consulting services for a technical assessment of the stills at the ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Executive Summary This assignment had two main tasks: i) Inspect the installation of both the Commiphora and mopane still; ii) Conduct small processing trials and rectify any problems immediately if possible; The tasks above were designed to lead to an assessment and identification of the technical problems as well as any recommendations as to how these might be practically solved in order to get the processing facility situated in Opuwo fully functional. It was also imperative to get both the oil distillation plants working and producing oil without too many changes to the current equipment, to train the staff on the operation and maintenance of the stills and to establish a basis for standard operating procedures for the facility. The assignment was carried out from the 22 nd to the 26 th of March 2011. Key Findings General facility • changes to the electrical supply and fittings is needed, • upgrading water quality and supply, • installation of drainage and waste removal for a safer working environment. Mopane distillation • pods needs to be pre processed using a suitable machine, • stainless steel baskets need a re-usable material cover to facilitate stilling, loading and unloading. Commiphora distillation • steam distillation is superior to hydro distillation for Commiphora extraction in oil yield, separation and cleaning of equipment after distillation, • hand pre processing is the easiest and most convenient method, • establish best seal and basket arrangement in the pot for the current use of the hydro still as steam still. Key Recommendations General facility • employing a contractor to make the necessary changes to the electrical system, • employing a contractor to make the necessary changes to the water supply system, Report on the Technical Assessment of the Stills at the Opuwo Processing Facility (April 2011) Page 1
• testing the water quality and making the necessary changes to supply the boiler with suitable quality water, • employing a contractor to make the necessary changes to the drainage for cleaner and safer working area, • establish standard operating protocols once the facility is fully operational. Mopane distillation • to send some mopane pods to a hammer mill supplier to test different size equipment to establish the best pre processing means before purchasing of equipment, • have a supplier make up some removable hessian covers for the chain baskets. Commiphora distillation • building custom sorting tables to facilitate the pre processing of the Commiphora, • acquiring more baskets and seals to use the full capacity of the current pot and to have an extra set to facilitate and speed up the loading, unloading and cleaning process of the pots and baskets, • look at acquiring a pot custom designed for the steam distillation of the Commiphora in the long term. 1. Background In 2004, IRDNC started investigating the possibility of commercial harvesting of Commiphora resin. Commiphora wildii is endemic to north western Namibia and spontaneously produces large quantities of resin in response to environmental stresses. The resin is similar to myrrh but can be sustainably harvested. Attempts at marketing the resin have met with limited success. Current indications are that the market would prefer to purchase the essential oil rather than having to deal with extracting it from the raw resin. Also, processing it locally adds value to the product and reduces the high costs of transporting the heavy drums of resin. This was the motivation for applying for funding to ICEMA to build a processing facility in Opuwo. Similarly, the bulk of the bags of mopane seeds and the associated challenges with transportation and storage motivated the purchase of the mopane still. The building was erected at the IRDNC Training Centre on the outskirts of Opuwo, the town closest to the PPOs that produce the raw material. The building was jointly funded by IRDNC and ICEMA. In 2009 two steam distillation units, a hydro/water still and a direct injected steam still, were commissioned by the ICEMA project to process the Commiphora resin and the Colophospermum mopane seeds harvested by Kunene Producer and Processor Organizations. These were collected from South Africa and delivered to Opuwo in May 2010. Due to delays in the installation of the three phase electricity at the site, the equipment could not be connected and tested. The ICEMA High Value Plants Project ended in June 2010. Report on the Technical Assessment of the Stills at the Opuwo Processing Facility (April 2011) Page 2
Page 1 and 2: Final Report CONSULTING SERVICES FO
Page 3: Table of Contents Executive Summary
Page 7 and 8: 1. Whole unprocessed pods 2. Crushe
Page 9 and 10: 3.2 Mopane trials The following are
Page 11: 3. Acquire a strong enough hammer m

consulting services for a technical assessment of the stills at the ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?