Title: Performance evaluation of automating the sterilisation process in a palm oil mill

Authors: Sivasothy Kandiah, Masitah Hasan, Mashkuri Yaacob

Addresses: Chemistry & Technology Division, Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM), PO Box 10620, 50720 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ' Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ' Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Malaya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: Sterilisation is the first step in the processing of oil palm fruit bunches. The current practice is carried out by a series of valve movements for deaeration, followed by steaming with intermediate blow-offs. Since there would be a number of sterilisers in a palm oil mill, proper sequencing of valve movements is essential to ensure steam requirements are sufficiently met for proper sterilisation. This paper is a development for the control of the sterilisation process based on the use of a personal computer and a programmable logic controller. Evaluations were made in one of the local palm oil mills in Malaysia, based on the number of unstripped bunches. The developed system improved the capability of monitoring the process.

Keywords: process automation; computer control; palm oil mills; process industry; sterilisation; PC-based systems; performance evaluation; process monitoring; valve movements; steam requirements.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.1992.062590

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 1992 Vol.5 No.1, pp.53 - 66

Published online: 10 Jun 2014 *

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