BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT

STUDENT NAME: MUNJOMA JOSEPH

REG NUMBER: B211220B

COURSE CODE: CH206

COURSE DESCRIPTION: QUALITY MANAGEMENT SKILLS

TITLE: INDUSTRIAL VISIT TO VARUN BEVERAGES IN HARARE

INTRODUTION

Varun Beverages Limited is an India-based beverage company. The Company operates

franchisee of PepsiCo. The Company produces and distributes a range of carbonated soft drinks
(CSDs), as well as a large selection of non-carbonated beverages (NCBs), including packaged
drinking water sold under trademarks owned by PepsiCo. PepsiCo CSD brands produced and
sold by VBL include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Seven-Up, Mirinda Orange, Mirinda Lemon, Mountain
Dew, Mountain Dew Ice, Seven-Up and Sting. PepsiCo NCB brands produced and sold by the
Company include Tropicana Slice, Tropicana Juices, Nimbooz, as well as packaged drinking
water under the brand Aquafina. VBL has approximately 31 manufacturing plants in India and
over six manufacturing plants in other countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Zambia and
Zimbabwe. Varun Beverage Limited has also made significant investments towards
establishing a robust back-end infrastructure, be it manufacturing of preforms, crowns,
caps, shrink-wrap films, corrugated boxes and plastic crates. This ensures that VBL’s
reliance on third party vendors is limited. It also helps the company harness operating
leverage benefits, thereby lending fillip to margins. There is a 24 hour production process at
the plant which is done to meet the market demands.
Product safety and quality compliance is at the heart of the PepsiCo growth strategy. PepsiCo has
deployed actionable global programs and quality management systems that monitor performance
against compliance targets set in each sector. These programs include internal and third-party
audits and verification systems, providing checks and balances across the end-to-end operations
of the company. Compliance programs and quality management systems are housed within the
Research and Development (R&D) function. Specifically, the compliance team includes Food
Safety, Quality Assurance, Scientific Affairs, and Regulatory Affairs, supported with input from
many other functions within PepsiCo. Food safety and quality performance, including recalls and
regulatory inspections, are reviewed in sector and global PepsiCo Executive Product Integrity
Council (EPIC) meetings on a quarterly and annual basis, respectively. In addition, PepsiCo
tracks and reviews food safety information with its Board of Directors at least annually.
PepsiCo has strong global quality and food safety standards. Qualified ingredients from
approved suppliers are used and all applicable regulations issued by regulatory authorities are
followed. The products are traceable, which enables them to quickly investigate and address any
potential concerns in the marketplace. The facilities conduct mock recalls on at least an annual
basis to ensure readiness to respond to any incident. On the rare occasions when incidents occur,
quick action is taken and robust investigations are conducted
PepsiCo Quality & Food Safety College delivers capability building solutions in support of the
organization’s strategies and objectives. These tailored training sessions are available to all
workers whose roles impact the safety and quality of our products, including the R&D function,
plant managers, quality and food safety managers, lab personnel, and frontline associates. They
are delivered through both virtual and in-person platforms and are available to employees of
company-owned, franchise-owned, joint venture and independent manufacturing facilities.

WATER PRETREATMENT
Water used in the Varun Beverages Ltd, before ensuring production, the raw water which is
supplied by Harare Council is treated first in the water treatment plant. In this stage hard water is
converted into soft water by the demineralization process for the soft drink base, this is done by
the reverse osmosis process.
Initially water is treated with Ferric Chloride and chlorine in the treatment tank and becomes
turbid. All impurities get settled at the base and remove the turbidity. Then it is sent to the carbon
tank where all the microorganisms and chlorine are removed. The water obtained is completely
free from any kind of impurities and can be used for further processing.

FUNCTION OF THE EQUIPMENT INVOLVED IN WATER TREATMENT

1. Sand filter
It filters the water with the help of sand. It is cleaned monthly by water (backflow of
water) and the sand is changed annually.

2. Activated carbon filter

It contains a small layer of sand and its function is to remove the chlorine and also some
hydrocarbons from the water. It is cleaned by steam at 85oC for 45 minutes.

3. Softer filters
It removes water hardness (calcium and Magnesium ions). It is changed by 10% brine
solution and cleaned by reverse water flow.

4. Reverse osmosis
It cleans the water on the principle of reverse osmosis.

5. U.V.Light
It removes all the remaining harmful bacteria.
OZONATION
Ozonation is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) using ozone, which is a reactive gas with low
solubility, usually generated on-site (to achieve a 1–2 ppm dose) through dry air, or pure oxygen
through high-voltage corona discharge. Once dissolved in water it undergoes complex
decomposition and oxidation reactions. Some systems utilize titanium to provide a residual
action. Like UV irradiation, ozone is considered a technology to be used near the point of
application because it has a short half-life, therefore maintaining significant residual
concentrations throughout a piped system is hard to achieve. A broad spectrum of bacteria,
fungus and molds are killed. Ozone destroys objectionable taste and odor causing compounds
together with being pH neutral. At Varun Beverages, after all the bottles have been washed
from the manufacturing side ozone is used to sterilize the bottles in the cold sterilization
process before the finished product of beverage is sealed in. Surface sanitation in which
aqueous ozone is used reduces microbes , maintains a sanitary facility and eliminates
background odors.

BEVERAGE MAKING

SYRUP PRODUCTION
The sugar is taken by the rotary is then delivered into the dumping tank. The tank
contain treated water at a temperature of 700C (so that sugar dissolves equally without
the formation of any lumps)
Syrup room
 Sugar from the market is analyzed to ensure standard quality.
 Sugar dumping process
 cyclone concentrators(separate heavier sugar from powders)
Fine sugar not ideal
 pumped to different tanks of different recipes
 Raw syrup tanks at 45degree Celsius to increase solubility of the sugar.
 Syrup 14000liters sugar dumped into tanks according to expectations.
 Formulations are agitated in concentration tanks
 syrup tanks(agitations using air filters and expected brick of sugars are added till the
desired concentration is obtained)
Process flow diagram for the syrup production
Carbon Dioxide supply
Beverage production is done 24hours, therefore 8000kg of carbon dioxide is needed to run all the
four lines of production for 24hours.
The carbon dioxide used to make the carbonated soft drinks at Varun is supplied by BOC gases,
and also by other countries like Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. The carbon dioxide is stored
in liquid phase in two 50000kg (filled up to 48 000kg) and 80 000kg (filled up to 78 000kg)
storage tanks with a pressure of 16 bars.
Before the carbon dioxide is offloaded into the storage tanks, it is first analyzed for impurities in
the lab by a microbiologist. The carbon dioxide is reacted with sodium hydroxide and the NaOH
will react with all the carbon dioxide living all the impurities. In order for the CO2 to be used in
beverage making, it must be 99.9% pure and if it is less than that, it is rejected because it will be
very harmful.
Pressure difference is used to offload CO2 from the tankers into the storage tanks since the CO2
in the tankers will have a pressure of 20 bars.
The CO2 required during the production of carbonated soft drinks must be in gaseous form and
since it is stored in liquid form, it is first passed through the vaporizer where it is turned into gas.
The gas will have a pressure of 100KPa. Only one tank is run at a time because if all of them are
run, in the event that one of them is empty before the others, the CO2 will first fill the empty
tank before going to the vaporizer then the production plant due to pressure difference.
The storage facility must be locked at all times.

Beverage cooling system

Glycol because of its very low melting point of -12.9oC than water, it is used to cool the
beverage to increase carbon dioxide solubility.
Ammonia is a primary refrigerant supplied by BOC gases and is stored in the receiver in liquid
form. From receiver, ammonia enters into the vaporizer where the heat exchange process with
glycol takes place. NH3 cools the glycol which is used during production. After cooling glycol, it
will have a high temperature (turns into gas) therefore it sucked by the compressor and pumped
back to the receiver. Before the ammonia gas enters into the receiver, it is cooled by condensers
using water. The cooling of glycol is a continuous cycle.
The amount of ammonia in the evaporator is controlled by the solenoid valve. The solenoid valve
is protected by a strainer which
PROPORTIONING AND FILLING
Before filling the bottles, the syrup first passes through the de aeration tank (vacuum pump ducks
the air out) which removes the oxygen from the beverage because the oxygen makes the bottles
full before they are actually filled with the beverage.
From the dearation tank, it is pumped to the mixing pump where the syrup and water are mixed
together in the correct ratio. Pepsi syrup is diluted in the 1:5 ratio whereas mirinda is diluted in
the 1:4 ratio. Of all the mirinda drinks, the grape flavor is the sweetest because its syrup is made
from 10 brinks of sugar whereas the other flavors are made from 9 brinks of sugar.
From the mixing pump, the diluted drink passes through the heat exchanger where the beverage
is cooled by glycol before carbon dioxide is added in order to increase the solubility of carbon
dioxide in the soft drink.
The cooled soft drink then go to the paramixer, where it is mixed with carbon dioxide.
Finally the ready beverage enters the clean bottles at the filler. The filled bottles are sealed
at the capper or crowner then they are labelled, best before date printed on the necks and packed
ready for market.

The process flow diagram below showing the proportioning and filling process
The picture above shows the overall beverage production process
QUALITY CONTROL PARAMETERS.
Checking beverages Quality Parameters (Brix, TA, torque, Gas Volume, net content, inverted
brix, etc.), Quality assurance and quality assurance on all raw materials (such as PET, Cans,
Closure, Carbon Dioxide, Sugar, etc.), writing Quality reports to the Quality Supervisor,
Monitoring Mix Processor, Contacting CIPs and Contacting flavor change over processes are
done in order to produce quality beverages
Varun beverages Ltd is ISO 22000:2018 and ISO 9001 certified.
ISO 22000:2018 addresses food safety management by providing guidelines and best
practice for managing risks in all areas of food production. It also defines the steps an
organization must take to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards and ensure
that food is safe for human consumption.
ISO 9001 is for quality management that is what the organization does to ensure that its
product or services satisfy it customer’s quality requirements and comply with any
regulations applicable to those products or services.
Preform Quality tests
 Before the preforms are made into bottles, they are first analyzed to check the quality.
Several machines are used during this process.
 Preforms undergo light inspection, where it is checked for defects such as bubbles,
sinking etc.
 From the light inspection, the weight of the preform sample is weighed using a balance,
the 96.5mm and 94mm preforms have mass of 22,5g.
 The thickness of the preform is then measured using a thickness gauge and they must
have 3.62mm.
 Moisture of the preform is then analyzed then the amount of Acetaldehyde (AA) which is
produced from the heating of long chain hydrocarbons.
 The amount of acetaldehyde in the preforms must not exceed 5ppm because if it exceed
5ppm, it will affect the smell of the bottle. The amount of acetaldehyde is analyzed using
Gas Chromatography. N2, H2 and zero air are used as control gases.
 The next test is the viscosity test which is tested using Intrinsic Viscometer. During the
test for viscosity, water bath is used. A preform sample is prepared and placed in the
capillaries and then the machine is run and analysis takes place.
 Since the plastic bottle has very tiny pores therefore porosity which is the rate of CO2
leakage, is measured using a polaroscope. Porosity is measured every hour.
Carbon dioxide test
  The carbon dioxide is reacted with sodium hydroxide and the NaOH will react with all
the carbon dioxide living all the impurities. In order for the CO2 to be used in beverage
making, it must be 99.9% pure.

EFFLUENT TREATMENT
Effluent treatment plant, also known as ETP is a waste water treatment process that is used to
treat waste water. Effluent Treatment Plant plays a significant role in the treatment of industrial
waste water. Organic matter, inorganic matter, heavy metals, oil & grease, suspended particles,
and other contaminants are treated in the wastewater treatment process of an ETP plant.
Chemical treatment, biological treatment, a combination of chemical and biological treatment,
and thermal treatment are the several types of wastewater treatment plants. The conceptual
approach of the treatment includes the removal of suspended particles, dissolved organic matters
and handling of sludge for disposal. Different processes involved are:

 EQUALISATION: The equalization tank's purpose is to balance the raw effluent from
various processing units. The wastewater is collected in an existing mixed effluent tank
and pumped to an existing aeration tank, which also functions as an equalization tank.
The floating aerator is used to homogenize the effluent before it is pumped to the
neutralization tank for treatment.
 pH CONTROL: The pH value of effluent should be between 5.5 and 9.0, according to the
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).pH neutralization is used to modify the pH of waste
water.
For waste that is acidic (low pH): Bases are used to modify the pH of a solution.
In the case of alkali waste (high pH): Acids are used to modify the pH of a solution.
 COAGULATION: Coagulation is a technique that involves adding liquid aluminum
sulphate to untreated water. This causes tiny dirt particles to stick together after mixing.
This collection of particles combines to generate larger, heavier particles that are easily
removed through settling and filtration.
 SEDIMENTATION: Water travels slowly in this process, causing the heavy particles to
settle to the bottom. Sludge is the term for the particles that gather at the bottom of a
container.
 FILTRATION: Filtration is the process of passing water through a filter that removes
particulates. The filters are made out of sand and gravel layers. Backwashing is required
to clean these filters on a regular basis.
 DISINFECTION: Before entering the distribution system, water is disinfected. Chlorine
is used to disinfect and decontaminate water.
  SLUDGE DRYING: Sedimentation collects and settles down solids, which are then
transported to drying beds. When the sludge thickness reaches around 300 mm, the
sludge charging should be stopped, and the bed should be segregated to allow natural
evaporation to dry it off. This takes approximately ten days.

CONCLUSION
At Varun Beverages, we experienced and gained the knowledge about the proper industry since
we only had the theoretical knowledge acquired from books.
We learned how the plant is run all the production processes until a carbonated soft drink is
packed ready for transportation. Also learned how the managers are able to manage an industry
at a large scale.
They engineers of Varun beverages were also very friendly and adjusting, they gave us the
chance to learn about their machines.