Abstract

The course of Instrumentation II is essentially related to design issues an electrical engineer faces in his/her career. The design we perform on classes and labs are not adequate as they dont involve the rightful applications. Thus we have been asked to conduct a case study on a production industry related to our field and view how actual design principles are in practice.

This report presents an overview of the practical applications of electronics in Aqua Minerals Nepal Pvt. Ltd. There is nothing such as perfect in real world. Thus, we are proposing some modification in the plant to improve its production capacity efficiently.

We are not boasting that our proposed design is more faultless than the current one. As every coin has two sides the proposed design can also have its own flaws along with the new efficiency. However, being an electrical Engineer we believe that our proposed design can improve the efficiency of the existing plant.

Table of contents
Acknowledgements Abstract Table of contents List of Figures A) Organizational Background 1. Introduction 2. Historical Background 3. Social Needs 4. Current Status B) Description of Plant 1. Importing Spring water from various parts of Kathmandu 2. Purification of Water 3. Washing and Filling of bottles 4. Storage C) Case Study Report 1. Objectives of Case Study 2. Current condition of Plant 3. Problems 4. Proposed designs to solve the problems D) Conclusions and Recommendations Field visit Photos i ii iii iv 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 5 7 8 8 8 8 9 15 16

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Many have contributed to the successful preparation of this report. We would like to place our grateful thanks to each one of them. The report is being prepared to meet the particular requirement of case study report as an integral part of the course instrumentation II. We are thankful to all the staffs of AQUA MINERALS PVT .LTD for their co-operation and helping us in knowing the process of bottling and purification system. We are also thankful to all the staffs for their kindness and the friendly behavior. We record our grateful thanks to Er. SHUBARNA MAHARJAN for helping us in report preparation. Also we would like to place grateful thanks to Department of Computer and Electronics of Advanced College of Engineering and Management for accepting our request.

Historical Background
1. Introduction
Aqua Minerals Nepal Pvt. Ltd. is one of the branch of Dugad group. From its time of establishment it has been providing safe drinking water in the Kathmandu valley as well as in different parts of country. It is located in the Balaju industrial area. The factory located in Balaju has an automated plant to clean the jars. Manual handling of bottles to enter into the chamber could result in a variety of contamination and the automated plant puts all these fear factors at bay. Hyperozonation technique is used to sterilize the jars and Aqua Minerals Pvt. Ltd. is the only company in Nepal to use this form of patented technology for sterilizing jars after washing.

2. Historical Background
Aqua Minerals Nepal Private Limited was established in 1992. When there was hardly any player in the bottled water business. One brand that existed at that time was Star Water. For last 19 years, Aqua Hundred has emerged as a trusted name in the market. Today more than 25 companies are in the same market and there are as many as four-five companies selling their products with the name Aqua hundred.

3. Social Needs:
The water around is not clean as it used to be some decades ago though treated to check any type of contamination. The rusty and old supply pipelines, discharge of chemicals and industrial waters, vehicular pollution, sewage seepage could render the water undrinkable. Aqua Mineral Nepal has treated theirs plants to bring out the safest and purest water in the market. Aqua Mineral Nepal believes in Drink safe water and be healthy, hence provide clean and safe water by implementing all the measures that gives the safest water in the country.

4. Current Status
Aqua Mineral Nepal has been ISO: 9001:2000 certified by the Government of Ministry of Health. The Boss Business Magazine in the 2004/05 fiscal year has ranked it Nepals No.1 selling water. Daily Production is about 2000 bottles.

Plant section:
The production of drinking water in Aqua Minerals Nepal Pvt. Ltd. broadly involves four steps: 1. Importing spring water 2. Purification of Water 3. Washing and filling of bottles 4. Storage

1. Importing spring water

As there is no boring plant in Aqua Mineral Nepal, the company has to import water. It imports spring water from various part of Kathmandu such as ichanugu etc.

2. Purification of Water
Purification of water is a very important process. The brand name depends on the production pure water. The basic block diagram for purification of water is shown below:

Chlorine

Sand Filter (Removes Suspended Particles) AM Filter (Anthracite & Manganese Filter)

Spring Water

Sedimentation Tank (Sediment for 6-8 hours) + Chlorination

Carbon Filter (Removes Organic Residue) Softener (Removes hardness of water) Bag Filter (Removes microscopic particles up to 5 microns) Candle Filter

Pure Water for packaging (Should be left for at least 4 hours before drinking)

Ozone Contact Tank

Reverse Osmosis

Ozone Generator

Fig 1. Water Purification Plant

Water

is obtained as spring water. The water is then collected in Sedimentation Tank. The simple process of sedimentation allows heavy suspended particles to settle down. The process of chlorination is also performed in this tank. Chlorination is the process of adding the element chlorine to water as a method of water purification to make it fit for human consumption as drinking water. Water, which has been treated with chlorine, is effective in preventing the spread of disease.

Next, pressurized water is passed through a variety of filters as shown in the figure. First, the water is passed through sand filter. A sand filter is a basic tool of water purification passing flocculated water through a sand filter strains out the floc and the particles trapped within it. The medium of filter is sand of varying grades. As water flows through the sand, impurities such as solids, precipitates, turbidity and in some cases even bacterial particles are filtered out. After being filtered through the sand filter water is then filtered for any anthracite and manganese through AM filter.

Next, water is passed through Carbon filter. Carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine and volatile organic compounds from water. They are not generally effective at removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds. Spring water generally is exposed to variety of minerals underground. This causes the formation of hard water. Hard water is the one with high mineral content. Hard water deposits can serve as a medium for bacterial growth and irritation. During purification the mineral ions are exchanged with the ions that dont cause hardness.

Then, water is passed through bag filter to remove suspended particles smaller than 5 microns and finally through candle filter.

After completion of the purification reverse osmosis is performed. The term reverse osmosis comes from the process of osmosis, the natural movement of solvent from an area of low solute concentration, through a membrane, to an area of high solute concentration if no external pressure is applied. Reverse osmosis is the process of pushing a solution through a filter that traps the solute on one side and allows the pure solvent to be obtained from the other side. More formally, it is the process of forcing a solvent from a region of high solute concentration through a membrane to a region of low solute concentration by applying a pressure in excess of the osmotic pressure. This process removes minerals in the water and is best known for its used in desalination.

The final stage of purification involves sterilizing water with ozone. Ozone is bubbled in ozone contact tank to sterilize water from any remaining contamination. Ozone is an excellent sterilizing agent without any side effects. As ozone is unstable it breaks down into oxygen molecules after some time.

3. Washing and filling of bottles

The PC (Polycarbonate) jars are the reusable jars. They have a capacity of holing 19 liters of water. The company distributes filled jars and collects the empty jars from the customers.

The equipments used are fine at performing the corresponding job assigned to them. The equipments are from Cap Snap Co. The equipment is separated into two sections for washing and filling water respectively. The overall block diagram is shown below.

Manual input of unclean bottles

Automatic Jet Washer (Cap Snap Co.)

Clean bottles

Filler and Capper

Delivery Trolley

Fig 2. Washing and Filling of PC jars

The reusable jars encounter a variety of environments and thus are susceptible to contamination. The first process is thus cleaning of the jars as soon as they arrive at the company. Although the machine cleaning is sufficient enough, the jars are first manually cleaned by sprinkling detergent water. Then the jars are transported to automatic jet washer. An employee observes for any cracks and unwanted residues that cannot be removed. S/He then manually mounts them in the Automatic Jet Washer one by one. The bottles are rotated in a convey halting at certain points. When halted a jet of detergent water with chlorine jets into the jar. Next it is washed by recalculating water. Then the jar is washed by hyper ozonated water to remove any remaining infections. Finally when the bottle is filled with pure ozonated water it is still being disinfected.
3 nozzles placed horizontally 2 spraying outside and 1 spraying inside

Bottles for washing

nozzles spraying detergent and water for cleaning

To Filler and Capper

Fig 3. Automatic Jet Washer

Fig 4. Jars coming out of Automatic Jet Washer The Automatic Jar Washer performs the first three tasks. The water is filled and the jar sealed at Filler and Capper. The Filler and Capper section first detects the arrival of jar and lifts them off the convey belt. It is then filled with pure water. The jar is not released until the next one arrives. After being released the caps are placed on the mouth of the bottle and sealed. The filled jars are then loaded in a trolley and taken to storage facility.

Fig 5. Washed Jars entering Filler and Capper Section

4. Storage
The ozonated water is not suitable for drinking. Since, ozone is unstable it breaks down into oxygen molecules, the water has to be left aside for at least four hours. Aqua Minerals Nepal Pvt. Ltd., however, stores the recently packed jars for one whole day. They are dispatched only on the other day.

Case Study Report

1. Objectives of Case Study
The case study was conducted to research about the application of different designs of electronics. We were guided to find any problems in the existing plant and propose a design to solve the problem. In our case we chose to study about problems related to Aqua Minerals Nepal Pvt. Ltd. The case study was conducted with following motives Acquaintance with electronics design in commercial field Derive faults in current system if any Propose solutions to boost the efficiency of the system

2. Current Condition of Plant

The processing plant of Aqua Mineral Nepal has been installed in Balaju Industrial State 18 years ago using German technology under the supervision of German Engineers and Technicians. Recently, all the processing plants are being closely monitored by Nepalese technicians (24/7).

The plant has been working smoothly and it has not specified any major complains to the technicians yet.

3. Problems
Perfection cannot be achieved without having some faults. Even though there may be various faults they are not always obvious. Efficiency may be increased simply changing small arrangement in the design. Aqua Minerals Nepal Pvt. Ltd. too has no obvious faults; however, we have found it to be inefficient in some sections such as: Wastage of water during cleaning as water is jetted continuously even when jars are not in place. Filling of water is based on timing circuit thus actual quantity of water may not be packed in a jar.

4. Proposed designs to solve the problems

Load Cell

Multiplexer
Temperature Sensor (e.g. LM 35) Jar Sensor1 (e.g. IR, limit switch) Jar Sensor2 (e.g. IR, limit switch) Jar Sensor3 (e.g. IR, limit switch) Jar Sensor6 (e.g. IR, limit switch)

Instrumentation Amplifier

ADC

Motor3 on/off control

Temperature Control

Capper

2bit Port A

Motor1 on/ off control

Motor2 on/off control Port B

Electromagneti c Lift

Buffer 2 bit Microcontroller (89c51, 89c52) PPI (8255 )

3 bit

Solenoid Valves in Automatic Jet Washer

INTR

Solenoid Valve for filling Pure Water

Electromagnetic Gate Port C

Jar Sensor4 (e.g. IR, limit switch)

UP/ DOWN Counter

DAC

Comparater

Keypad

LCD Display Jar Sensor5 (e.g. IR, limit switch )

Fig 6. Block Diagram of Proposed Design

The purification of the water is quite perfect and employs a number of filters to remove impurities and infections. However, the washing and filling stations employ electro mechanics. The current system is only based on the timing sequences. The processes repeat itself in a fixed duration of time. The disorder in any timing sequences can disrupt the whole system. Also, if any sequence is to be rearranged the entire system may have to be dismantled for a small purpose.

Here, we purpose a microprocessor based automatic washing and filling station, which has a much easier control structure.

The different instruments and devices we propose to add are:

1. Jar Sensor: These can be anything from simple limit switch to IR sensors to detect the presence of the jar at that position. The detected signal is used as an input to microcontroller or the counter. 2. Solenoid Valve: Solenoid valve are valves controlled via electrical signals. The proposed design uses four of them. Three solenoid valves are used in the Automatic Jet Washer while the final one is used to fill the jar with pure water. 3. Temperature Sensor: Although temperature sensor is already present in the previous design we will use the temperature sensor to maintain the temperature using heaters and coolers. 4. Load Cell: Previously no weighing machine was used. The time a jar took to fill was estimated to be around 10-12 seconds. Now we proposed to add a weighing machine and weigh the amount of water filled. The weight information will be used to control the amount of water. 5. User Keypad: This is a new feature allows user to make different modifications according to his need. 6. Electromagnetic Lift: This is a magnetic lift used to lift the jars during filling of water. 7. Press: This may be a hydraulic press or any other one to seal the jar. 8. LCD Display: The display shows the temperature in the automatic jar washer and the total no of production in the factory.

The block diagram of the proposed automatic jar washer is as shown in Fig 7. The new jet washer incorporates the use of jar sensors to jet the water in the corresponding slot. If the jar is into present in a slot then the corresponding jet will not eject water. This design allows the plant to save water, detergent and hyper ozonated water.

First the jets are in the off state. As soon as the motors stall the sensors check the corresponding location. If the slot is full then the solenoid valve corresponding to the slot is activated. After 10 seconds the jets are turned off and the motor rotates for about 2 sec to move the jar to next cleaning location. Again the slots are checked and results verified to open the equivalent solenoid valve. After the washing is complete the jars are passed on to the conveyer belt to pass the jar to Filling and capping station.

A
Jar Sensor1 Jar Sensor2 Jar Sensor3

:To Microcontroller :From Microcontroller

S1, S2, S3 : Solenoid Valve

A
A
Temp Sensor

B
S1

B
S2

B
S3

The State Diagram of the automatic jar washer and up counter is as follows.
Activate Heater Or Cooler

M
All jets OFF Afer 2 Sec Convey Motor ON After 10 Sec

Fig 7. Proposed Automatic Jar washer

pe

ra

tu r

tT em

bi

Reset

m Te

n is re its u at lim er

w ot

ith

in
sl o t

Jet 1 ON

Am

en

After the jar is washed it is transported to the filling section by a convey line. But it should be remembered that convey should transport the jars smoothly without any traffic. The speed of convey is low and there is usually no traffic, however if two or three jars simultaneously arrive at

r te Af 10 c Se

Ja

r is

he nt

Jet 2 ON

Convey Motor OFF

Jar is on the slot Jar is on the slot Jet 3 ON

Convey belt to filler is full

Washed Jar Released

Count Up

Fig 8. State Diagram of Automatic Jar Washer

the filling section then there is a chaos and the filler and capper would have to shut down to remove the jars.

Our proposed design has taken this in consideration and added an up/down counter which counts the number of jars stranded in the convey belt. If the no of jars is more than a specified value then the convey and the automatic jar washer is shut down to fix the problem.
B : From Microcontroller C : To Counter E : Electromagnetic gate

Jar Sensor 4

Jar Sensor 5

C E B

Fig 9. Proposed conveyer to transport the jars

Here the jar sensor 4 triggers the up-counter while jar sensor 5 triggers the down-counter

The State diagram of the convey is as follows:

Reset

Convey belt to filler is full Convey Motor ON Convey Motor OFF

Fig 10. State diagram of the motors in the proposed conveyer

The main section of the plant is the filler and capper. After being washed the jars arrive passing through the conveyer belt. These jars are accepted one by one. As the jars are accepted the count in the conveyer is decreased. The jars are stopped by the second magnetic gate where it is lifted from convey by the magnetic lift. As the jar is lifted the nozzle enters the mouth of the bottle. The solenoid valve 4 is opened to fill the product water. The load cell is the top segment of the lift, which continuously monitors the weight of the jar. As the weight of the jar approaches the required value the solenoid valve is turned off and the jar is released. The jar then accepts a cap, which is known when the jar arrives at jar sensor 6. Then the press seals the jar after a short duration. As the jar is sealed the jar is also accounted to the count showing total no of production

A : To Microcontroller B : From Microcontroller S : Solenoid Valve S B Cap Spinner Press B

Jar Sensor 6

A E Load Cell ElectroMagnetic Lift B

Seal the Cap

M
Rise Lift

Fig 11 : Proposed Filler and Capper

Reset Activate Sensor
Gate Close

After 2 Sec Activate Sensor Both Magnetic Gate Open

Weight is enough Water nozzle OFF Weight is enough Water nozzle ON Weight is enough Release Lift Jar is ready

Activate Sensor
Activate Sensor

Count Down

Jar is ready

Fig 12. State Diagram of Filler and Capper section

D) Conclusions
In todays era, all things have been derived from tactical to practical. As an Electronics engineer, it is our duty and necessity to update all the old machineries equipment and propose the new technology to be in tune in this modern era.

We visited Aqua Mineral Nepal on the verge of our Case Study in which we have proposed to use Microcontroller Based Instruments to replace the old machineries for more user friendly and flexible system. In out case study, we went through all the inspections of the plant and found that certain part of the plant can be made Microcontroller based which will help for more and better production of water as well as be more friendly to the user.

E) Recommendation
The plant at Aqua Minerals Nepal Pvt. Ltd is one of its kinds in Nepal. It is fully automated applying the American technology. However, the plant was not microprocessor based. A microprocessor based automated plant is a much better choice. Thus, we have proposed a microprocessor-based system, which is supposed to increase the efficiency of the production.

The proposed model is a user controllable one. The necessary adjustments during installation and repair can be performed with a simple push of a button. The obligatory modifications during the course of time can also be performed similarly.

REFERENCES 1. Internet search---www.greym.com

2. Instrumentation design-k.flower 3. 8085-microprocessor-R.gaonker 4. 8086 and interfacing-D.V hall