The tea industry is a lifeline of this country. Needless to say survival of the tea industry is a pre requisite for the wellbeing of the country and is also a life line for a larger portion of the plantations workers. For the tea industry to survive and move forward to the next decade the [...]

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New solutions to the tea industry

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The tea industry is a lifeline of this country. Needless to say survival of the tea industry is a pre requisite for the wellbeing of the country and is also a life line for a larger portion of the plantations workers.

For the tea industry to survive and move forward to the next decade the industry should pay more attention to energy conservation and also adopt best engineering practices.

Over the years the good practices the founding tea manufacturing planters started have deteriorated. It is important and for the survival of the tea industry that the best engineering practices are maintained.

In this connection Mite Systems Inc has introduced the following solutions to the problems:

1. Temperature controller/alarm

This also leads to lesser pollution and lesser emissions.

It is well known that good teas are obtained only from even firing. Since the ID fan temperature is not monitored the amount of energy wasted is enormous. It may be very safe to assume the wastage is around 20 per cent.

As the name implies, a temperature controller is an instrument used to control temperatures, mainly without extensive operator involvement. A controller in a temperature control system will accept a temperature sensor such as a thermo couple as input and compare the actual temperature to the desired control temperature or set point. It will then provide an output to a control element. The controller takes an input from a temperature sensor from the ID fan outlet and has an output that is connected to a control element such as sirens.

The thermo couple is fixed at the ID fan exit and the temperatures are set plus or minus 5 to 10 degrees as the required set point. Any temperatures out of the range will trigger a signal enabling corrective action since more firewood will increase the ID fan outlet temperature to increase and waste firewood and will lead to uneven firing.
The equipment is reasonably priced and carries a 6 months’ warranty and estimated to have a ROI of less than 1 month.

All tea factories which have experienced this unique equipment have been more than satisfied, with repeat orders being made.

2. Technical Audit (Best Engineering Practices/Fire Risk Management /Energy)

Improves system reliability/Lower maximum demand /Improves energy efficiency /Employee participation

The audit is one of the first tasks to be performed in accomplishing an effective management programme designed to improve efficiency and reduce the operating costs of a facility.

A review is an investigation of all factors of an organizations historical and current usage with the objective of identifying and quantifying areas of wastage. This data is then analysed to get a picture of how the facility uses –and possibly wastes –, as well as to help the auditor learn what areas to examine to reduce costs. An energy review establishes the baseline for any improvements in the usage of energy. It provides a comprehensive and a systematic method for targeting cost effective efficiency gains.

There are many areas for improvements without significant capital investment. The phases relating to this study are investigation, analysis and reporting.

An energy audit report typically contains a description of the existing energy consuming equipment, an energy balance and most importantly, a presentation of feasible energy conservation measures (ECMs).

The report includes a description of the existing conditions, a description of the proposed ECM, expected annual savings associated with the ECM, expected cost to implement the ECM, simple payback and/or other financial measures, such as return on investment or life cycle savings. ECM’s are identified and evaluated to determine their benefits. These ECM’s are assessed in terms of their costs and benefits, and an economic comparison is made.

A saving of about 10-15 per cent is envisaged. ROI for the consultancy component can be less than two months. Industry experts have given a thumbs up signal for this highly valuable project.

(The writer is a Consultant to the tea industry, a Chartered Engineer and also an Accredited Energy Auditor of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Sri Lanka)

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