Elephant Droppings, Halwa and Latex

Great news! Professor Ken Pickar announced that the team that won the $1000 prize is Ideabag! We're thrilled by the news! The $1000 will go towards future prototyping and engineering costs when implementing the first pilot in Kottayam.

The team is continuing in its efforts in the next term.

We would like to thank all the people involved with the class - Dr. Ken Pickar, Nathan Allen, Dr. Jason Cherian, all the students of E/ME105 in Caltech, Art Center and SaintGITS. Special thanks to Mariana Amatullo and Fred Fehlau for making the trip to India possible for the Art Center students.

The final presentations were preceded by a poster session where the 8 teams had set up their demo models and pitched their ideas to the passersby. This was team Ideabag's "booth".

We used colored sand to demonstrate the gravity based mixing process that the team had designed. Apart from sand not playing well with gaps in the acrylic model, the mix that resulted at the other end was pretty uniformly mixed.

The results are promising, and with further engineering, we believe that we will be able to design and build a full scale prototype to be implemented at Vembanad Chemicals facility in Kottayam, Kerala.

Here is a summary of the final presentation we made at Caltech on Monday, December 5th 2011.

The problems as we identified them on our research trip:

From the owner’s perspective, his main concerns were

1. Tools corrode very quickly, and we have to keep replacing them - this costs money.

2. There is a market demand that I am not able to satisfy with the current process

3. How do I scale?

From the workers’ perspective, their main concerns were

1. Manually intensive process, they get tired quickly from all the carrying bags and shoveling

2. Health issues - skin allergies and respiratory problems - because of all the particles that they breathe in (their mixing process is completely exposed, and all the shoveling drives a lot of particulates into the air)

3. They are worried about losing their jobs to machines that will replace them.

Based on this information and understanding the cultural and political context of Kerala, India, Ideabag went to work on the design. These are some of our brainstorming efforts:

Systems level design:

Component Level Design:

Based on feedback from the customer (Vembanad Chemicals) and the E/ME105 class, we ended up with two final designs - The gravity mixer was chosen as the more promising with a cheaper initial cost and we created a prototype to prove the concept.

The team is really keen on taking the design further to a stage where it can be implemented at the customer's factory and tested. Here's what we think the next steps are:

The final presentation is coming up really soon and to demonstrate it's design, team Ideabag created this prototype to show that a gravity mixing method can also mix to a good degree. We will be presenting on Monday the 5th of December at Caltech in a poster session followed by presentations. Join us!

ARETE is addressing issues associated with the storage and movement of latex (one of India's largest natural resources).  Currently,  there is a glaring issue associated with the longevity of the barrels that store the latex in processing plants.  The laborers find it difficult to drain the collected (raw) latex from the barrels and the management experiences a short barrel lifespan largely due damages associated with difficultly moving the barrels from one place to the next.

Key Project Pain:

Barrels cost Rs. 750 each and last for about 6 months because of all the rough handling.

The labor intensive part of the process is transferring the raw latex into tanks.

Laborers slow down as the day goes on because they get tired from rolling barrels.

Key Stakeholders:

Latex Processing Management

Plant workers

Local Farmers

Government

Team Ideabag are trying to come up with simple ways of mixing dry particulates in a cheap and efficient manner and the prototypes shown in the video are demonstrations of the three concepts that we are considering.

Concept 1: Rotary Drum

Good mixing process

Lots of dust created

Quick mixing

Concept 2: Funnel+Blender

Funnel design has potential – no problems except stickiness (see below) that meant that materials don’t go down at the same time

Both flour and sugar stick to itself – got stuck in the funnel so required shaking or poking at it

Smooth funnel shape better than flat bottom with a hole

Mixing box needs to be filled at least ½ or more in order for proper mixing – if less then blades will just push the material to the sides

Fin idea has potential - Fin size needs to match  - not too small, needs to match size of container

Gave a pretty homogeneous mix

Possible improvement for safety: add a long chute to the funnel so particles won’t escape into air when dropping bags

Concept 3: Vibrating Pan

Vibration is good for mixing fine powders of similar particle size

Combination of tilting and vibrating action could work

Larger particle sizes mix well with each other, but not with particles of smaller size

So half of the term is already over! That went really quick, seems like just a few days ago we were riding the Chakalakal travels bus all around Kerala. I wanted to write up an update on what we have been upto for the past 6-7 weeks. And tell you how our team is doing! Firstly, we have a name! Ideabag consists of Alta Fang (Applied Physics at Caltech), Stephanie Kato (Mechanical Engineering at Caltech), Sajith Sundar (Mechanical Engineering @ SaintGITS), Cinny Sunny (MBA at SaintGITS) and Siddharth Vanchinathan (Industrial Design at Art Center College of Design). We have been working really well as a team and we are very committed to having something well designed by the end of the term for the fertilizer industry in Kerala.

Second, some background on the project - In Kerala a large percentage of people are engaged in the agriculture sector. Food crops and cash crops are cultivated relaying on fertilizer. Mixing of fertilizers is done by taking composition of urea, potash, DAP, Rock phosphate etc. depending on crops and as per the recommendation from government agricultural agencies. The mixing of fertilizer is done manually now. There are about 100 manually driven fertilizer mixing units in Kerala.  All the related works are accomplished exclusively with the aid of human intervention and it’s a hectic process.

This is what the current process looks like:

Key Insights from our research:

Fertilizer companies wish to increase their productivity to meet the current demand in the markets.

The companies are ready to invest 3 – 5 lakh rupees in a new tool and they get financing up to 80% from government agencies for this.

Factories cannot standardize the quality due to manual mixing.

Electricity is available and is cheap since most of these factories are located in specially designated industrial zones.

Labor is a huge social and political issue in Kerala state. Being communist, we have to be sensitive to not reduce jobs.

Suspended particulate matter from the mixing process is harmful for respiratory health of workers.

  Opportunities:

Ease the efforts of the laborers and to provide them a good space to work in the factory without health hazards.

Create an enclosed system so that health conditions are improved.

Split up process into sub-systems so that bottlenecks are eliminated.

  Brainstorming:

Load, mix, collect - Parallel Chain - Creating a mixing system with a serial-parallel hybrid to increase the output. Each module can operate independent of each other so that productivity can be increased. For eg, once loading is complete and transferred to mixing, loading can begin again for the second mix while the first mix is going on.

Fragment batch size - Looking at the mixing process, we could split up the mix into smaller batches so that workers can work on each mix themselves. Increases mixing quality because of smaller size. Challenge is how to maintain proportions and transfer raw materials from sacks. This would also be simpler to implement and could easily scale.

Timed Valves - Raw materials are held in large reservoirs whose outputs are controlled by valves. These valves can be regulated with timers to ensure right proportion of mixing.

Platform + Pit - One of the issues with the existing machine is that raw material has to be transported vertically to input into the mixer. So sinking the mixer into the ground level, or adding a platform for operation could reduce the energy required.

Hand Crank + Barrel (Large Batch) - Containing the entire mixing process in a single container that can be rotated by 2 workers to aid mixing.

  System Architecture Possibilities:

  Criteria for Selection:

Productivity

Manual Labor

Health Conditions

Quality of mix

Cost

Feasibility (from our perspective - duration of class)

  Selected Idea:

The highest scoring in our criteria mapping exercise was the fragmented batch sizes idea. We believe that if this idea can be implemented correctly, productivity can be adjusted as per seasonal requirements. Also, we can create a direct relationship between output of mixed fertilizer required and the quantity of the labor force. If demand increases, more labor can be hired to increase production. Also, this would contain elements from some of the other ideas that did not make the cut, including parallel processing to reduce time. We can also encourage specialization amongst workers so that they get adept at the assigned task and over time, can reduce the time required to execute it.

  Mixing process:

First Round of Validation Research:

We took our design sketches and showed them to our customers. And this is what they had to say:

Urgent need of machine to meet the market demand.

Probably better to have an electrified machine than manually driven one.

Prefer to have a batch of 1 ton each, rather than fragmented batches.

Machine that is adaptable to both bio fertilizer and chemical fertilizer.

Prefer to have a machine that can all perform all the processes up to packing of the bags.

  Next Steps:

Take customer feedback into account and go back to the drawing board (Remember, the customer is not always right!)

Consider time left in the term, and discuss work plan for remaining weeks.

What most people don't know is that I journal my thoughts at certain moments. It's not a habit. I only do so a few times a year when a certain feeling washes over me.  I never share.

It's been a while since my journey to India, which for me was new territory.  In that spirit I've decided to share my most recent journal entry. I wrote these words while alone in Mumbai.

"a little more"

More travels, more education, more experience and more debt. I have been blessed with increase of all kinds. The time since last I wrote has also increased. Now, I sit relaxed and can think about the change as well as the same.

I am still small.

I am still a misfit.

I have lost love. I have found love.  

I have joined a band of misfits

I have come to India.

I'm sitting at the Sea Lounge in the Taj Hotel. My immediate view is clear, the distant view out of the window is not.  It is the metaphor I live. Two nights ago I'm almost certain I was the only black man at a religious festival of thousands.  It was a true experience-the type that humbles in the right way.  I wish I knew more about what it meant. I like to tell myself that I know exactly where I'm going and what I am doing. That's not the truth. The truth is, I'm more often thankful for just moving. I'm not sure that the full joy of life can be experienced when the future path is known. Who knows?

Meenachil Latex Processing

Kottayam District of Kerala

India happens to supply a large portion of the worlds natural rubber. Kerala, supplies most of India.  Here at Meenachil, in Kottayam, one can see the laborers that make the massive export volumes possible.

Vembanad Chemicals in Kottayam Industrial sector manufactures upto 36 tons of fertilizer everyday. They use manual labour to mix the raw materials and then bag the finished mixture. Loading and unloading onto trucks is also done by the same workers. The mixing process is a manual process using 2 shovels that erode because of the chemical content of the raw materials. Ventilation is a problem as well with all the particulates being suspended during the mixing process.

Materials: 

There are 5-6 basic raw materials that come in 50kg bags including Potash, Urea, Bone Dust etc. These bags are brought in by laborers carrying them on their heads.

Process:

1. Bags are emptied onto the floor in a specific order over the same pile in this pre mixing process.

2. 20 bags are emptied onto the floor. Each bag = 50kg. Therefore total output in every round is 1 ton. 36 such rounds are done daily.

3. Some of the raw material is required to be sieved. The sieve is corroded from the chemicals in the raw materials.

4. Mixing is done in two steps. The mixture is separated into two piles for the first round of mixing and then collected back together into a single pile in the second round.

5. The fertilizer is then bagged and weighed.

6. An electric sewing machine is used to seal the bags.

Key Takeaways:

Workers suffer from respiratory and skin diseases because of the raw materials. They are paid well though - Rs. 500 - 1500 per day based on output.

Storage of materials is an issue. The stacking sometimes collapses and injures people.

The cane factory in many parts of the state produces furniture from cane. Cane is imported from eastern states of India or from Malaysia. Workers are also from out of state as skill level required for manipulating this material is high. They are paid very well (upto Rs. 1200 per day). 

Materials:

Process:

1. Scraping the nodes and bark off the cane stock.

2. Heating the cane to bend it.

3. Joining different parts of the chair by hammering nails.

4. Weaving cane fibre into the chair to strengthen it and hide the nails.

5. Final product is varnished and left to dry.

Key Takeaways:

Craftsmanship is a key component of the production process and is what contributes to the final worth of the product.

Most workers are from out of state and are trained in this skill since a young age in an apprenticeship model.

The students from SaintGITS institute of management and the engineering college put on a very colorful cultural show for the visitors. The performances included various forms of classical Indian dances, pulikali, a national integration skit and other onam related celebrations.