ADIGRAT UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGIMEERING
HOSTING COMPANY: Dimma Beekeeping Development and Honey
Processing
FINAL INTERNERSHIP REPORT
SUBMITTED TO: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY ADVISOR NAME: INST. TSEGAY
COMPANY ADVISOR: HADAS
PREPARED BY: ID NUMBER
1 AREGAWI SELEMON 00849/08
2. EZGINA HADUSH /08
3. GEBREHIWOT WELDEKIDAN 01236/08

Acknowledgment

First and for most, we would like to thank god for his never-ending grace,merce,and provision
during what ended up being one of the toughest times of our life, playing an icon like Elizabeth
was a dream come true. .secondary, we would like to express our deepest thanks to our family
who give their financial support, and all members of the company for their help and making
themselves available at all times for day to day supervision, motivation, as source of information
and material support for references.

Finally, we would like to express our special thanks and heartfelt appreciation to our intern ship
advisor for her great helping to do our report and project successfully.
CHAPTER ONE

General History of Dimma Beekeeping Development and Honey

Processing
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNSHIP HOSTING COMPANY

1.1.1Background of dimma honey processing Plc

Dimma beekeeping development and honey processing p.l.c was established in January 2005 to
perform transformation production as well as marketing of bee products. The company’s
processing plant is located in Adigrat, 120km away from mekelle .The installed processing line
is years old and is based on technology from INDIA. The production capacity of this plant is
1440 tons per year. Total investment of the company is 16,000,000.Due to the presence of the
company; several job opportunities were and would be created for high, mid and low levels
personal. At present there are 31 employees having different qualification on permanent base of
employment and other new personal would be expected to be employed as the plant is working
in full capacity. Since the formation of the company it has been engaged in many actions mainly
on;Establishment of bee farms for honey and queen rearingProduction and honey
collection.Establishment of high tech processing machinery and processing.Because honey by its
nature it attracts dust and impurities contains disease caused anti biotic, so for that reason is
filtration is aveliable. The pollen and other having less density un wanted things are filtered by
separation process by the help of boiler temperature and some denser particle are putted at the
bottom of the unloading tank so it can filtered by using of different micro size, such as (100 -
40)×10-6mm.
Figure 1.1 Type of Micro Filter with Service Jack

1.2 Location of address

The company is establishment at Adigrat town 898km & 120km far from Addis Ababa &mekelle
respectively, with in the specific industrial zone. It is 2.8km from the center of the town on the
way to mekelle. The specific land given by the concerned body is situated 40mts to the east from
the main road having good soil texture for construction, enough municipal water, electric power
and, telephone and transportation accesses.

1.3 Company inPutOutPut

The following are company inputs contained wax, soil, dust ,impurities such as pollen and die
honey as well as anti-biotic( bacteria and other organism that affect human health) bring from all
region of the country:since on the stroge room the honey is placed based on their type which are;

 Traditional honey (white and yellow)

 Modern honey (white, yellow and dim white).

Here these are raw material of the company steed with in there batch on the storage.
Figure 1.2 Raw honey batch with their color/type

The output of the company is filtered these above raw honey called extra white,yellow,dim white
honey and tejj, as well as canddel as shown here…

Figure 1.3 Filtered honey and candle

1.3 Product Motto

Dimma beekeeping and honey processing plc, symbolize the natural honey produced by honey
bees and hopefully they would be daily dish mate of the customer.
Figure 1.4 Company of Motto

1.1 Vision, mission,value and objectives of the company

1.1.1 Vision
Dimma Beekeeping Development & Honey Processing PLC Vision is to be proficient
and leading, processor and supplier of quality honey and bees wax to national and
international markets.
1.1.2 Mission
o To contribute about sustainable change in commercialized apicultural
development of the region by transforming the existing way of practice and
potentials through modern technology and management.
o To design, develop and implement modern beekeeping intervention in selected
areas of Tigray for proper production merits and thereby to transfer a good lesson.
o To demonstrate how to utilize the available natural resources in the region for
better and diversified advantages and production maximization.
o To create job opportunity in places where the various activities are in operation.
1.2.3 Values
o Respecting the national and Regional policy and utilizes the clear
strategies underneath.
o Quality improvement for customers satisfaction
 o Transparency with all producers, processors, customers and the employees
within the company
o Empowerment of employees
o Social responsibility
o Sense of ownership and cost effectiveness
1.1.3 General Objectives
2 To design, develop and implement modern beekeeping intervention programs that raise
production in selected area of Tigray.
3 To create networks for the markets of honey and wax.
4 To organize individual beekeepers and supporting them by providing them with equipment
and training.
5 To use modern processing, packing and marketing methods in honey production.
6 To keep an eye to Job creation in the course of all the various activities under operation.
1.2.4 specific objective
 To create job opportunities
 To use modern techinologies and machineries
 To increase the work efficiency
 To increase the customer satisfaction
 To minimize production time

Goals

 Increase the production of honey from Beekeeping farm.

 Improve processing potential and quality standards
 Assure for a continuous supply of products to meet the growing demand for
the natural food mainly for honeys both for domestic and world markets.
 Create well development market net-work
 Increase production of quality honeys
6.1 SWOT Analysis
6.1.1 Strengths
 Good company image
 Established organizational structure
 Clearly defined working manual, strategies and procedures
 Adequate assistance from corporate.
 We have ISO 9001:2000 and HACCP certification
 Creation of out Growers
 Monthly, quarterly and semi-annual reports are prepared and reported
 Have finance and accounting directives, sales manuals, and administration
manual, purchasing manual, supply and storing manual and other directives.
 Competitive salary and benefits
 Have access unskilled labor
 Enough financial resource and facilities
 Existence of vehicles and service provision
 Smooth communication with different pertinent bodies
6.1.2 weakness
 Poor management of honey at the ground level /producer
 Lack of raw honey
 lack of competitive skill especially in Areas of export marketing
 Immature facilities Provision and delivery system
 Poor net working both for supply and demand
 Disorganized Sales and distribution, sales collection, sales recording and sales
facilities
 Lack of appropriate price policy
 Non satisfactory promotional activities
6.1.3 Opportunities

 Good bee resource potentials in the region as well as in the country at large
 Good reputation of Tigray honey
 Favorable and supportive government policies and strategies
 Widening of market for products and services
 Change in feeding habit towards processed honey
 Easy media of communication
 Inclination of customers for purified products
 Good running for exchange of raw materials and products
 The processing plant is easy to manipulate and extend
 Possibility reduction in cost of production
6.1.4 Threats
 Lack of certainty to ensure sustainable honey raw material supply for the
processing plant
 Lack of regulatory law in honey quality and honey adulteration
 Prices for raw honey in the region are too high which affects also the product
prices of the company
 Droughts, floods and unpredictable weather patterns have direct effect on bees
forage and water supply and consequently affect the supply
 Competition forms the local producers, processors and importers of honey as
well as other substitutes.
 High bureaucratic at beekeeping development investment by the government

1.5 Organizational Structure of the Company

Board Director

General Manager

Executive Secretary
1.6 Raw material and input of Dimma Beekeeping Development and
Honey Processing The source of raw material for DIMMA BD and HP PLC is collected
from Tigray and Amhara Regions. The specific places in which the raw honey is collected from
Adwa, Atsbi, Erob, shire, Adigrat, Axum, Hawuzien, Wukro and mekelle of tigray region and
sekota of amhara region. It is purchased from farmers and sometimes from merchants during
market day. Dimma also brings honey from its own commercial Apiary farm since the company
has around 400 modern hives. The bees wax, on the other hand, is extracted from the honey and
it is collected and purified since it is important for modern hive and also for medicine and
cosmetics. On the other hand wax is also used for preparation of mead in the company. Before
purchasing, the company’s quality controller first checks the quality of the honey physically by
its color, taste and smell. Then he accepts or reject the honey by identifying if it’s adulterated or
not. Moisture content and reducing sugar of the honey are also measured by Refractometer
because honey with moisture content above 21 should be rejected since it might ferment before
and after it is processed but if it’s between 17.5-21 it is accepted. Furthermore honey with the
following moisture content is graded as follow

a) 17.5-19- grade A
b) 19.5-20-grade B
c) 20.5-21 grade C

The main raw material Dimma Beekeeping Development and Honey Processing is crude
hony from the local market and input sanitary chemicals, filter aids, filling and packing
materials. Glass jars, plastic containers and drums for bulk honey are to be used for product
filling while carton box, glue and labels are required for packaging. All the raw and auxiliary
materials except the sanitary chemicals are available locally

1.4 The main products of Dimma beekeeping development and honey processing
Product is the outcome of a production process supplied to the public at large. It should
be delivered to the society in the required amount quantity and time as well as a
reasonable price.

The types of products produced by DBD & HP Company are extracted pure honey and wax.
These finished extracted honeys are making from the raw honey without adding any ingredient.
These are the two main products of the company. There are three types of honeys produced in
this company which are differing in their wax content, their color and price. From the three kinds
of honeys the product which are produced in this company the most which the customer and

consumer needed are the only the two products. These are the cream and extra (red and white
honey). But the liquid-liquid honey is not profitable because it is not needed by customers. Due
to this reason the processing of liquid-liquid honey is stopped by the company. In general the
finished products of the company are;

 Red honey(cream)
 white honey((extra) honey
 Liquid honey
 wax

1.7 Main Customer of the Plant

Customers are the consumers of one company’s product and these also play an important role in
increasing the potential of the company’s production capacity by balancing the demand and
supply of the company. The main customers and end user of the product of DBDHP PLC are all
towns found in the different region of Ethiopia through the existing supermarkets and different
agents. Dimma have an enough potntial customers locally and globally.

Global customers: The global customers of this company are some part of Middle East and
Europe. DIMMA also exports honey with undergoing negotiation with agents from Middle East
and Europe.

Local customer: the local customers of this company are the Tej brewers found in ADIGRAT
city by taking the wax separated from the honey in the raw honey unloading tank. But direct
involvement in the sales is basically in Addis Ababa and Mekelle.
Technology and machinery of the company

The company had been many types of machineries which were used during production process.
The main machineries of the company are listed as follows. The machineries listed below are
used in the production of cream red honey extra white honey.

 Boiler; to boil cold water at the temperature of 87°C.

 Pre-heater; to heat the raw honey in order to detach from its plastic container.
 Raw honey unloading tank; this is a tank which contains spinning wings inside it which
means it is agitated and it is used to liquidity the raw honey and to separate the wax from
the honey. This tank is jacketed and contains both the honey and boiled water from the
boiler.
 Filter; this consists 11 mesh’s inside it for the extraction of the honey coming from the
unloading tank by using pump. The filter used in this company is 80 micrometre in size
 Settling tank; after the honey is extracted using the 11 mesh’s in the filter the honey
should be allowed to settle so that impurities such as baffles rise to the surface so they
can be skimmed from the surface before you bottle.

The machineries listed below are used in the production of liquid honey.

 Cooler; deaerator for removing bubbles, evaporator, two settling tank, automatic filling
machine, capping machine, shrinking machine (this machine used to package the
purified bottled honey by flat plastics, conveyor, labeling machine, conveyor(Made of
S.S, used for conveying of empty washed bottles to the filling machine

The technology that DBDHP used is batch technology (batch ) process for the production of both
red white (cream and extra honey). Finaly the number of machineries of the company are listed
in the table below.

No The type of machinery and equipment of the company Quantity

1. Boiler 3

2. Preheater 1

3. Raw honey unloading tank 1

 4. Filtering machine 2

5. Settling tank 3

6. Deaerator 1

7. Balance tank 1

8. Cooler 1

9. Automatic filling machine 1

10. Capping machine 1

11. Shrinking machine(packaging unit) 1

12 Labeling machine 1

13. Stailesteal conveyor 1

Table 1.1 Machineries and equipments of the company

2.5 Challenges happened while performing our Task

We haven’t faced much challenge when performing task because our supervisor explains
everything for us briefly. The workers of the company were easy to communicate with so we get
along with them easily and this helped us to ask anything without fear. But there were some
challenges during lab work specially when checking the acidity of honey it involves titration and
other procedures which was a little confusing at first but after trying it again and again it became
clear. Refractometer reading was also very difficult to identify the exact number of moisture
content and reducing sugar of honey because the numbers were very small to see. The other
thing that was hard for us is to understand the processing step of liquid honey and how the
machine works because the company has stopped processing liquid honey since there is low
customer demand and was unprofitable but after browsing the every process and about the
machines on the internet we start to understand and know there meaning. In general the
following challenges were occurred in the company.
  Lack of transport
 Lack of technology in the company means it is not computer aided
the process.
 Limitation of reference as well as guide about the production as well
as the whole process
 There had not been written data related to the overall activities of the
company; then this leads as not to do our report and project
effectively.
 The company has stopped the production of liquid honey before we
entered to that company. this means there are unit operations that are
used for this product. Then we did not have full of concept related
to these unit operations.

2.6 The measures we have taken to solve the challenges

The measures we had taken to solve the challenges we faced during our internship are;

 To overcome our challenges we have tried to practice again and again during the lab
work and also try to get information on the internet regarding processing methods and the
machines used in the company.
 By inviting other internship companies like APF, and walia liquor factories, we had
already known the operating principle of similar unit operations. These companies had
chemical engineer professionals; then by asking to these engineers we got so many
information related to the production process of our internship company.
 By searching a Google and preparing questionnaires’’ we collect a full of data related to the
company.
 Using the some transporters. And traveling by foot for that factory approximated700m
 Always look the process from the raw material entering to final product disposal and
cheek product.
 By cope rated with the worker in which part is not clear for us.
 Asking and desiccation with internships of the factory students.

CHAPTER TWO
OVER ALL COMPANY STRUCTURE
 2.1 MANAGEMET OF THE COMPANY
 Provision of different training and formation of good foundation both for
marketing and processing.
 Honey purchase, collection and formation of market centers.
 Establishment of honey processing plant starts on the processing and marketing of
the products both in local and foreign market. With the spirit of recognizing all the
experience and profound contemplation in the restructuring the overall move,
dimma has still encouraging features to continue in the business related to honey
collection, processing and marketing of products in an organized manner in which
a great attention would be given in product quality issues together with product
diversification as this hopefully provides optional product menu to customer’s
preference. In this prospect the company is planning to produce a cream honey
with a careful pacing in relation to marketing situations.
The program treats all possible means of improvement for better efficiency that could
ultimately sustain business life of the company and profitability.
Finally the outcome of the project would make the entire programs dependable, cost
effective, and profitable.
The budget to run the program of the company in the year 2011 EC in general is birr-
7,503,100.00 for operational expenditure is required for the (2011) fiscal budget year.
As Dimma is a profit making company, where the revenue sources are, form the sales
of processed honeys, raw honey and bees wax, which amounts income of birr
1460000.00 after tax is expected at the end the project plan.

2.2 PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM AND DESCRIPTION OF THE

COMPANY
Raw material storage
Honey is hydroscopic, that is, it will absorb moisture from the atmosphere or damp surfaces that
it comes into contact with. Because of this DIMMA honey processing plant places the raw honey
on wooden pallets that are used to impede the raw material to be in direct contact with the
ground. The storage room of the company is clean and airy, free from damp and away from
direct sunlight. It has a temperature around 20-30oc with 60-65 % humidity. In the storage room
there is metallic shelf built for placing washed empty polyethylene container. Primary and
Secondary packaging materials like cartons and empty plastic containers are also found in the
storage room before they are washed and used for packaging. The purchased honey is weighted
before entering to the storage room and then placed separately according to their color type. The
type of honey that are found in the storage room are

a. Modern White honey d. Dim white modern honey

b. Traditional Yellow honey e. Yellow modern
c. Traditional White honey f. Modern and traditional Yellow
honey

2.8.3 Raw material inspection

The quality controller of the company checks the quality of the raw honey in the laboratory
before it goes to the processing unit. The main quality parameters that are checked in the
laboratory are

A. Moisture content: the moisture content of the raw honey is one of the important criteria
because the rate of fermentation and its shelf life span is greatly determined by the
amount of moisture content. The moisture content of a honey is measured by
refractometer. The company accepts raw honey with moisture content up to 21%.

Fig 2.1: Refractometer

B. Reducing sugar: Honey is composed primarily of sugars, the main ones being glucose
and fructose as well as maltose and sucrose. Reducing sugar is also measured by
Refractometer. Honey with >65 % sugar is accepted in the company.
C. Water insoluble solids: Honey insoluble matter include pollen, honey comb debris, bee
and filth particles and is thus a criterion of honey cleanness. It is checked in the
laboratory by weighing 20g of honey to the nearest 0.1g and dissolved in a quantity of
distilled water at 80oc mixed well. The test sample is then filtered through a pre dried and
weighed Petridis and thoroughly with hot water (80oc) until free from sugar. The Petridis
 is dried for one hour at 130oc in a vacuum oven and cooled and weighed to the nearest
0.1g. The raw honey is accepted if its water insoluble solid is not more than 0.1%.
D. Ash or mineral content of honey: Ash content is used to know the mineral content of
the honey. The material remaining after the honey is burned represents the mineral
matter. Honey with ≤ 0.6% of ash content is accepted in the company. 5 to 10g of honey
is weighed accurately in to an ignited and pre weighed pt silica or porcelain crucible and
gently heated in muffle furnace (heats up to 600oc) until the sample is black and dry. The
sample is then ignited at 600oc at constant weight. The sample is cooled in desiccator
before weighing to avoid humidity from the environment. At last the mineral content is
calculated to know the exact number.
E. Acidity: Honey is naturally highly acidic. Its pH is extremely low, ranging between 3 and
4.5, which inhibits the growth of bacteria and other spoil-ready organisms. Increased
acidity of honey is an indicator for a fermentation process and transformation of alcohol
into organic acid. The acidity of honey was determined by volumetric method. 10g of
honey is accurately weighed and
Dissolved in 75ml distilled water. Then the test sample is titrated against carbonate free
0.1N sodium hydroxide using 4-5 drops of phenolphthalein indicator. The end color
persists for 10s. The required acidity for honey is ≤ 40 milli equivalents of acid per kilo.
F. Specific Gravity: The Specific Gravity of a liquid is a dimensionless unit defined as the
ratio of density of the liquid to the density of water at a specified temperature. As the
basis it is common to use the density of water at 4oC, the temperature at which it has its
highest density (1000 kg/m3). To know the specific gravity of honey first clean and
thoroughly dried specific gravity bottle is weighed and filled up to its mark with freshly
boiled and cooled distilled water which has been maintained at 27oc and weighed. Then
after the water is removed and the bottle is dried again. The dried bottle is filled with
honey sample maintained at same temperature. Lastly the bottle is weighed and the
specific gravity of the honey is calculated.

2.9 Honey Processing

DIMMA honey processing plant produces three types of honey called cream, extra white and
liquid honey. Extra white and cream honeys are type of honey that has been processed by
controlled crystallization. The main difference between them is color whereas liquid honey is a
honey that has been processed to make it completely liquid and free from visible crystals.
2.9.1 Extra White and Cream Honey processing
2.9.1.1 Raw honey reception; The raw honey is brought from the storage room after the quality
of the raw honey is checked in the laboratory and fulfilled all the quality parameters of honey
then it passes for further process. Moisture content, Ash content, Water insoluble solid, Reducing
sugar, specific gravity and acidity are the main quality parameters that are checked in DIMMA
BD and HP plc. As a one batch; 800kg of honey is weighed and transported to processing house.
The reason of taking 800kg of honey as a one batch is because the unloading tank maximum
capacity is 850kg.The kind of machine used for transporting the honey from storage room to
processing house is called hand cart.
2.9.1.2 Pre-Heating; the raw honey that was brought from the storage room is placed in
rectangular prism to be heated for about 2-3 hrs inside hot water which is heated at 870c until the
internal temperature of the honey becomes 400c. This pre heating of honey helps to facilitate fast
downloading of raw honey in to the unloading tank. The rectangular prism can take 32 pieces of
polyethylene bucket to be heated at once.

2.9.1.3 Unloading, Heating and Mixing

The main purpose of this processing step is to homogenize the honey in order to standardize the
color, aroma and flavor of the product as well as to separate wax and honey. The unloading tank
is jacketed and has rotary spades that homogenize the honey. The rotary spades rotate by the help
of agitation pump. This agitation pump is found on the top of the unloading tank. First pre heated
honey in the containers is downloaded to the unloading tank.Each container is stirred before
transferring the honey to facilitate easy flow of honey using SS rod. Then the agitation pump is
switched on to agitate the honey in the unloading tank after the hot water (87oc) circulates for
some time. The agitation is kept until the temperature of the honey reaches to 60 oc. After that the
agitated honey settles for 90 minutes and this helps for the separation of wax and honey since
wax floats at the top because of its low density. The wax is separated by using SS dipper and the
removed wax with certain honey is kept inside a tank containing hate at the bottom. Unloading
tank feed rate is 700-850kg of honey but since filling honey up to 850 kg brings over filling; the
company fills the tank up to 800 kg in one batch. There are two unloading tanks in the company.
Each of them has different use. Unloading tank 1 is used for settlement during processing of
cream and extra white honey but unloading tank 2 is used for homogenization as well as
separation of wax and honey by heating.
 Fig 2.2: Unloading
Tank

2.9.1.4 Filtration
Filtration is one of the most widely used and efficient processes for solid-liquid separation. The
process uses a porous medium that allows the flow of gas or liquids but not the solid material. In
the company there are two steps of filtration called first and second filtration.
a) First Filtration

First filtration is the separation of large particles such as leaf, stone, wood and large waxes. After
the large particles are removed; the pure honey goes to second filtration (Sparkler filter).

a) Second filtration(Sparkler filter)

Second filtration is the separation of fine particles up to 40 micron size such as thin waxes that
were not removed during first filtration. There are 4 types of micro-filter in second filtration;
they have different size and application. Those micro-filters purify and separate the 40-100 micro
mesh size non-food particles and thin wax which passed during first filtration of liquid honey. In
the company they use 80 micro filters for extra white honey because during processing of extra
white honey, they use white honey modern which has small amount of wax. This indicates that
there is no need for more purification since the honey doesn’t contain high amount of wax and
non-food particles. For cream and liquid honey 40 and 60 micro filters are used since they
contain high amount of wax and other particles. The micro filters are washed by odorless
detergents first but since fine particles will clog the mesh; compressor is used to remove this tiny
articles.
 Fig 2.3: Filtering
machine

2.9.1.5 Settling; During the processing of cream and extra white honey settlement is used for
multiple purposes. The first one is to settle all the foam and air bubbles at the top surface of the
unloading Tank. And the second reason is to make the filtered honey more viscous and light in
color.They add honey which they called seed (honey which is left during the first processing)
before the filtered honey goes to the tank. This seed helps the liquid honey to become more
viscous and gain its color. The seed and the filtered honey are mixed first and then allowed to
settle for about7-14 days. In unloading tank 1 only extra white and cream honey are settled for
packaging but liquid honey goes for further process after filtration.

Fig 2.4: Settling Tank

2.9.1.6 Filling; After settlement, filling starts directly by opening the valve of settling tank at the
bottom. Since the tank is conical shaped the honey flows easily. But before filling; the plastic
containers and the cap are washed and dried. DIMMA uses plastic container having different size
and containing 250gm, 500gm and 1kg.
2.9.1.7 Capping
Then after the honey is filled in one of the containers and the weight of the honey is checked in a
weighting balance manually or by hand. If the weight of the honey is proper it is capped. During
extra white and cream honey processing Capping is done manually or by hand since processing
ends at settling tank.

2.9.1.8 Labeling
Food label is a panel found on the package of food which contains a variety of information about
the nutritional value of the food item. It is designed to protect the health and wellbeing of
consumer. It allows them to know the relative amount of each ingredient and how much of
selected vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients a food contains. It also contains the production
and expiry date of the food. The label of DIMMA BD and PC PLC contains much information
which is listed below.

 The label is first marked using the stamp for information’s like:

 The production date

 Batch /lot Number

 Expire date

 The label contains information like

 Moisture Content
 HMF
 Sucrose
 Density

2.9.1.9 Packaging
The labeled plastic containers are packed in a secondary packaging or carton and sealed properly
by plaster. The company uses two types of packaging; primary and secondary.

Primary Packaging: Packaging that contains the finished or final products, sometimes called
retail or consumer packaging. This packaging is used to contain, preserve, protect and inform the
end user. The primary packs in the company are bottles and caps. Primary packaging should
include all packaging up to the point of sale, but does not include carrier bags (single use and
bags for life) and delivery boxes.

Secondary packaging: Packaging additional to the primary packaging and that is used for
protection and collation of individual units during storage, transport and distribution. The
secondary packaging used in the company is carton. The carton sealing purposes are convenience
for customer during transportation and easily distributed from one place to another. One
packaged carton contains around 12 pieces of plastic jar for 1kg, 500g and250g of packed honey.
Similar to the jars the cartons has stamp marked with all necessary information which are:

 Unite

 Location and

 Batch number

2.9.1.10 Storage and distribution

Finally packed cartons are transported to finished product store room by using hand cart and
then distributed to the customers and retailers.

2.9.2 Process flow diagram of Cream and Extra-white honey

Raw material receiving

Raw Honey Reception

Pre heating

Unloading, Heating and separation

Filtration

Settling

Filling

Capping

Labeling

Packaging
 End product storage

2.9.3 Liquid Honey Processing

Liquid honey has the same processing step with extra white and cream honey until it reaches
filtration. But after filtration liquid honey goes for further processes like pasteurization,
evaporation, Deaeration, cooling, Settling, Capping, Shrinking and Labeling. During our stay in
the company, we haven’t seen how liquid is processed practically since the company has stopped
processing of liquid honey because of low customer demand. But we have tried to write down
the processing steps generally by what we saw not by practice.

2.9.3.1 Pasteurization
Pasteurization is a heating process in which the temperature is raised up to 72 °C maintained for
about 120 s. Pasteurization destroys yeast cells. It also liquefies any micro-crystals in the honey
which delays the onset of visible crystallization. After pasteurization, diastase activity and HMF
content remain almost unchanged, while invertase is damaged. However, excessive heat-
exposure also results in product deterioration as it increases the level of hydroxymethylfurfural
(HMF) and reduces enzyme (e.g. diastase) activity. Heat also affects appearance, taste, and
fragrance, darkening the natural honey color(browning).It has to be noted that the pasteurization
of honeys, unlike similar processes carried out on the majority of food products, is not performed
for food safety purposes only, including also prolonged shelf-life, but with the aim of meeting
commercial needs. As an example, a honey should maintain its typical liquid state on the shelves
as long as possible: a similar behavior has to be reached by means of pasteurization treatments.
In the company when pasteurizing temperature reaches from 65oc to 70oc, the filtered honey is
allowed from feeding tank to pass through heat exchanger, where temperature of honey is
maintained at 65-70oc by circulation of hot water. If the temperature at the out let of the
pasteurizer is not reached the required level the re circulating valve is opened and the valve (used
for control of flow in lines) to balance tank is closed. After it reaches the pasteurization
temperature the valve of the balance tank is opened. The balance tank is kept closed and special
precautions are used to prevent personnel, aerial and cross contamination.

2.9.3.2 Evaporation
Evaporation is a common unit operation in food processing industries in which partial removal of
water takes place from an aqueous solution. The removal of water in the form of vapor is
achieved by the process of vaporization or boiling of aqueous solution.The type of evaporator
used in the company is called scrapped surface evaporator. This type of evaporator is designed to
heat, cool or concentrate a wide variety of products particularly highly viscous and heat sensitive
liquids which tend to stick to or foul at heat transfer surface.

The moisture content of the honey is checked before the evaporator starts and if the moisture
content is greater than 18%, the hot water circulating valves is opened and the agitator motors
and vacuum pumps are switched on for about 10 minutes until the required vacuum is developed.
But if the moisture content is less than 18%, the pasteurized honey by passes the evaporator and
Deaerator unit and transfer directly to the cooler. The feed rate of the scrap surface evaporator is
at 250-300kg per hr. Honey is then allowed from balance tank to pass through scrapped surface
evaporator for reduction of moisture and entrained air vacuum.

2.9.3.3 Deaeration
The moisture reduced honey is then passed through the dearator vessel to remove entrained air
bubbles. Dearation is important for the removal of dissolved and entrained oxygen from the
honey. It also improves product quality, extends shelf life and prevents the formation of foam
during filling. The rate at which the honey passes through is similar to the scrap evaporator by
reducing its rate by the frequency adjustor to about 200 to 250kg per hour.

2.9.3.4 Cooler/Honey cooling/

The processed and moisture reduced honey is immediately cooled by cold water circulation after
it passed through the Dearator. After cooling the honey passes to one of the airtight storage
settling tank.

2.9.3.5 Settling tank

The processed honey will be stayed for a minimum of 24hrs. While settling, all the foam and air
bubbles settle at the top surface. The vent which is found at the upper side of the settling tank is
opened intermittently to remove the accumulated pressure inside the tank. The liquid honey is
then taken for bottling and packing with the help of filling machine.

2.9.3.6 Bottle filling

The bottles are washed by the bottle washing machine and kept in separate table to drain the
droplets. Then they are kept in a drying oven to be pasteurized and well dried before filling
starts. First the type of bottle to be filled is identified, then the conveyor speed with dosing, the
mechanical speed and cam driven piston stroke length is adjusted. In other word the filling
machine is kept adjusted to the required filling level.

Fig 2.5: Filling machine

2.9.3.7 Capping
Filled bottles are first manually capped and singly fed to the capping machine for machine
capping. Then the capped bottles are putted on the conveyer belt to continue the shrinking
process.

2.9.3.8 Shrinking
Shrinking machine is used to seal a food product by heating process. When exposed to heating
the cap shrinks to the contour of the container. First the shrinking machine is switched on to heat
the internal hot zone to the required temperature. Then the temperature is adjusted to 125 to
135oc. The bottled and the capped honey is then pass through the shrinking machine and
collected after passing through the conveyer.

Fig 2.6: shrinking and labeling

machine
2.9.3.9 Labeling
During liquid honey processing unlike cream and extra white honey the labeling is done by
labeling machine. Pre-printed front labels are pasted through machines to make certain that
accurate names and sizes match up with every bottle turns out.
The label contains information’s like:

 The production date Moisture Content

 HMF Batch /lot Number

 Expire date Sucrose

 Density

2.9.3.10 Packaging
The labeled bottles are packed in a secondary packaging or carton and sealed properly by plaster.

2.9.3.11 Storage and Distribution

Finally, the finished products are stored in the warehouse and distributed according to the plan
throughout the year as shelf life of honey is generally higher than other perishable items.

2.9.4 The process flow diagram of Liquid honey

Raw material receiving

Raw Honey Reception

Pre heating

Honey and Wax separation

Filtration Pasteurization Evaporation Deaeration

Cooling
 Settling

Bottle filling

Capping

Shrinking

Labeling

Packaging

End product
storage

2.10 Bees Wax Purification

Beeswax is one of the products produced in DIMMA honey processing plant. It is the major
byproducts of honey-making process. Beeswax is produced in the bee's body as the nectar is
transforming into honey. Bees produce wax from four pairs of glands on the underside of their
abdomens. The bee expels the wax through glands in its abdomen. The colony uses the wax to
cap the filled honeycomb cells. Humans use beeswax for many purposes like for making frame,
cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. But the company doesn’t sale Beeswax since it uses the frame
which is obtained from wax purification for its Apiary commercial farming. Wax which is left
during the processing of mead is dried to remove the water and then melted in a machine called
heater. The wax is first filled in to the heater to its optimum level. The heater machine is jacketed
so water is added from the outer part to heat the wax indirectly. Then the machine removes
remaining dirt or debris and strain the liquid wax in mold.

2.11 Process flow Diagram of Bees wax purification

Fill the wax in to the heater to its optimum level
 Add water to the jacketed part of the heater

Switch on the heater

Place a molder at bottom of the heater

Change the molder when it is full

Wait until the purified wax become solid and draw out from the molder

Store it in the end product storage room

Fig 2.7: Heater (A machine used to purify wax)

2.12 ENVIROMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS OF HONY PROCESSING
Chapter Three

3. Overall benefit gained from the internship

3.1 Benefits in terms of Improving Practical Skills

To improve practical skills first there must have theoretical,so our theoretical skills taken for
about three three years and one semester were related with the practical.so we have got a chance
to improve our theoretical based practical skills.we have tried to put our practical skill that we
have got during internship in general. taking this internship helped as gain more experience
about honey and its processing steps since we were working practically by our self. We have got
a chance to put in to practice and the knowledge gained in the classroom to real world situation.
Relating the theoretical part with the practice also helped us to identify problem that should be
solved in the company. Furthermore this internship helped us to have more confidence and have
the know-how for future employment opportunity.

3.2 Benefits in terms of upgrading theoretical skills

The best outside classroom learning are through an internship. Among the several benefit we
gained from internship, upgrading theoretical skill is one of the important one. This internship
helped us more on understanding of theories that were learned in classroom. We have upgraded
our theoretical skill by working practically. Again our theoretical knowledge was upgraded by
seeing by seeing practically and get more information through observation. We have gained good
experience on upgrading the knowledge of organizational structure, working process in the
company, and how to behave in industries by relating with theories, machine type differences,
working principle, efficiency and property of the machine, by asking the operators and other
responsible person to the different machines in the production house.

3.3 Benefits in terms of Improving Interpersonal Communication skill

Effective communication is a good way to solve problems and to get information. During our
stay in the company we have good communication with all the workers of the company. This
helped us to get information easily and also created a god working environment for us. Now we
understood that having good communication is so important to get the information you need
easily and to make good connection with the person that might help you land that dream Job later
on. The most important interpersonal communication skills we learned therefore are:-

 Good personal behavior;

 Respect others;
 Respect the orders of the superior;
 Persuade others;
 Improve personal relationships with other workers

3.4 Benefits in terms of improving team playing skill

We have increased our interaction with each other since team work needs to help each other in
every aspect. We exchange information we get and discuss if there is something unclear for us
because someone from the group may understand about the situation and explain for the team.
We could understand that team playing skill is the basic material for good work product and
quality of works. The basic advantage of team playing that we have gained from ourcompany
can be summarized as follows.

 To increase the quality of works

 To share ideas and experience with others.
 To improve creative skill.
 Increase self-confidence.
 Increasing productivity.
 Improving the knowledge of asking and listening
3.5 Benefits in terms of improving leadership skill
 Leadership is never easy, but every one of us had been the potential to
be a leader every day. In the Factory, we got a good understanding of
leadership by observing every bit of the leaders. So we gained plenty
of experience from them on how to handle workers, how to order, how
to control and manage works done in each section, and etc

3.6 Benefits in terms of In terms of Understanding about Work Ethics

Work ethics is a cultural norm that advocates being personally accountable and responsible for
the work that one does and is based on a belief that work has intrinsic Value. The term is often
applied to characteristics of people, both at work and at play.Work ethics is a generally accepted
guideline for right and wrong behavior in work place and it involves several principles related to
effective work habit and personal qualities. The work ethics that a company requires from its
workers were;

 Being punctual,
 being honesty for whatever you do,
 be willing to do tasks given to you,
 Initiative to other workers and Being responsible and accountable for
everything you do.

3.7 Benefits in terms of entrepreneurship skill

We have gained much knowledge on how we could create new business of our own. We have
understood how we could produce a quality product with simple method or start a business in a
small scale and low capital. We also learned that willing to assume risks, open minded,
adaptability, self-confidence and leadership quality are one of the important things to be
successful entrepreneur. Furthermore wide knowledge on the economic and non-economic
environment of business like the internship plays a great role for improving my entrepreneurship
skills in multidirectional ways. Among these ways some of that I had gained benefits includes:

 Increases my attitude to be creative and innovative through practical

knowledge
 How organize and control resources to ensure the profit for my business
 The way how to manage the business company.
 How to identify new products (services) opportunities
 Desire for immediate feed back
 Be skilled at organizing are professional and To be desire for responsibility.

Conclusion and recommendation

Conclusion
In general DIMMA beekeeping development and honey processing P.L.C is a company which
produce cream and extra white honey with a capacity of 700 kg/shift/. The company was
designed only for liquid honey at first but with certain modification the company is producing
cream and extra white honey. Currently it has stopped processing of liquid honey since it has low
customer demand and become unprofitable. The company also produces other bee products such
as pure wax and mead. The pure wax have a chemical composition and property that meet world
standard set for determining the quality of beeswax. The company has started producing mead
not long ago but it has many customers which buy the mead in Adigrat. Its primary objective is
to produce quality honey and supply the produces to domestic as well as export markets and
thereby promote modern beekeeping practices among the rural community. The main source of
raw material for the company are from Adwa, Atsbi, Eurobe, shire, Adigrat, Axum, Hawuzien,
Wukro and mekelle of tigray region and sekota of amhara region. The main quality parameters
that are checked in the laboratory are Moisture content, Ash content, Water insoluble solid,
Reducing sugar, specific gravity and acidity. The company has commercial Apiary farm in the
site where unique bee flora found for production of extra honey in Atsbi Womberta Woreda to
ensure the consistency supply of inputs of the honey processing plant and from the point of
organizational capacity.

- The main products of Dimma honey are extra white honey, crame honey and liquid
honey.
- Pure wax and pure mead are by product of the processed honey.
- Due to the presence of a fine glucose crystalline structure the raw honey undergoes a
natural process of crystallization
- Dimma honey have not any objectionable flavor, aroma, or taint absorbed from
foreign matter during its processing and storage. .
- The color of the honey is uniform throughout and may vary from light to dark brown
- Water is the main enemy of honey.
- One of the biggest challenges that continuously observed in Dimma honey especially
of the processed honey is early crystallization.
- Promotion and Advertising is the most important element to improve the sales volume
of the company.

Recommendation
We recommend the company

 Fulfill all laboratory materials which are necessary to check the quality of the honey.
 Reduce manual working by planting filling , capping and labelling machines in order to
reduce contamination and produce good quality product
 Make sure that the workers use glove when there is direct contact with the honeyTo
check the alcohol content and other quality parameters of mead before it is distributed in
order to ensure the safety of the customers.
 Dry packing containers by using paper towel instead of using sun drying outside the
production area since dust may contaminate them.
 Buy generator since there is a problem of electricity most of the time.
 Train the workers of the company on how they should keep the quality of honey properly.

Providing valuable recommendations which can strengthen success and minimize or el

iminate in efficiency and ineffectiveness is vital for any good achievement. Therefore, t
he following are valuable recommendations to achieve the expected objectives of the c
ompany.
 Plan, organize and co-ordinate the different manufacturing process of the company.
 Design strategies, operational manuals and procedures to implement production
plants and programs.
 Review plan of production to ensure conformance with organization objectives and
policies.
 Prepare itemized annual recurrent and capital budget and work plan of the
department.
 Check the availability of adequate raw and packing materials, materials, utilities
filters and machine size parts.
 Prepare and finalize the monthly and weekly production plans.
 Assess production standards in relation to plant capacity, materials supply,
manpower availability and financial limitations..
 Ensure that all standard yields are maintained by production lines.
 Control production processes, production lay out and production facilities.
 Design systems to prevent and avoid wastage of raw and packing materials
  Sort out problems faced during regular production and solve them with the help of
service departments.
 Initiate and follow-up the maintenance of production premises and facilities.

CHAPTER FOUR

4 PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLS (PLC) BASED

AUTOMATIC BOTTLES FILLING AND CAPPING SYSTEMS
4.1 Abstract
Filling and Capping system of the Bottle automatically become easiest one and time saving
process with the help of Machines. The honey filled to the Bottles can be containing different
weight which the operator could be defined. The aim of this project on automatic Bottle filling
and capping system using Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC‟s) is to simultaneously filling
the honey to the bottles and the same time capping the bottles. This process, compared with the
old traditional process of filling bottles is the time saving and most efficiency. The system
sequence of operation is designed by ladder diagram of PLC programming software. Sensor is
very important for detecting the positioning of the bottles, and Conveyer Belt is for taking the
bottles from one place to other specifying it work.

4.2 Introduction
More recently, electricity has been used for control and early electrical control was based on
relays. These relays allow power to be switched on and off without a mechanical switch. It is
common to use relay to make simple logical control decisions. The development of low cost
computer has brought the most recent revolution, the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
The advent of the PLC began in the 1970‟s, and has become the most common choice for
manufacturing controls.

In our worldwide through technology many things become easy with the use of machineries. But
the use of machines need great care for their operation and their function needs very great
knowledge to apply.

As with the title that “PLC based automatic bottle filling and capping system”. It is a system
which consist many process together and these are:

 PLC
 Automation
 Bottle filling and
 Bottle capping
3.2.1 Automation
Automation is defined as the use of information technology to increase the efficiency of any
product, reducing the hard work of human being which had been time consuming and in
efficiency. Automation plays great role in the industrialization process. Decreasing the human
mental involvement on the work.And in the world economy and daily experience, automation.

3.2.2 Plc

PLC has been gaining popularity on the factory floor and will probably remain predominant for
some time to come. Most of this because of the advantages:-

 Cost effective for controlling complex systems

 Flexible and can be reapplied to control other systems quickly and easily
 Computational abilities allow more sophisticated control
 Trouble shooting aids make programming easier and reduce downtime.
 Reliable components make these likely to operate for years before failure.
Control systems are an integral part of modern society. It consists of subsystems and processes
assembled for the purpose of controlling the outputs of the processes. There are many numerous
applications that using control system around us. A control system provides an output or
response for a given input or stimulus. The reason that control system was built is for power
amplification, remote control, convenience of input form; and compensation for disturbances.
Today control systems find widespread application in the guidance, navigation, and control of
missiles and spacecrafts, as well as planes and ship at sea. The applications also throughout the
process control industry, regulating liquid level tanks, chemical concentrations in vats, as well as
thickness of fabricated material.
 Open Loop System
It starts with sub system called an input transducer, which converts for the input to that used by
the controller. The controller devices a process or plant. Then input sometimes called reference,
while the output can be called the control variable. Other signals, such as disturbances are shown
added the controller & process outputs via summing junctions, which yields the algebraic sum of
their input signals using associated sign.

Figure 3.1 open loop system

The distinction characteristics of an open loop system is that it cannot compensate for any
disturbances that added to the controller’s driving signals. The output of an open loop system
computed not only by the signals that add to the controller’s commands but also the disturbances
at the output. The system cannot correct for these disturbances & are simply commanded by the
input.

 Closed Loop System

The disadvantage of open loop system, namely sensitivity to disturbances an inability to correct
these disturbances, may be over ten in closed loop systems. The input transducer converts the
form of the input to the form used by the controller. An output to the transducer, or sensor,
measures the output response & converts it in to the form used by the controller.

Figure 3.2 closed loop control system

The first summing junction algebraically adds the signal from the input to the signal from the
output which arrives via the feedback path, the returned path from the output to the summing
junction. In the figure above, output signal is subtracted from the input signal. The result is
generally called the actuating signal.

The closed loop system compensated for disturbances by measuring the output response, feeding
the measurement back through a feedback path, & comparing that response to the input at the
summing junction. If there is any difference between the two responses, the system drives the
plant, via the actuating signal to make correction. If there is no difference the system does not
drive the plant sincethe plants response is already the desired response. To compared between
open loop system & closed loop system; closed loop system has the obvious advantage of greater
accuracy than open loop system.

The system are less sensitive to noise, disturbance in the change in enviroment. Transient
response in steady state eror can be controlled more convinently& with greater flexibility in
closed loop system,often by simply adjutments of gain in the loop & sometimes by redesigning
the controller. insummery, systems that perform the previously described measurement &
correction are called cosed loop or feedback control system.

3.3 Problem Of The Statement

The present system, machines are can fill only a particular type of containers of certain
height, and the filling amount is as set by the operator. If the machine has to fill different type
(size) of container then again the operator has to set the filling amount for each container. Time
taken for filling will become more in such conditions. Sometimes in special environments which
are dangerous and not conductive for human operation, the operator cannot go and set the filling
amount.
Control system implies direct interaction with physical world. Control system includes sensor
and actuators, the critical pieces needed to ensure that our actuators system can help us manages
our activities and environments in desired ways. The sensor that will be implemented in this
project is infrared sensor. Nowadays, infrared sensor is widely used in daily activities such as for
security, memory detection and other proposes. Infrared sensor consists of two basic part; emitter
and detector. bottle movement on the conveyor belt. When the infrared sensor detected position
bottle, the motor of conveyor will be stop automatically.

Problem statements in this project are:

 To design a closed loop system which can control conveyor by sensor?

 To make sure that the bottle does not overflow and conveyor must stop as long as sensor
is working.
 To design conveyor system which limit the liquid flow into the bottles?
3.4 Project Objective

3.4.1General Objective

To design plcBased automatic bottle filling and capping control system.

3.4.2Specific Objective

 To Design and Develop an Automatic honey filling to bottles of different height with the
PLC Integration.
 To develop an automatic bottle filling & capping system with a deductmechanismusing
sensors.
 The develop the system that use widely applicable low costly, familiarity sensor.
 To build a prototype which are light, low cost, user friendly and with
transparentstructure.
 To develop a filling machine which can fill different sizes of containers on the bases
ofheight same principle can be used in different industries like medicine, oil,
chemicalindustries for filling liquid to different sized component by one machine.
 To automatic filling process for all bottles simultaneously with a user defined selectionfor
volume to be filled.
 To minimize errors, the control task should be defined by those who are familiar with
theoperation of the machine or the process.

3.5 Literature Review

3.5.1 History Of Bottle Filling And Capping System Based On Plc

Long time ago people were using traditional method of filling fluid in to their containers and
caps them also traditionally. This was very time consumming work and consum energy to do the
work hardly.

Therefore, the machine filling system was introduced at near two decades ago. But, it was also in
efficient because, people were using to fill bottles or containers one after the other that it takes
time also. Recently up to now with the introduction of PLC and automation, people get more
excited by using them (PLC & Automation) to fills many containers as much as possible they
can, by using multi-filler and automatically filling machines. The work is the most efficient and
time saving in which it require only human to input (start) the process.

3.5.2 History Of Plc

PLC were first introduced in 1960‟s. the primary reason for such adevice was eliminating the
large cost involved in replacing the complicated relation based machine control system. Bedford
associates proposed something called amodular digital controller(MODICON) to major US car
manufacture. Other companies at the time proposed computer based schemes.one of which based
up on PDP-S. the MODICON OS4 brought the word‟s first PLC in to commertial production.

When aproduction requirements changed, so did the control sytem. This becomes very
expenssive when the change is frequent, scince relays are mechanical device that also have a
limited life time which required strict adhesion to maintenance schedule. Troubleshooting was
also quite tedious when so many relays are involved.

These “new controllers” also had to be easly programmed by maintenance are plant engineers.
The life time had to be long and programming changes easly performance. They also had to
servive the harsh industrial enviroment.

What is a PLC?

A Programmable Logic Controller, PLC is a digital computer used for automation of industrial
processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines. It is designed for multiple
inputs and output arrangements.

A PLC is an example of a real time system since output results must be produced in response to
input conditions within a bounded time, otherwise unintended operation will result.

A PLC is a device that was invented to replace the necessary sequential relay circuits for
machine control. It works by looking at its inputs and depending upon their state, turning on/off
its outputs. The user enters a program, usually through software, that gives the desired results.
PLC are used in many “real world” applications. If there is industry present, chances are good
that there is a plc present. Almost any application that needs some type of electrical control has a
need for a PLC.

A programmable logic controller, commonly known as PLC, is a solid state, digital , industrial
Computer using integrated circuits instead of electromechanical devices to implement control
functions. It was invented in order to replace the sequential circuits which were mainly used for
machine control. They are capable of storing instructions, such as sequencing, timing, counting,
arithmetic, data manipulation and communication, to control machines and processes. PLC have
many definitions for example: According to NEMA(National Electrical Manufacture‟s
Association ,USA),the definition of PLC has been given as “Digital electronic devices that uses a
programmable memory to store instructions and to implement specific functions such as logic ,
sequencing, timing, counting, and arithmetic to control machines and processes.”

Figure below illustrates conceptual diagram of PLC application

Figure 3.3 PLC conceptual application diagram

 Basic parts of PLC

All programmable controllers contain a CPU, memory, power supply, I/O modules, and
programmable devices. Basic parts of the PLC are as follows:-
 Processor
 Memory
 Input/output devices
 Programming panel or unit Power supply
 
Figure 3.4 Basic parts of PLC

 Operation of PLC
During program execution, the processor reads all the inputs, and according to control
application program, energizes and de-energizes the outputs. Once all the logic has been solved.
The processors will update all the outputs. The process of reading the inputs, executing the
control application program, and updating the output is known as scan. During the scan
operation, the processor also performs housekeeping tasks. The inputs to the PLCs are sampled
by processor and the contents are stored in memory. Control program is executed, the input value
stored in memory are used in control logic calculations to determine the value of output. The
outputs are then updated. The cycle consisting of reading of inputs, executing the control
program, and actuating the output is known as “scan” and the time to finish this task is known as
“scan time”. The speed at which PLC scan depends upon the clock speed of CPU. The time to
scan depends upon following parameter:-

 Scan rate
 Length of the program
 Types of functions used in the program

Faster scan time implies the inputs and outputs are updated frequently. Due to advance
techniques of ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) within the microcomputer for
specific functions, scan time of different PLCs have reduced greatly.

As PLCs have developed and expanded, programming languages have developed with them.
Programming languages allow the user to enter a control program into a PLC using an
established syntax. Today‟s advanced languages have new more versatile instructions, which
initiate control program actions. These new instructions provide more computing power for
single operations performed by the instruction itself. In addition to new programming
instructions, the development of powerful I/O modules has also changed existing instructions.
These changes include the ability to send data to and obtain data from modules by addressing the
modules‟ locations. For example, PLCs can now read and write data to and from analog
modules. All of these advances, in conjunction with projected industry needs, have created a
demand for more powerful instructions that allow easier, more compact, function-oriented PLC
programs..

3.6 Methodology
This topic will mainly discuss about the methodology of the project and also the aspect or factors
that must be taken into consideration during the development process. All this factors were very
important to make sure the project will achieve its objective.

3.6.1 Project Over View

In this section, we will discuss an over view of Automatically Filling Bottles and Capping
system using PLC. The introduction to system task will also briefly explain.

 Input Module
Input Module in other word are Sensors. Such a sensors includes: The present and Absence of
the bottles checker, whether the bottles has any crack around it next (in case of glass bottle), The
Sensor that check the cleanness of the bottles, or In general the input modules are all necessary
sensors in different place. At the Filling system we have a sensor that detect whether the bottle is
full or not, this can be either Weight Sensor or Level Sensor. IR Sensor (Photo Sensor) is used at
the start of the system to detect whether the bottles are ready to move to the filling system or not.
At this point when IR (Photo sensor) detect the position of the bottles the Motor will be ON and
the Conveyer start taking bottles to the filling station.

For a multi filler machine at one, each filler have their own sensor detecting whether the bottle is
to be filled or not. Then the filling take place, and the Weight sensor (Level sensor) will take part
to tell whether the bottle is full or not.

The following are the input modules (Sensors):

 Infrared Sensor
 Weight Sensor
 Limit switch
 Proximity

 Infrared Sensor ( IR )
This sensor provides the system with ability to detect the presence of object position. The theory
is the IR emitter emits infrared light. If an object presence the signal will be reflected back to the
receiver. Then the IR detector implemented will detect the reflected light. Then the
correspondence signal sends to the PLC for being analyze. Based on the measurement of the
intensity of the reflected light from the target area such a bottle, it has a light source sending light
to the moving target and a light sensor receiving the light. The output signal from the sensor
decreases exponentially with the increase of the distance to the measured object. Infrared light-
emitting diodes (LED's) and photosensitive diodes are used in this transducer. The sensor output
is inversely proportional to the amount of occupation. A multilink array of light sensitive
elements and a light-beam scanning technique determines and qualifies the shape of the
measured object by processing data from the elements.

 Limit Switch
The limit switches needed to detect the arrival of the bottle to the desired position to do the
processes such as filling and capping. Here we need two limit switches, one to detect the bottle
arrival to the end of the first conveyor belt and the other to detect the bottle arrival to its filling
position. The limit switches are mounted at the edge of the conveyor.

 Signal Conditioning
As the output of sensor are not always given directly to the PLC, and the input voltage should be
24V. Therefore, they should be given through what so called Signal Conditioning circuit which
condition the input signal and in turn give it as an input to the PLC. As to save our work they
should be directly given to the PLC, rather through the Relay circuit that has three terminals NO,
NC and COMMON terminals. The 24V to the PLC should be in a common terminal of the relay.
Then depending on the signal, the circuit close or open there by connecting to the PLC.

 Output Module
The various output devices used in the bottling process are gear motors, pumps, actuators. The
gear motor is used to run the conveyor in forward direction. Actuators are used for capping the
bottles. The actuator applies a force on the caps which in turn corks the bottles tightly. These are
the various output devices used in the bottling process.

The output modules are:

 DC motor
 Conveyer belt

 Dc Motor
DC Motor is an electromechanical device that can move if the power supply is connected. It
main function is to make the Conveyer belt moves perfectly. There are many types of DC Motor
at market place such as: Gear dc motor, Servo motor, stepper motor….etc. for the time being we
used Gear dc motor for our project.

 Conveyer Belt
The first conveyer belt that carries the bottles to the track to be filled will be made of PVC
(polyvinyl Chloride) to allow for the bottle to slip if it hits the ratchet while another bottle is still
waiting to be grabbed. Also, this will enable us to use a DC motor with relatively small output
power and low speed. The second conveyer belt will be made out of rubber because we need
relatively high coefficient of friction with the bottle to prevent slippage. The motor used here
will be also a DC motor with relatively low speed‐torque capabilities. This is because the load on
the conveyer belt will be low. The diagram blow is the flowchart diagram of the System entirely
containing sensors & processes.

3.7System Model (Block Diagram)

Figure 3.5 Block Diagram of Bottle Filling System

3.8 Flow Chart Of The System

Figure 3.6 flow chart diagram of the entire system

When the start button is pushed the motor starts hence the conveyer belt starts moving.When the
bottle is under the solenoid valve, the bottle is sensed and the motor hence theconveyer belt
stops. Then the solenoid valve operates and the bottle starts filling with water.
When the bottle is filled then the solenoid valve is closed and the motor hence the conveyer belt
start moving and carrying the bottle away from the solenoid valve . If there is any bottle present
in capping machine then the capping machine is cap the bottles. When the bottle capped the
motor and conveyer belt start moving. If another bottle is sensed then the above process will be
repeated. When stop button is pushed then the entire process will be stopped and reset the circuit.

3.9 Process Description

This seminar gives a detailed explanation of the various processes taking place in a
complete bottling system. The filling and capping operations take place in a sequential manner.
When no bottles are kept in the input the system is reset. Depending on the number of bottles fed
into the input side, the corresponding bottles are filled and capped.

3.9.1 Hardware Part:

Our proposed device is consisted of a PLC (LOGO 230 RC), 24V DC Relay, 220V AC
Relay, Sensor, Solenoid valve, Gear motor, Conveyer belt, 24 V DC Source, ON-OFF button and
some connectors. The ON-OFF button Works as the input device. The PLC controls the input
and output according to the program provided to it.
 Solenoid Valve
It is an electromagnetic valve used to control various types of liquids by opening and closing
automatically. Various types of applications are performed by using this solenoid valve.

3.9.2 Software Part:

In software part we are going to discuss about the programs and the logics used. There
are some programming languages for control systems:
 Block diagram (BD)
 Ladder diagram (LD)
In our proposed device the Ladder Diagram (LD) is used. This is to interface the ONOFF
button, programming logic. There are several programming software’s available but in our
device ladder logic is used. It is easy to understand and the programming is made more flexible
to users.
 Ladder logic
Ladder logic is the main programming method used in PLC. Ladder logic is based on
mimic relay logic. The relay logic diagrams are difficult, hence we have selected ladder logic as
main programming method. In modern control systems they used relay but these are not used for
logic. A relay is a device that controls a switch using magnetic field. Relays are used as one
power source close a switch for another power source, while keeping isolated.

3.10 How System Works

3.10.1 Bottle Detection Using Sensor

Bottles are kept in position in their respective holders which are fixed to the Conveyor at
the input side. IR sensors are used to detect the presence of bottles in the holder. Depending on
the output of the sensors the filling and capping operation takes place. A time delay is given in
order to set the status of the bottles. If bottle 1 is present the corresponding Status bit in PLC is
set to 1 else it is set to 0. The outputs of these sensors are given to the PLC and depending on this
output the filling and capping process for the bottles takes place. Thus if all the n bottles are
present in the input side then the sensor gives the corresponding output to the PLC which in turn
switches ON the corresponding pumps for filling operation to take place. If a Particular bottle is
not present the corresponding pumps remain OFF.

3.10.2 Filling Operation

Once the bottles are detected in the input side the conveyor motor switches ON and it
starts moving in the forward direction. The bottles then reach the desired position for Filling and
the conveyor stops. The corresponding pumps in process tank switch ON and filling Operation
takes place. For e.g. if only bottle 1 is present then pump 1 switches ON and pump 2 and pump 3
remain switched OFF. There are three tanks present in the filling side namely: process tank,
concentrate tank (tank 1) and tank to store water (tank 2).Tank 1 and tank 2 have low level and
high level sensors (LLS and HLS) respectively. Process tank has three level sensors (LLS, HLS
and MLS).MLS is used to denote the middle level of the tank. When the liquid in the process
tank reaches below low level (LLS) pumps in tank 1 and tank 2 switches on and the process
tanks get filled. When the level of liquid reaches high level (HLS) the pumps in tank 1 and 2
switch off.

3.10.3 User Defined Wight

The filling operation is accompanied with a user defined weight selection menu. The
desired weight is fed into the PLC and depending on the weight the filling of honey takes place.
The filling is done using timing operations. Thus the pump remains on for the preset value of the
timer and switches off once time is out. Once the filling process is done the conveyor starts
moving again.

3.10.4 Capping Operation

The bottles are transported to the capping arrangement. IR sensors are kept to Stop the
bottles in the desired position for capping to take place. Once the bottles reach the Position the
conveyor motor switches OFF. The capping of bottles is done using actuator arrangement. Three
actuators which move in forward and reverse directions are used to cap the Bottles. The actuator
applies a force on the caps which are placed in their respective holders. This Force helps the caps
to fit into the bottles at the required position. Similar to filling, if a particular bottle is not present
it does not get capped. Thus the capping is done and the conveyor starts moving again. When the
capping operation for one batch is done simultaneously the filling operation for another batch
takes place. The entire sequence of operations continues until there are not bottles present in the
input side. All these are automatically coordinated using the PLC. PLC gets the input from the
input devices and sends the signals to the various output devices Depending on the conditions
that are fed into the PLC. Thus bottles get filled and capped.
3.11 Input And Output Assignment

3.11.1 Input Assignment

Table 1 input addressing and their comments

Name Address Comment
Start I0.0 Start push button to start the
conveyer by means of motor 1
Stop I0.1 Stop push button for stopping
the operation of the whole
system.
Infrared ray sensor 1 (IR1) I0.2 To indicate whether the bottles
are present, have a crack, and
they are cleans.
Limit Switch 1 I0.3 To indicate whether the bottles
reached the place where to be
filled or not.
Weight sensor(Comparator) I0.4 To indicate whether the bottle
is filled or not
Limit switch 2 I0.5 To indicate whether the bottles
reached the place where to be
capped or not.
Infrared ray sensor 2 (IR 2) I0.6 To sense the capping of the
bottle
Infrared ray 3 (IR 3) I0.7 This IR sensor is used to
detect whether the covered
bottles are uplifted or not.
ON delay timer T37 For the continuity of the
process(to recycle the entire
system)
3.11.2 Output Assignment

Table 2 output addressing and Address Function

their function Name
Motor 1 starter coil Q0.0 Used to start the motor 1,
energized by the coil when it
gets signal from input I0.0.
Conveyer belt 1 Q0.1 To transport the bottle when
motor 1 is energized
Lifting motor Q0.2 Used to uplift the bottle
towards the desired place of
filling.
Bottles filler Q0.3 To fill the bottle.
Motor 2 starter coil Q0.4 Used to start motor 2
energized by the coil after gets
a signal from an input I0.4.
Conveyer belt 2 Q0.5 To transport the filled bottle
for a capping towards a
capping machine
Capping machine Q0.6 To cap a filled bottle
Motor 3 starter coil Q0.7 Used to start the motor 3
energized by the coil when it
gets a signal from input I0.6.
Conveyer belt 3 Q1.0 To transport the filled and
capped bottle to the place
where taken by a person from
the system