction of pH.
2) Yeast:
a) Culturing- Molasses is fed into culture vessels that contain small traces of yeast i.e. in small quantities. Yeast is facultative in nature therefore this process needs air supply to increase binary fusion. The aim is to increase the yeast’s biomass.
b) Prefermentor- The main principle of this process is this: the addition of cell retention time would be reduced nine fold, and the extent of converting substrate to product would be increased by 25% and accomplished almost entirely by maintenance metabolism.
c) Main fermentor- This is where more nutrients are added. Binary fusion is enhanced by more supply of air. Also yeast now breaks down into fine coalesced particles. The objective of propagation is to produce large quantities of yeast with known characteristics for the primary role of fermentation, in as short a time as possible
d) Separation- This process uses the centrifugal forces theorem. The machine rotates at 6000rpm thus the heavier particles move outwards while the finer and lighter particles remain in the middle.
e) Filtration- The light material is cooled and then taken into a rotary vacuum filter where the residue is taken off and the filtrate taken for further use. This is then dried and the end product is yeast.
3) Alcohol Production:
Alcohol production is one of the oldest arts to have been started by man. In this process, yeast, the world's most heavily used microbe, converts sugars to ethanol and carbon dioxide. The ethanol content in practice 10 - 13% is then concentrated. Yeast, a facultative anaerobe, and in a situation of insufficient oxygen with substrate (cane molasses) level exceeding 0.1% weight: volume ratio, ferments the sugars to ethanol. Yeast under these conditions will use the glycolic pathway to breakdown the sugars into energy and intermediates that are required for growth with the final products being ethanol and CO2. ACFC applies the continuous fermentation for its ethanol production. The Alcohol content after fermentation is normally 10 - 13%. This alcohol in the form of mash which is a mixture of alcohol, water, yeast cells and other minor constituents taken through a series of separators to remove the yeast. The separated alcohol–rich mash is taken to the distillery where unwanted constituents are removed and the ethanol concentrated to the required achievable purity. At the distillation tower the mash is physically separated into various products, the ethanol content is concentrated to over 94% and the quality of the ethanol purified to acceptable standards. The alcohol end products are:
a) Rectified spirit
This is the raw form of spirit. It is suitable and versatile enough to serve different industries mainly as a solvent. It may also be redistilled to Neutral Spirit.
Main Applications
i. Base for preparation of Methylated spirits
ii. Industrial solvent for making paints, cosmetics, thinners and lacquers.
iii. Base for potable spirits on further processing (dilution, secondary purification and distillation).
b) Extra Neutral Spirit
A pure potable alcohol used in the manufacture or blending of alcoholic beverages conventionally prepared as Gins, Vodkas, Whiskies, Brandies, and Rums. It is also widely used in fortification of wines and cream liqueurs. It is also used for a wide range of other industrial manufacturing applications where it is usually referred to as "highly quality industrial alcohol".
The product is refined from Neutral Spirit to a high degree of purity to satisfy the requirement for the International Standard Specifications.
Main Applications
i. For manufacturing or blending in potable spirits such as Whiskies, Gins, Rums, Vodkas, Brandies.
ii. For fortification of wines.
iii. For manufacture of cream liqueurs, cordials.
iv. For wide range of other Industrial manufacturing applications especially the high quality/sensitive products.
v. Pharmaceutical applications.
Packaging and Storage
As Neutral Spirit should be virtually oduorless and tasteless except only for that of pure ethyl alcohol, care must be taken in handling and storage to prevent it from acquiring oduors and tastes from other materials. Any piping and tanks used for Neutral Spirit should be checked carefully, drained and flushed with some Neutral Spirit prior to use. Rubber or plastic hoses should be avoided if possible and flexible stainless steel hoses used where necessary. If rubber or plastic hoses or gaskets must be used, they should first be tested for any reaction with ethanol.
c) Kenya Methylated Spirit
This spirit is denatured to conform to the mandatory Customs and Excise regulations. The addition of methyl violet gives the product its regular beautiful violet colour.
Kenya Methylated Spirit is used as an antiseptic in hospitals, solvent in paints, inks, vanishes, a cooling medium and other domestic applications. This spirit has been denatured to render it unpalatable and unfit for human consumption
Main Applications
i. Antiseptic in hospitals, barber shops, domestic use.
ii. Solvent in industries
iii. Cooling medium
iv. Heating fuel in buffets
d) Industrial Methylated Spirit
Unlike the Kenya Methylated Spirit, Industrial Methylated Spirit is not coloured with methyl violet and is denatured to conform to the mandatory Customs and Excise regulations. This product is mainly used in the manufacture of skin care products and other special Industrial applications calling for this grade of spirit, including shoe polish, printing inks etc. This spirit has been denatured to render it unpalatable and unfit for human consumption.
Main Applications- Solvent in wide range of industrial applications e.g. skin care products, shoes polish, printing inks, thinners etc.
SAFETY MEASURES
i. Because the entire production line in the factory has highly flammable substances, measure is taken to ensure there are neither open flames, sparks nor contact with strong oxidants.
ii. A closed system and use of explosion-proof electrical equipment and lighting are used to curb incidences of explosion (ethanol).
iii. The factory ensures proper ventilation and a local exhaust system to take care of hazardous gases produced within the production lines.
iv. The employees and visitors are all mandated to wear protective clothing, gloves, helmets and safety goggles during work or visiting the production line.
v. Warning signs and instruction manuals are placed all over the factory premises to enhance the principle of safety first.
PROBLEMS FACED
Ethanol is a colorless liquid with a characteristic odour. Its associated dangers are:
a) The vapour mixes well air hence explosive mixtures are easily formed
b) It can react slowly with calcium hypochlorite, silver oxide and ammonia causing fire and explosion hazards.
c) It reacts violently with strong oxidants such as nitric acid, silver nitrate, and mercuric nitrate or magnesium per chlorate causing fire and explosion hazards. The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation of its vapour and by ingestion. A harmful contamination of the air will be reached rather slowly on evaporation of this substance at 20°C.
d) The substance irritates the eyes. Inhalation of high concentration of vapour may cause irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract. The substance may cause effects on the central nervous system.
e) The liquid defats the skin. The substance may have effects on the upper respiratory tract and central nervous system, resulting in irritation, headache, fatigue and lack of concentration. Chronic ingestion of ethanol may cause liver cirrhosis.
Solutions to the problems
i. The company has taken measures to curb with any incidences of fire by installing their own fire brigade system.
ii. A closed system and use of explosion-proof electrical equipment and lighting are used to curb incidences of explosion (ethanol).
iii. Training of employees on the hazardous effects of the byproducts of the production line and hence the principle of safety for user first.
iv. Ensure that the condenser is free, unobstructed and away from high temperatures
v. Ensure that dust and flour is blown away from the condenser twice a week.
vi. Ensure that the cooler doors are NOT left open excessively
vii. Ensure that the coolers are serviced and checked for leaks, temperature setting adjusted and level of gas checked at least once after every three months.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The company has identified several long-term projects that will aim to benefit the surrounding community, and these include:
i. Community Water Points - Water collection points have been built around the Plant to enable the local community to draw clean drinking water. The water is taken from River Sondu, treated within the Plant and then piped to the various points.
ii. Education and Literacy Projects- The most promising initiative in the fight against Poverty is the provision of education for all. The company has initiated sponsorship programs with neighbouring schools that seek to provide necessary equipment and facilities to aid in the provision of quality education within the community.
iii. Subsidized Medical Community Expenditure- Spectre International has established a policy of providing subsidized medical treatment for its employees at the community hospital. Arrangements are also being made to provide the same benefits for community members in order to enable easier access to health facilities for all.
With such a respectable corporate social responsibility profile, the company can be accredited for the increased standards of living in the surrounding area. It is worth noting that the company’s productivity and profitability have been on the rise since the inception of the company back in 1978. This shows how goal-oriented and focused the team is. However, I would recommend stern measures be taken in consideration to the environment. Impurities in gaseous form are released into the atmosphere which in the long run is disastrous to the neighbouring environment.
REFERENCES
a) Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Agro-Chemical and Food Company Limited on the 8th of June 2011
b) The official ACFC website http://www.acfc.ac.ke
Friday, September 23, 2011
MUMIAS SUGAR COMPANY LIMITED
MUMIAS SUGAR COMPANY- A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
In 1967, the Government of Kenya commissioned Booker Agriculture and Technical Services to do a feasibility study on the viability of growing sugarcane in Mumias and then initiate a pilot project. At the time, the Mumias area was underdeveloped, land utilization was poor as farmers grew food crops on small areas for subsistence only, while the rest of the land was purely for grazing. The relative remoteness of the area and poor communication prevented the development of an active market economy. However, owing to the fact that land adjudication had been carried out and farmers had freehold title to their land, this favoured the proposed sugarcane project of which studies had returned a clean bill of health. It was possible to establish a viable sugar scheme at Mumias with the Factory supplied by cane from both the Nucleus Estate and the indigenous out grower farmers. The Government accepted the findings an on July 1, 1971 incorporated Mumias Sugar Company as the body to implement the Project. The Government was to hold majority shares (71%) and minority interests held by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (17%), Kenya Commercial Finance Company (5%), Booker McConnell (4%) and the East African Development Bank (3%).
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
From the company’s profile on their website, the major objectives of establishing Mumias Sugar Company were to:
a) Provide a source of cash income for farmers
b) Create job opportunities since there was no major industrial undertaking in the area at the time
c) Curb rural-urban migration
d) Reduce overdependence on importation and aim for self-sufficiency in sugar production
e) The Company was also expected to operate on a commercial basis and make profits.
PROCESSES
i. Cane growth- Cane is natured from germination to maturity by careful observation and correction of the impending shortfalls at the slightest failure signs. This is done by weed control measures and fertilizer application.
ii. Mill cane Harvesting and transport- This is a contracted service done by a group of cutters using cane knives. They cut the can and stack them in readiness for transport to the factory. Haulage is done to the factory weigh bridge for the actual weight determination of cane transported. Fundamentally, supervision at all stages of cane development is mandatory with the basic machinery being a motorbike or a 1300cc Suzuki vehicle.
iii. Cane Handling- The cane is stored in the cane yard to enable the factory crush throughout the night. The cane is offloaded by hydro unloaders and overhead gantry cranes. From feed tables cane is conveyed to main cane carrier.
iv. Cane preparation- In this step the cane is finely shredded by 240 hammers in the shredder house before juice extraction by either milling or diffusion. Cane is prepared by passing it through one or two sets of cane knives and then the shredder. The preparation index give s an indication of the amount of juice cells that have been broken by the shredder compared with the stack. There’s also a magnet that’s passed through to pick magnetic materials in the mixture.
v. Diffusion- A diffuser is a 60x6m enclosed box with perforated bed that has a chain that drags prepared cane slowly as water and juice percolates through the bed. Diffusion is the process of washing the pol out of prepared cane at pressurized high temperature (85oC). The fiber part (bagasse) is passed through dewatering mills for drying before being used as fuel at the boilers to generate steam.
vi. Juice treatment- The juice from the diffuser is weighed as a factory chemical control measure. Juice is heated as part of the clarification process
vii. Juice clarification- Clarification involves the addition of lime juice, forming mud and removal of insoluble matter. Flocculants are added to lime to juice to improve the settling of the mud.
viii. Juice evaporation- It is the increase in concentration of clear juice from 11% brix to 63% brix. One kg of steam evaporates one kg of water from juice. One kg of steam fed to the first vessel of a quadruple effect evaporator (four vessels) will evaporate four kilos of water.
ix. Sugar boiling- This is the growing of sugar crystals in highly concentrated sugar solutions in three steps (3- boiling system). The super saturation coefficient of solution is a measure that indicates the extent to which a solution is oversaturated. This over saturation is what forces sucrose to be deposited onto the crystals making thus them grow.
x. Crystallization- Crystallizers are stirred tanks in which massecuite is allowed to cool, thus effecting further growth of crystals as the sucrose in the mother liquor is exhausted. The purity of the liquid fraction (mother liquor) of the massecuite is called nutsch purity. Monitoring the nutsch purity is an important way of measuring the performance of crystallizers.
xi. Centrifugation- A centrifugal separates mother liquor from the crystals in the massecuite. Continuous centrifugals are normally not used to produce VHP (very high pol) sugars. The crystals are now clear and of near uniform size. The sugar crystals are then moved to the next process: drying.
xii. Sugar Drying- Sugar is dried to ensure its keeping and handling qualities. VHP (very high pol) sugars are dried from a moisture content of 5% to 0.1%. This is the final process in sugar manufacturing.
xiii. Packaging- Bagging is done using clean food grade materials sugar is packaged to protect it from contamination. This is done in 50kg, 2kg, 1kg, 0.5kg and 1/4kg packaging bags.
Electric Power Generation
Mumias Sugar does cogeneration and supports fully its power requirements, with exports of up to 26MW to KPLC. There are three main steps involved in cogen power production and these can be summed up as folllows:
a) Steam Generation: Bagasse is used as a fuel. Its chemical energy is converted into heat by burning. The heat energy is used in boilers to heat water to produced pressurized steam at specified pressures and temperatures. The water used here is treated and thus is clean. Bagasse is from the extraction plant as afore mentioned.
b) Steam Turbine Operation: Steam from the boilers is used to drive the turbines which convert the heat energy into mechanical energy. The mechanical energy provides the power to turn the equipment for power generation at controlled speeds- this is done in the control room.
c) Power Generation: The turbines which act as the prime movers are used to turn electrical power generators (alternators). This is where power is produced- 3.3kV at a frequency of 50Hz to the bus bars.
WORKSHOP
The company has its own workshop in which they repair their machines which break down such as motors. The company does its major maintenance once a year at which the whole company is closed down. At this time the major overhaul and small maintenance is done. The spare parts are found locally from the Kenya’s market. At the workshop motor which have broken down are repaired and the windings replaced with new ones.
Definitions
a) Bagasse- The residue obtained after crushing cane in a mill is known as bagasse. The final residue from a milling train or from the dewatering mills of a diffusion plant is called final bagasse or simply, bagasse.
b) Brix- The term used when a refractometer equipped with a scale, based on the relationship between refractive indices at 20°C and the percentage by mass of total soluble solids of a pure aqueous sucrose solution, is used instead of a hydrometer to test the solids concentration of a sucrose containing solution.
c) Fibre- The water insoluble matter of cane and bagasse from which the brix-free water has been removed by drying.
d) Juice- The mixture of juices from the extraction plant delivered into the juice scales.
e) Mud- The material removed from the bottom part of the subsides. The mud contains the settled insoluble solids.
f) Pol- The apparent sucrose content of any substance expressed as a percentage by mass and determined by the single or direct polarization method. The term is used as if it were a real substance.
g) Purity- The percentage ratio of sucrose (or pol) to the total soluble solids (or brix) in a sugar product. The following terms are in general use:
SAFETY MEASURES
Mumias Sugar Company places important value on safety as an aspect in its day to day activities. To this end the Company has established a fully fledged Safety team which is mandated with the daily safety issues affecting the organization. There is a Safety Officer in charge of the safety matters affecting the factory plant and its environs and coordinates all safety activities in the factory. The daily duties of the Safety Officer are:
a) Taking note of the previous night’s safety related occurrences. It is at this time, when he takes note of any incidences, accidents and requirements of both the Factory plant and the Cogen plant.
b) Run and chair safety-minded morning meetings where the factory departmental arising issues are discussed and noted.
c) Inspection of concern areas of safety at the factory plant and advices accordingly.
d) Provision of first aid medicament and safety tools including masks gloves. As the custodian of safety equipment he also ensures that facilities like stretchers are available
e) Placement, Inspection, maintenance of safety posters and notices and is responsible for the coordination of all safety signs.
f) He attends all meetings related to Safety some of which are daily while others are periodical this include first aid meetings, Sectional safety meetings. He is also a member of the safety committee in which all cadres of employees are represented.
g) He also represents the company in court on accident cases. He is at times required to visit hospitals on a fact finding missions in case of serious accidents.
h) He holds the mantle of a trainer. This he does for all the new company employees. The induction program prepares the recruited staff for their day to day activities. He also has the responsibility of training and coordination of all the safety teams which include the first aiders and the firefighters. These two teams comprise of employees in the various sections strategically placed, who will at the event of an emergency start dealing with it before help arrives. The teams are also trained to notice and point out unsafe conditions.
PROBLEMS FACED
a) Government Policies: The government imposes policies that hinder some of the company’s operations. Taxation is a big issue as the company incurs costs in pay taxes and this leads to the addition of the cost of production making the company’s product to be expensive.
b) Infrastructure: the roads feeding the factory from the feeder sugar cane farms are not well maintained and thus the company has to incur costs in vehicle repairs and also road maintenance. The company therefore faces a lot of problem when transporting raw materials, other supplies and also the product to its outlet especially during rainy seasons.
c) Stiff competition: the company faces tight competition from other sugar producers. Given the fact that they do not get subsidies from the government their product is expensive. The importation of sugar from other countries has also affected the company’s product so much.
d) Increasing cost of production: The Company gets no subsidy from the government like other sugar producing firms hence experiences a lot of production cost. The capital to start and run the factory is also very high. The maintenance cost is also sky high.
SOLUTIONS
a) The company has grown economically and is now listed in the NSE (Nairobi Stock Exchange) hence can be able to pay its debts owed to the government in taxes and also maintain balanced books of accounts.
b) The company has invested in heavy transportation machineries which are capable of traversing the terrains where roads are inaccessible during rainy seasons. This is a costly affair and hence the company has now outsourced the transportation of cane to the farmers’ choices. Road maintenance is also part of the company’s objectives.
c) To ward off competition, the company has raised standards by installing new machineries in their production system and also entering the NSE, this has helped increase the publicity of the company above its rivals.
d) The Company has been able to cut on costs by outsourcing some of the secondary services that prove costly in the company. Example of this is the manufacture and printing of packaging bags and also part of transportation.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Mumias sugar factory applies the modern technology in the production of sugar for example the use of diffuser to extract sucrose from the juice, use of improved modern technology in the control rooms to monitor all the processes taking place within the factory. For instance, they interface the chemical process using differential amplifier to be monitored using screens. Thermocouple thermometer is also used to record the temperature where the people concern could not reach. In case of any breakdown at most sensitive section of the factory, limit switches are used to stop the operation. The amount of sugar produced by all the companies or factories could be enough only if the government could support them by subsidizing their production cost or even reducing or removing taxes for the privately run companies.
It is recommended that the company should establish a research and extension department whose work is to sensitize and advice farmers on proper sugarcane growing and to look further on how to expand the factory. It’s advisable for the company’s management to look upon on a way of alleviating the challenges stated so as to keep the company running at a high and recommendable efficiency.
REFERENCES
a) Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Mumias Sugar Company on the 25th of May 2011
b) Mumias Sugar Company official website: http://www.mumias-sugar.com
In 1967, the Government of Kenya commissioned Booker Agriculture and Technical Services to do a feasibility study on the viability of growing sugarcane in Mumias and then initiate a pilot project. At the time, the Mumias area was underdeveloped, land utilization was poor as farmers grew food crops on small areas for subsistence only, while the rest of the land was purely for grazing. The relative remoteness of the area and poor communication prevented the development of an active market economy. However, owing to the fact that land adjudication had been carried out and farmers had freehold title to their land, this favoured the proposed sugarcane project of which studies had returned a clean bill of health. It was possible to establish a viable sugar scheme at Mumias with the Factory supplied by cane from both the Nucleus Estate and the indigenous out grower farmers. The Government accepted the findings an on July 1, 1971 incorporated Mumias Sugar Company as the body to implement the Project. The Government was to hold majority shares (71%) and minority interests held by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (17%), Kenya Commercial Finance Company (5%), Booker McConnell (4%) and the East African Development Bank (3%).
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
From the company’s profile on their website, the major objectives of establishing Mumias Sugar Company were to:
a) Provide a source of cash income for farmers
b) Create job opportunities since there was no major industrial undertaking in the area at the time
c) Curb rural-urban migration
d) Reduce overdependence on importation and aim for self-sufficiency in sugar production
e) The Company was also expected to operate on a commercial basis and make profits.
PROCESSES
i. Cane growth- Cane is natured from germination to maturity by careful observation and correction of the impending shortfalls at the slightest failure signs. This is done by weed control measures and fertilizer application.
ii. Mill cane Harvesting and transport- This is a contracted service done by a group of cutters using cane knives. They cut the can and stack them in readiness for transport to the factory. Haulage is done to the factory weigh bridge for the actual weight determination of cane transported. Fundamentally, supervision at all stages of cane development is mandatory with the basic machinery being a motorbike or a 1300cc Suzuki vehicle.
iii. Cane Handling- The cane is stored in the cane yard to enable the factory crush throughout the night. The cane is offloaded by hydro unloaders and overhead gantry cranes. From feed tables cane is conveyed to main cane carrier.
iv. Cane preparation- In this step the cane is finely shredded by 240 hammers in the shredder house before juice extraction by either milling or diffusion. Cane is prepared by passing it through one or two sets of cane knives and then the shredder. The preparation index give s an indication of the amount of juice cells that have been broken by the shredder compared with the stack. There’s also a magnet that’s passed through to pick magnetic materials in the mixture.
v. Diffusion- A diffuser is a 60x6m enclosed box with perforated bed that has a chain that drags prepared cane slowly as water and juice percolates through the bed. Diffusion is the process of washing the pol out of prepared cane at pressurized high temperature (85oC). The fiber part (bagasse) is passed through dewatering mills for drying before being used as fuel at the boilers to generate steam.
vi. Juice treatment- The juice from the diffuser is weighed as a factory chemical control measure. Juice is heated as part of the clarification process
vii. Juice clarification- Clarification involves the addition of lime juice, forming mud and removal of insoluble matter. Flocculants are added to lime to juice to improve the settling of the mud.
viii. Juice evaporation- It is the increase in concentration of clear juice from 11% brix to 63% brix. One kg of steam evaporates one kg of water from juice. One kg of steam fed to the first vessel of a quadruple effect evaporator (four vessels) will evaporate four kilos of water.
ix. Sugar boiling- This is the growing of sugar crystals in highly concentrated sugar solutions in three steps (3- boiling system). The super saturation coefficient of solution is a measure that indicates the extent to which a solution is oversaturated. This over saturation is what forces sucrose to be deposited onto the crystals making thus them grow.
x. Crystallization- Crystallizers are stirred tanks in which massecuite is allowed to cool, thus effecting further growth of crystals as the sucrose in the mother liquor is exhausted. The purity of the liquid fraction (mother liquor) of the massecuite is called nutsch purity. Monitoring the nutsch purity is an important way of measuring the performance of crystallizers.
xi. Centrifugation- A centrifugal separates mother liquor from the crystals in the massecuite. Continuous centrifugals are normally not used to produce VHP (very high pol) sugars. The crystals are now clear and of near uniform size. The sugar crystals are then moved to the next process: drying.
xii. Sugar Drying- Sugar is dried to ensure its keeping and handling qualities. VHP (very high pol) sugars are dried from a moisture content of 5% to 0.1%. This is the final process in sugar manufacturing.
xiii. Packaging- Bagging is done using clean food grade materials sugar is packaged to protect it from contamination. This is done in 50kg, 2kg, 1kg, 0.5kg and 1/4kg packaging bags.
Electric Power Generation
Mumias Sugar does cogeneration and supports fully its power requirements, with exports of up to 26MW to KPLC. There are three main steps involved in cogen power production and these can be summed up as folllows:
a) Steam Generation: Bagasse is used as a fuel. Its chemical energy is converted into heat by burning. The heat energy is used in boilers to heat water to produced pressurized steam at specified pressures and temperatures. The water used here is treated and thus is clean. Bagasse is from the extraction plant as afore mentioned.
b) Steam Turbine Operation: Steam from the boilers is used to drive the turbines which convert the heat energy into mechanical energy. The mechanical energy provides the power to turn the equipment for power generation at controlled speeds- this is done in the control room.
c) Power Generation: The turbines which act as the prime movers are used to turn electrical power generators (alternators). This is where power is produced- 3.3kV at a frequency of 50Hz to the bus bars.
WORKSHOP
The company has its own workshop in which they repair their machines which break down such as motors. The company does its major maintenance once a year at which the whole company is closed down. At this time the major overhaul and small maintenance is done. The spare parts are found locally from the Kenya’s market. At the workshop motor which have broken down are repaired and the windings replaced with new ones.
Definitions
a) Bagasse- The residue obtained after crushing cane in a mill is known as bagasse. The final residue from a milling train or from the dewatering mills of a diffusion plant is called final bagasse or simply, bagasse.
b) Brix- The term used when a refractometer equipped with a scale, based on the relationship between refractive indices at 20°C and the percentage by mass of total soluble solids of a pure aqueous sucrose solution, is used instead of a hydrometer to test the solids concentration of a sucrose containing solution.
c) Fibre- The water insoluble matter of cane and bagasse from which the brix-free water has been removed by drying.
d) Juice- The mixture of juices from the extraction plant delivered into the juice scales.
e) Mud- The material removed from the bottom part of the subsides. The mud contains the settled insoluble solids.
f) Pol- The apparent sucrose content of any substance expressed as a percentage by mass and determined by the single or direct polarization method. The term is used as if it were a real substance.
g) Purity- The percentage ratio of sucrose (or pol) to the total soluble solids (or brix) in a sugar product. The following terms are in general use:
SAFETY MEASURES
Mumias Sugar Company places important value on safety as an aspect in its day to day activities. To this end the Company has established a fully fledged Safety team which is mandated with the daily safety issues affecting the organization. There is a Safety Officer in charge of the safety matters affecting the factory plant and its environs and coordinates all safety activities in the factory. The daily duties of the Safety Officer are:
a) Taking note of the previous night’s safety related occurrences. It is at this time, when he takes note of any incidences, accidents and requirements of both the Factory plant and the Cogen plant.
b) Run and chair safety-minded morning meetings where the factory departmental arising issues are discussed and noted.
c) Inspection of concern areas of safety at the factory plant and advices accordingly.
d) Provision of first aid medicament and safety tools including masks gloves. As the custodian of safety equipment he also ensures that facilities like stretchers are available
e) Placement, Inspection, maintenance of safety posters and notices and is responsible for the coordination of all safety signs.
f) He attends all meetings related to Safety some of which are daily while others are periodical this include first aid meetings, Sectional safety meetings. He is also a member of the safety committee in which all cadres of employees are represented.
g) He also represents the company in court on accident cases. He is at times required to visit hospitals on a fact finding missions in case of serious accidents.
h) He holds the mantle of a trainer. This he does for all the new company employees. The induction program prepares the recruited staff for their day to day activities. He also has the responsibility of training and coordination of all the safety teams which include the first aiders and the firefighters. These two teams comprise of employees in the various sections strategically placed, who will at the event of an emergency start dealing with it before help arrives. The teams are also trained to notice and point out unsafe conditions.
PROBLEMS FACED
a) Government Policies: The government imposes policies that hinder some of the company’s operations. Taxation is a big issue as the company incurs costs in pay taxes and this leads to the addition of the cost of production making the company’s product to be expensive.
b) Infrastructure: the roads feeding the factory from the feeder sugar cane farms are not well maintained and thus the company has to incur costs in vehicle repairs and also road maintenance. The company therefore faces a lot of problem when transporting raw materials, other supplies and also the product to its outlet especially during rainy seasons.
c) Stiff competition: the company faces tight competition from other sugar producers. Given the fact that they do not get subsidies from the government their product is expensive. The importation of sugar from other countries has also affected the company’s product so much.
d) Increasing cost of production: The Company gets no subsidy from the government like other sugar producing firms hence experiences a lot of production cost. The capital to start and run the factory is also very high. The maintenance cost is also sky high.
SOLUTIONS
a) The company has grown economically and is now listed in the NSE (Nairobi Stock Exchange) hence can be able to pay its debts owed to the government in taxes and also maintain balanced books of accounts.
b) The company has invested in heavy transportation machineries which are capable of traversing the terrains where roads are inaccessible during rainy seasons. This is a costly affair and hence the company has now outsourced the transportation of cane to the farmers’ choices. Road maintenance is also part of the company’s objectives.
c) To ward off competition, the company has raised standards by installing new machineries in their production system and also entering the NSE, this has helped increase the publicity of the company above its rivals.
d) The Company has been able to cut on costs by outsourcing some of the secondary services that prove costly in the company. Example of this is the manufacture and printing of packaging bags and also part of transportation.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Mumias sugar factory applies the modern technology in the production of sugar for example the use of diffuser to extract sucrose from the juice, use of improved modern technology in the control rooms to monitor all the processes taking place within the factory. For instance, they interface the chemical process using differential amplifier to be monitored using screens. Thermocouple thermometer is also used to record the temperature where the people concern could not reach. In case of any breakdown at most sensitive section of the factory, limit switches are used to stop the operation. The amount of sugar produced by all the companies or factories could be enough only if the government could support them by subsidizing their production cost or even reducing or removing taxes for the privately run companies.
It is recommended that the company should establish a research and extension department whose work is to sensitize and advice farmers on proper sugarcane growing and to look further on how to expand the factory. It’s advisable for the company’s management to look upon on a way of alleviating the challenges stated so as to keep the company running at a high and recommendable efficiency.
REFERENCES
a) Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Mumias Sugar Company on the 25th of May 2011
b) Mumias Sugar Company official website: http://www.mumias-sugar.com
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Rai Plywoods Limited
RAI PLYWOODS COMPANY LTD- A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
RaiPly started off as Rai Timber, formed by two Indian brothers who were previously thriving businessmen in Uganda, until they were kicked out of the country (with other Asians during the Idi Amin regime). Rai Timber started off its wood processing interests in Mt Elgon then began expanding. It later moved to Eldoret where the Rai brothers partnered with the late Shabir. At this time, Rai Timber did not venture into gazette state forests for free hardwood harvests as it had not applied for the government granted forestry management concessions (given to select companies). In 1993 the new business changed its name to RaiPly (K) and immediately jumped into Kenya’s state forests. The company also acquired a 20 acre plot they sought to set up a tree nursery near Eldoret. RaiPly immediately became a tough competitor to Timsales (K) whom they learnt a lot from. From the exotic hardwoods, Timsales and Raiply trucks and loggers blaze through in their harvests that eventually yield; veneer, chipboards, plywood, ceiling boards, block boards, parquet, wooden tiles, doors, mattresses, polypropylene sacks, and even polythene bags for special orders to sugar parastatals (Mumias, Sony etc). RaiPly (K) has eyed a quiet habitat full of hardwoods outside Kenya’s borders. RaiPly (Malawi), a subsidiary of RaiPly (K), is now the biggest wood processor in Malawi.
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
The company is bent towards achieving goals and visions with the environment in mind. Some of the company’s aims and objectives include:
i. To produce quality and adequate wood products in East and Central Africa.
ii. Create employment opportunities to locals and professionals.
iii. To achieve the international standards of measurement and quality.
iv. To be a leader in environmental give-back i.e. protects the environment as much as benefit from it.
PROCESSES
RaiPly is a company with several departmental factories that produce different products. The various departments include:
1. Plywood factory- This is the major factory in the company. Detailed processes are as explained below.
2. Polyurethane Foam plant – This is the factory in charge of producing foam mattresses and mattress products in high, medium or low density. The raw materials used are imported from Korea. The foams are sold to the local market whereby the company sells to supermarkets and wholesalers in bulk. The company also has a sales office from which the products from the foam department can be bought directly
3. Polypropylene plant- This is the factory that produces polypropylene package bags. The processes start from initial thread creation, weaving and spinning the threads into bags and finally printing the bags to be used by several companies (e.g. Mumias and Sony Sugar companies) that have contracted RaiPly for the job.
4. Power plant- this is a power generation plant that produces emergency power for the factories when the power supply from Kenya Power & Lighting Company is rationed. This allows for continuous production and minimizes downtime in the factories.
The processes explained here-in are for the Plywood Plant Factory which is the core factory of the company.
i. Receiving Raw Materials- Plywood is made from several different species of trees. Most softwood plywood is made of Douglas-fir or southern pine. Some of the most popular hardwoods are oak, red gum, poplar, birch, cherry, and walnut. Plywood has to be straight and round. They also must be relatively free from knots and decay. These are taken from forests to the factory by lorries. They are weighed at the gate entrance to get the quantity of wood received. The first step in the manufacturing process of plywood is the selecting of the logs. The logs that are selected are chosen for their straightness and roundness. They also must be relatively free from knots and decay.
ii. Debarking- This is where the barks are removed from the logs. The logs are fed in from the right by chain conveyors. The logs are going to be stripped so therefore the logs are rotated by ridged wheels as the cutting head on the track reverses the log from end to end. The wood is loaded by overhead crane onto the cutting section.
iii. Peeling- The next step of the manufacturing process is peeling the log. The log sections, which show the marks of the debarking knives, are fed into the lathe loader where the log revolves around on a huge lathe against a long cutter blade which is reduced to a 6-inch core or sawed into lumber or chipped.
iv. Ribboning- Following the peeling process, the next step in the manufacturing process of plywood is taking the logs and making them into a continuous ribbon of wood. The cutting edge of the lathe is forced against the spinning log. The wood is unwound in a continuous ribbon varying in thickness depending on how it’s used. The following illustration is a good example of this process.
v. Cutting- This is where the logs are cut into defined sizes by an automatically operated electric power saw. The standard size for the pieces of wood to be cut is 4’ X 8’. The machine operates on the principle that when the wood hits the front part set, the set length and the whole conveying process stops and the chain saw cuts and the small pieces which remain are removed. These small logs are put on a splinter – machine which splits them into wood pieces for firewood used for heating in the boiler.
vi. Block board section- This is where wood is sliced by a machine into small long splits. These splits are then cut into small varying lengths and there after taken to the composing machine.
vii. Wood gluing- The gluing process plies together in order to determine the desirable thickness of the plywood sheet. Modern methods of manufacturing use synthetic plastics such as urea resins or phenol-formaldehyde for bonding the plies together. These glues are mixed mechanically and then spread on alternate layers of lumber by passing between pairs of grooved metal or hard rubber rollers. The machine has a heating plate which is supplied by steam from the boiler. The heating helps the glue to stick together and that helps in binding wood together.
viii. Furniture Section- This is where wood is cut and joined using glue or appropriate nails. Using dowel nails ensures uniform strength of joint unlike a nail joint where after some time the nail may be stronger than wood hence making the joint to be weak. The wood products are then sand papered to give uniform smoothness and finally applied wood finish.
ix. Breakdown machine- As the name explains, it splits wood into small sizes which are machine able. The machine is stopped when the hog hits the stopper then it is sliced. This helps in removing irregular surfaces. The resulting wood pieces are used in wood chip manufacturing while the logs are used for timber production.
x. Chip board- As the name suggests originates from small pieces of wood. The waste wood product is fed into the wood chipper/chipping section which splits them into small chips. The wood chips are taken to the rotary kiln. The kiln is supplied with steam from the boiler. This steam dries the chip woods and the dried chips are sprayed of a chip bed with already added binding chemicals.
xi. Plywood section- The uniform log of one meter is put in a machine known as radial peeling machine. This machine peels the wood into curls of thickness 1.88mm. The peeled 1.8mm is the inner core of the plywood. Then the same radial machine peels another log a thickness of 0.65mm to produce a thin curled wood sheet which forms the face. The faces are dried by steam in a heating plate to a moisture content of 14%. Then the inner core and both faces are spread glue. The pre-press which is unheated operates at pressure slightly below that of the hot-press. The plywood is taken to a double slotter machine which trims the edges to be uniform then they are cut in the required length of 8 feet (knots, holes are filled patched.
xii. Fillers- Fillers may be used to assist in reducing penetration of the glues into the wood, increase its viscosity at the critical time before setting, and tend to fill small cavities between veneers, thus preventing starved joints. Fillers are usually finely ground inert minerals such as clay or wood/grain flour finer than 180 mesh.
xiii. Pressing veneers into ply woods- The panels to be pressed are assembled directly behind the spreader, building up a bundle or package of uncured panels with aluminium caul plates interspersed alternatively with every one or two plywood panels. The caul plates assist in handling, protect the face veneers and help keep the panels flat. The time between the spreading of the glue and the application of full pressure in the press of the uncured panels is called the assembly time or period. Close control of the assembly time is necessary in order to prevent defective glue joints occurring due to either pre-curing or hardening of the glues before adequate pressure is applied.
xiv. Conditioning, Trimming, Sanding and finishing plywood- these are the final stages in plywood development. The wide belt sander has been used to an increasing extent for sanding. Steam heating is used in conditioning the wood. Trimming aids in getting the correct sizes. The top belt machine is more commonly used over the bottom belt machine as the operator can continuously observe the panel’s surface. After sanding, boards are graded for defects in various qualities and sheets cut down to the proper size that is desirable to the consumer. This is what makes the final smooth edges that are seen in the modern lumberyard. The finished panels of plywood are then divided into two groups indicating whether they are for interior or exterior use. Plywood may carry a quality grade, which is indicated with the letters A through C, with A being the highest quality.
SAFETY MEASURES
a) There are instruction manuals attached to each machine in the several factories to aid in its running and maintenance.
b) There is an employee in charge of factory safety- the factory’s safety manager who overlooks all matters related to safety of workmen and machine operability.
c) Various sign posts and warning signs are placed in different places warning against working without protective wears.
d) There is a machine for spraying wood with paint. Fumes form in the place which is sucked out using a fan.
e) The risk of fire is taken seriously by the management. In addition to various fire assembly points, they have their own fire-fighting brigade on stand-by for any emergency.
PROBLEMS FACED
i. The major problem facing Raiply is the government’s new stand on forest cover especially state-owned natural forests. These are sources of hardwood trees. Illegal and unplanned felling of trees attracts heavy penalties.
ii. Transportation costs- The cost of transporting the raw materials from as far as Mau is high considering the weight of fresh logs and the ever shooting cost of fuel.
iii. Government policy- The Kenyan government has limited the number of trailer axles to three axle-loads in line with road maintenance. This has lead to redundancy in some of the vehicles.
iv. Environmental policies- The Company faces stiff penalties when coming to waste disposal from their factories.
v. Employee dissatisfaction- This arises due to the harsh conditions involving some processes in the factory. Thus pay rise and incentives keep the employees productive.
SOLUTIONS
There are serious financial implications arising from trying to solve the problems faced by the company. On the positive note, the Company gains reputation from its employees and also quality assurance from relevant authorities. These solutions, in the long term, are worth investing on for the continuous productivity and growth of the Company.
i. The company has invested in developing its own tree nurseries to transfer to large forest lands the company owns near Burnt Forest and Timboroa.
ii. To curb the rocketing costs of transportation, the Company has invested in nearby forests so as to reduce distance travelled by the trailers.
iii. The company has had to buy more vehicles which are compliant to the road regulations set by the government to aid in transportation. This has also called for the sale of old and unroadworthy vehicles.
iv. The company has also come up with modern waste disposal measures that are compliant with the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) policies.
v. As stated earlier, the Company is forced to listen to the pleas of their employees or face stiff and harsh conditions resulting from employee industrial action.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The products of this factory are mainly sold locally to furniture shops and small-scale and large-scale, wholesalers, supermarkets and carpentry workshops for distribution by sale to the citizens. This in a way gives back to the local community and the environment where so much is taken from as part of raw materials. Wood processing products are very vital in human life and thus we cannot live without them, therefore we should encourage the production of timber products but in a positive way like planting more and more trees in order to have a better environment tomorrow.
That said it has to be noted that though the company seems to be achieving a lot, it does so by use of very archaic machines which are a problem to maintain nowadays. This is particularly so especially in the Ply Wood factory. A decent overhaul of the machinery here would be a huge boost.
REFERENCES
a. Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Rai Plywood Factory, Eldoret on the 18th of May 2011
b. Extended research on the internet (Blogs and editorials)
RaiPly started off as Rai Timber, formed by two Indian brothers who were previously thriving businessmen in Uganda, until they were kicked out of the country (with other Asians during the Idi Amin regime). Rai Timber started off its wood processing interests in Mt Elgon then began expanding. It later moved to Eldoret where the Rai brothers partnered with the late Shabir. At this time, Rai Timber did not venture into gazette state forests for free hardwood harvests as it had not applied for the government granted forestry management concessions (given to select companies). In 1993 the new business changed its name to RaiPly (K) and immediately jumped into Kenya’s state forests. The company also acquired a 20 acre plot they sought to set up a tree nursery near Eldoret. RaiPly immediately became a tough competitor to Timsales (K) whom they learnt a lot from. From the exotic hardwoods, Timsales and Raiply trucks and loggers blaze through in their harvests that eventually yield; veneer, chipboards, plywood, ceiling boards, block boards, parquet, wooden tiles, doors, mattresses, polypropylene sacks, and even polythene bags for special orders to sugar parastatals (Mumias, Sony etc). RaiPly (K) has eyed a quiet habitat full of hardwoods outside Kenya’s borders. RaiPly (Malawi), a subsidiary of RaiPly (K), is now the biggest wood processor in Malawi.
AIMS OF THE COMPANY
The company is bent towards achieving goals and visions with the environment in mind. Some of the company’s aims and objectives include:
i. To produce quality and adequate wood products in East and Central Africa.
ii. Create employment opportunities to locals and professionals.
iii. To achieve the international standards of measurement and quality.
iv. To be a leader in environmental give-back i.e. protects the environment as much as benefit from it.
PROCESSES
RaiPly is a company with several departmental factories that produce different products. The various departments include:
1. Plywood factory- This is the major factory in the company. Detailed processes are as explained below.
2. Polyurethane Foam plant – This is the factory in charge of producing foam mattresses and mattress products in high, medium or low density. The raw materials used are imported from Korea. The foams are sold to the local market whereby the company sells to supermarkets and wholesalers in bulk. The company also has a sales office from which the products from the foam department can be bought directly
3. Polypropylene plant- This is the factory that produces polypropylene package bags. The processes start from initial thread creation, weaving and spinning the threads into bags and finally printing the bags to be used by several companies (e.g. Mumias and Sony Sugar companies) that have contracted RaiPly for the job.
4. Power plant- this is a power generation plant that produces emergency power for the factories when the power supply from Kenya Power & Lighting Company is rationed. This allows for continuous production and minimizes downtime in the factories.
The processes explained here-in are for the Plywood Plant Factory which is the core factory of the company.
i. Receiving Raw Materials- Plywood is made from several different species of trees. Most softwood plywood is made of Douglas-fir or southern pine. Some of the most popular hardwoods are oak, red gum, poplar, birch, cherry, and walnut. Plywood has to be straight and round. They also must be relatively free from knots and decay. These are taken from forests to the factory by lorries. They are weighed at the gate entrance to get the quantity of wood received. The first step in the manufacturing process of plywood is the selecting of the logs. The logs that are selected are chosen for their straightness and roundness. They also must be relatively free from knots and decay.
ii. Debarking- This is where the barks are removed from the logs. The logs are fed in from the right by chain conveyors. The logs are going to be stripped so therefore the logs are rotated by ridged wheels as the cutting head on the track reverses the log from end to end. The wood is loaded by overhead crane onto the cutting section.
iii. Peeling- The next step of the manufacturing process is peeling the log. The log sections, which show the marks of the debarking knives, are fed into the lathe loader where the log revolves around on a huge lathe against a long cutter blade which is reduced to a 6-inch core or sawed into lumber or chipped.
iv. Ribboning- Following the peeling process, the next step in the manufacturing process of plywood is taking the logs and making them into a continuous ribbon of wood. The cutting edge of the lathe is forced against the spinning log. The wood is unwound in a continuous ribbon varying in thickness depending on how it’s used. The following illustration is a good example of this process.
v. Cutting- This is where the logs are cut into defined sizes by an automatically operated electric power saw. The standard size for the pieces of wood to be cut is 4’ X 8’. The machine operates on the principle that when the wood hits the front part set, the set length and the whole conveying process stops and the chain saw cuts and the small pieces which remain are removed. These small logs are put on a splinter – machine which splits them into wood pieces for firewood used for heating in the boiler.
vi. Block board section- This is where wood is sliced by a machine into small long splits. These splits are then cut into small varying lengths and there after taken to the composing machine.
vii. Wood gluing- The gluing process plies together in order to determine the desirable thickness of the plywood sheet. Modern methods of manufacturing use synthetic plastics such as urea resins or phenol-formaldehyde for bonding the plies together. These glues are mixed mechanically and then spread on alternate layers of lumber by passing between pairs of grooved metal or hard rubber rollers. The machine has a heating plate which is supplied by steam from the boiler. The heating helps the glue to stick together and that helps in binding wood together.
viii. Furniture Section- This is where wood is cut and joined using glue or appropriate nails. Using dowel nails ensures uniform strength of joint unlike a nail joint where after some time the nail may be stronger than wood hence making the joint to be weak. The wood products are then sand papered to give uniform smoothness and finally applied wood finish.
ix. Breakdown machine- As the name explains, it splits wood into small sizes which are machine able. The machine is stopped when the hog hits the stopper then it is sliced. This helps in removing irregular surfaces. The resulting wood pieces are used in wood chip manufacturing while the logs are used for timber production.
x. Chip board- As the name suggests originates from small pieces of wood. The waste wood product is fed into the wood chipper/chipping section which splits them into small chips. The wood chips are taken to the rotary kiln. The kiln is supplied with steam from the boiler. This steam dries the chip woods and the dried chips are sprayed of a chip bed with already added binding chemicals.
xi. Plywood section- The uniform log of one meter is put in a machine known as radial peeling machine. This machine peels the wood into curls of thickness 1.88mm. The peeled 1.8mm is the inner core of the plywood. Then the same radial machine peels another log a thickness of 0.65mm to produce a thin curled wood sheet which forms the face. The faces are dried by steam in a heating plate to a moisture content of 14%. Then the inner core and both faces are spread glue. The pre-press which is unheated operates at pressure slightly below that of the hot-press. The plywood is taken to a double slotter machine which trims the edges to be uniform then they are cut in the required length of 8 feet (knots, holes are filled patched.
xii. Fillers- Fillers may be used to assist in reducing penetration of the glues into the wood, increase its viscosity at the critical time before setting, and tend to fill small cavities between veneers, thus preventing starved joints. Fillers are usually finely ground inert minerals such as clay or wood/grain flour finer than 180 mesh.
xiii. Pressing veneers into ply woods- The panels to be pressed are assembled directly behind the spreader, building up a bundle or package of uncured panels with aluminium caul plates interspersed alternatively with every one or two plywood panels. The caul plates assist in handling, protect the face veneers and help keep the panels flat. The time between the spreading of the glue and the application of full pressure in the press of the uncured panels is called the assembly time or period. Close control of the assembly time is necessary in order to prevent defective glue joints occurring due to either pre-curing or hardening of the glues before adequate pressure is applied.
xiv. Conditioning, Trimming, Sanding and finishing plywood- these are the final stages in plywood development. The wide belt sander has been used to an increasing extent for sanding. Steam heating is used in conditioning the wood. Trimming aids in getting the correct sizes. The top belt machine is more commonly used over the bottom belt machine as the operator can continuously observe the panel’s surface. After sanding, boards are graded for defects in various qualities and sheets cut down to the proper size that is desirable to the consumer. This is what makes the final smooth edges that are seen in the modern lumberyard. The finished panels of plywood are then divided into two groups indicating whether they are for interior or exterior use. Plywood may carry a quality grade, which is indicated with the letters A through C, with A being the highest quality.
SAFETY MEASURES
a) There are instruction manuals attached to each machine in the several factories to aid in its running and maintenance.
b) There is an employee in charge of factory safety- the factory’s safety manager who overlooks all matters related to safety of workmen and machine operability.
c) Various sign posts and warning signs are placed in different places warning against working without protective wears.
d) There is a machine for spraying wood with paint. Fumes form in the place which is sucked out using a fan.
e) The risk of fire is taken seriously by the management. In addition to various fire assembly points, they have their own fire-fighting brigade on stand-by for any emergency.
PROBLEMS FACED
i. The major problem facing Raiply is the government’s new stand on forest cover especially state-owned natural forests. These are sources of hardwood trees. Illegal and unplanned felling of trees attracts heavy penalties.
ii. Transportation costs- The cost of transporting the raw materials from as far as Mau is high considering the weight of fresh logs and the ever shooting cost of fuel.
iii. Government policy- The Kenyan government has limited the number of trailer axles to three axle-loads in line with road maintenance. This has lead to redundancy in some of the vehicles.
iv. Environmental policies- The Company faces stiff penalties when coming to waste disposal from their factories.
v. Employee dissatisfaction- This arises due to the harsh conditions involving some processes in the factory. Thus pay rise and incentives keep the employees productive.
SOLUTIONS
There are serious financial implications arising from trying to solve the problems faced by the company. On the positive note, the Company gains reputation from its employees and also quality assurance from relevant authorities. These solutions, in the long term, are worth investing on for the continuous productivity and growth of the Company.
i. The company has invested in developing its own tree nurseries to transfer to large forest lands the company owns near Burnt Forest and Timboroa.
ii. To curb the rocketing costs of transportation, the Company has invested in nearby forests so as to reduce distance travelled by the trailers.
iii. The company has had to buy more vehicles which are compliant to the road regulations set by the government to aid in transportation. This has also called for the sale of old and unroadworthy vehicles.
iv. The company has also come up with modern waste disposal measures that are compliant with the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) policies.
v. As stated earlier, the Company is forced to listen to the pleas of their employees or face stiff and harsh conditions resulting from employee industrial action.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The products of this factory are mainly sold locally to furniture shops and small-scale and large-scale, wholesalers, supermarkets and carpentry workshops for distribution by sale to the citizens. This in a way gives back to the local community and the environment where so much is taken from as part of raw materials. Wood processing products are very vital in human life and thus we cannot live without them, therefore we should encourage the production of timber products but in a positive way like planting more and more trees in order to have a better environment tomorrow.
That said it has to be noted that though the company seems to be achieving a lot, it does so by use of very archaic machines which are a problem to maintain nowadays. This is particularly so especially in the Ply Wood factory. A decent overhaul of the machinery here would be a huge boost.
REFERENCES
a. Referential notes taken during the industrial visit to Rai Plywood Factory, Eldoret on the 18th of May 2011
b. Extended research on the internet (Blogs and editorials)
Engineer Travels
As an engineer i have traversed quite a number of factories, learned the processes they undertake in there and also the general outlook of the company owning the factory. I’ve come to learn how raw materials end up becoming consumable products. This post will try capture the 10 industries i visited during a 4 month period in my second year.
There comes a problem though in the end of all these fun-filled trips- report writing. Well, a 120 page detailed report of the various factories visited was due a month after the last trip. That is a very long time for a normal person to research. engineers are not normal people, I am no exception. I started working on my reports approximately 10 days to the deadline. I was sure I'd get all the info I needed online so I never thought otherwise. Then there are previous groups of engineers who had already visited the factories thus must have left a copy of the reports behind. Add this to a little bit of research online and I'd be good to go.
Let's cut this short- a few of the companies had informative websites. One of them, Rai Plywoods had no website at all. The power generation plants are under Kengen and the info about them is quite static. Some dating back to the ages when the plants were being constructed. Props to Mumias Sugar Company Limited, Agro Chemicals and Food Company, KETEPA Limited and Sony Sugar Company. Finlays Kericho has no website. The info I obtained was from the parent Finlays site but was not satisfactory. The last company, Kenya Seed Company didn't give me what I needed. The processes they undertake? Nothing.. Yes, some of these companies none of the previous groups had ever visited them.
I guess those who are going to benefit from these posts are those behind us who might visit the same factories as we did. So, to the lazy ones...sigh of relief.. Post numero uno coming up...
There comes a problem though in the end of all these fun-filled trips- report writing. Well, a 120 page detailed report of the various factories visited was due a month after the last trip. That is a very long time for a normal person to research. engineers are not normal people, I am no exception. I started working on my reports approximately 10 days to the deadline. I was sure I'd get all the info I needed online so I never thought otherwise. Then there are previous groups of engineers who had already visited the factories thus must have left a copy of the reports behind. Add this to a little bit of research online and I'd be good to go.
Let's cut this short- a few of the companies had informative websites. One of them, Rai Plywoods had no website at all. The power generation plants are under Kengen and the info about them is quite static. Some dating back to the ages when the plants were being constructed. Props to Mumias Sugar Company Limited, Agro Chemicals and Food Company, KETEPA Limited and Sony Sugar Company. Finlays Kericho has no website. The info I obtained was from the parent Finlays site but was not satisfactory. The last company, Kenya Seed Company didn't give me what I needed. The processes they undertake? Nothing.. Yes, some of these companies none of the previous groups had ever visited them.
I guess those who are going to benefit from these posts are those behind us who might visit the same factories as we did. So, to the lazy ones...sigh of relief.. Post numero uno coming up...
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
My best 5 Websites (Not that famous)
1. About.com
One of the best answer oriented sites you'll encounter. Quite professional articles and yes, they know 'everything'! I stumbled upon this view from one of the review sites:
2. I am Bored
I first stumbled upon this site when I was chatting with someone online. Then she told me she was bored. Unknowingly I told her to try iambored.com and voila- Festus' greatest stumble upon! You wont stop going back there, it's 3 years now. :)
3. College Humour
I have nothing to say about College Humour. Sometimes I sit in class, here Talai's voice drone off and all of a sudden my phone's out- browser- bookmarks- college humuor. Well, if you've been to college, are in college, or you just so eager to join college....this is the place.
4. Institute of Official Cheer
This is home to the various cultural and media obsessions James Lileks. In general, what you'll find there is a collection of Cold War-era advertising and promotional artwork and photographs accompanied by Lileks's very witty commentary. The images are large-scale and surprisingly attractive to look at, and pretty funny even without the captions.
5. Born Silly
The list wouldn't be complete without Born silly. Yeah, really there are some people born silly. One of them is Felix Maiko, a great wise geek I came to know about in my days in Strathmore Univeristy. He ahd Nokia flap phone, the screen barely 3cm and he'd come running to you- "Festo, hebu soma hii hapa!" while clutching his ribs. definitely he had taste. We ended up busting into uncontrolled laughters. Sadly though, Geoffrey Korio always ended up asking "Sasa amemaanisha?"
There it is, what are you five underated websites? Ok, we all know google is the mother of them all.
One of the best answer oriented sites you'll encounter. Quite professional articles and yes, they know 'everything'! I stumbled upon this view from one of the review sites:
It breaks up the Web into major subject areas with a volunteer human host for each of them. It helps you sift out the wheat from the chaff on an enormous range of subjects.
2. I am Bored
I first stumbled upon this site when I was chatting with someone online. Then she told me she was bored. Unknowingly I told her to try iambored.com and voila- Festus' greatest stumble upon! You wont stop going back there, it's 3 years now. :)
3. College Humour
I have nothing to say about College Humour. Sometimes I sit in class, here Talai's voice drone off and all of a sudden my phone's out- browser- bookmarks- college humuor. Well, if you've been to college, are in college, or you just so eager to join college....this is the place.
4. Institute of Official Cheer
This is home to the various cultural and media obsessions James Lileks. In general, what you'll find there is a collection of Cold War-era advertising and promotional artwork and photographs accompanied by Lileks's very witty commentary. The images are large-scale and surprisingly attractive to look at, and pretty funny even without the captions.
5. Born Silly
The list wouldn't be complete without Born silly. Yeah, really there are some people born silly. One of them is Felix Maiko, a great wise geek I came to know about in my days in Strathmore Univeristy. He ahd Nokia flap phone, the screen barely 3cm and he'd come running to you- "Festo, hebu soma hii hapa!" while clutching his ribs. definitely he had taste. We ended up busting into uncontrolled laughters. Sadly though, Geoffrey Korio always ended up asking "Sasa amemaanisha?"
There it is, what are you five underated websites? Ok, we all know google is the mother of them all.
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