BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT

STUDENT NAME EMILY R THOM

REG NUMBER B211018B

COURSE CODE CH206

COURSE DESCRIPTION QUALITATIVE

REPORT: VISIT TO VARUN COMPANY

INTRODUCTION

Varun company is a franchisee of the pepsiCo. It is a beverage company that produces and supplies
different beverages such as Pepsi, mirinda, 7up and water known as aqua clear.All of them are licenced
drinks of PepsiCo the multinational food and beverage company with a presence in almost 200
countries. Varun currently has seven production lines that are producing a total of 58million bottles and
cans in a month and also has been exporting to Zambia.

WATER TREATMENT

The water used comes from the Harare city council. This water goes through a five step water
treatment. After the Harare city council supplies the water, it is then stored into two 4 million water
tanks and then from the 4 million water tanks water goes into the 500000 litre tanks. At Varun
beverages there are 4 lines of the water treatment. In the 500 000 litre tanks the water is then dosed
with chlorine which kills microorganisms and 2.8% ferric chloride that settles dissolved solids at the
bottom. After this the water goes into another tank where sand filtration occurs. This reduces tabidity
that is clearness of the water and the sand is changed after a while or yearly because the sand particles
become too loose overtime. Backwash is done after every 24hrs. After this there is the activated carbon
filter that removes odours that is steam at 85° for 45 minutes and also it has part sand to filter any solids
left. Then there is the softener that removes calcium and magnesium ions from the water. The last step
is reverse osmosis. Before soft water from the pretreatment goes into the reverse osmosis membrane
recharge alesalain is put into the water to prevent scaling accumulation of ions. Carbon dioxide emiited
lowers the pH so NaOH is used to change the pH to the range required that is between 6.5 to 7.5. Water
then goes into the reverse osmosis without the external force needed reverse osmosis cannot take
place.

OZONATION

Ozonated water is processed through UV radiation which splits one oxygen molecules into two oxygen
atoms. The individual atoms then form ozone and the dissolves ozone causes the oxidation process of
water which turns the ozone gas back into regular oxygen molecules. This type of water disinfection
process requires no additional chemicals or additives and modern ozone generators create the gas that
sterilize ozone water with ozone , killing bacteria in the process because ozone systems are highly
reactive , ozone ends up as molecular oxygen by the end of the treatment process. The result is a
sterilized completely pure drinking water that is void of contaminants. It also kills pathogens and
protozoans and the water is pure enough to drink as bottled water

BEVERAGE MAKING

Syrup is prepared from filtered water , sugar and the concentration and the room
is well equipped with several tanks and filter press water under pressure in
definite proportion. Inspected bottles gradually come under the Filtration
Machine. Carbonated syrup by this time fills the filler machine. From this machine
syrup is poured into the calculated amount of syrup along with concentrate and
water are being heated up to 85 degrees and a saturated solution is being
prepared and sent through a machine called Filter Press syrup is filtered here.
Filtered syrup is passed through a para flow cooler when by recycling and glycol
method, the temperature of the syrup is cooled down to 20 to 25 degrees cooled
syrup is then stored in syrup tanks. Syrup is mixed with carbonated bottles in
calculated amount . Crowner machine helps in closing the bottle mouth with
helps of the caps completely air tight. Ready bottles are sent through an
inspection centre for through examination. Next they were carried on a round
table from where they were collected.Carbonated water constitutes up to 94% of
a soft drink. Carbon dioxide adds a special sparkle and bites to the beverage and
also acts as an mid preservative. Carbon dioxide is a suitable gas for beverages
because it is inert , non toxic and inexpensive and easy to liquefy. Second main
ingredient is sugar which makes up to 7 to 12 % of a soft drink which is used in dry
or liquid form , sugar adds sweetness and body to the beverage. Sugar also
balances flavors and acids . Because some high intensity sweeteners do not
provide the desired mouth feel and after taste of sugar, they are often
recombined with sugar and other sweetners and flavours to improve the
beverage. The overall flavour of a beverage depends on the intricate balance of
sweetness, tartness and acidity. Acids add sharpness to the background taste and
enhance the thirst quenching experience by stimulating saliva flow. Most
common acid in soft drinks is citric acid which has a lemony flavor.
HUSY PLANT
Varun Beverages has 3 Husky production lines to produce 510mn pieces of
preforms a year from virgin resin as backward integration. The fourth phase of
the company s investment will be a new plastic closure plant with an annual
capacity of 500m pieces and a new carbonated soft drinks production lines with
an additional capacity of 18m bottles per month . Injection moulding takes place .
Resin is the raw material used and they are two types of resins which are aqua
water and carbonated soft drink . Carbonated soft drink resin are more rigid to
withstand carbon dioxide pressure in the bottle . Resin is sucked by the resin
dryer to remove moisture content maximum limit of the moisture content is 0.15
or 15% and it must not exceed 0.15 or 15% . From the dryer to the pluck screw
where they are heaters that turn it into molten. Make sure the bags are clean in
order to avoid mixing with the preform .
CARBON DIOXIDE

Tanks that store carbon dioxide tanks are 50000L tanks but are only filled to
48000 L and there are 3. The pressure of carbon dioxide is greater than 1000KP so
that it can reach the production plant and when supplied it will be in its liquid
form and it will be very cold .It is supplied from Kenya and South Africa . Carbon
dioxide from storage tanks is passed through vaporizers where it is turned into its
gaseous state and then transported for use into the plant through pipes. Before
offload tests are carried out and carbon dioxide should be 99.99% pure and if not
it will be rejected. Sodium hydroxide is used to test carbon dioxide and it takes all
the carbon dioxide impurities left.

COMPRESSED AIR SECTION AMMONIA

Ammonia is used as a primary refrigerant then glycol goes to the receiver and
then to the evaporater where heat exchange occurs and then cooled glycol goes
to the plant compressors suck vapour and if they suck liquid they stick. Glycol cool
beverages. Ammonia is used for industrial refrigeration due to its superior cooling
abilities and low impact on the environment ,however it should not be used in
large doses because it is a highly toxic chemical that can be lethal to humans .
QUALITY CONTROL PARAMETERS
Analysis of the nutritional values and the quality of the ingredients of the product
is very important to ensure the safety and the quality of the beverage.
Investigating by means of color, taste , odour and textural analysis is efficient for
the assessment of the final beverage quality . The quality of any beverage
manufacturing system is related to its quality management systems effectiveness
that is raw ingredients quality , processing layout and equipment quality
ELUENT TREATMENT
At Varun beverages water is one of the most significant since water is the main
ingredient of their products . The storage tank stored raw effluent from different
parts of the factory .From the storage tank raw effluent is passed to the
equalization tank with the help of a pump. The function of equalization tank is to
equalize raw effluent from different processing units . A neutralization tank
neutralises raw material acidic in nature by adding saturated solution of NaOH. A
primary clarifier removes suspended heavy particles from raw effluent and in this
tank heavy particles along with sludge which bacteria have degraded settles down
at the bottom of the tank . Effluent from the anaerobic hybrid reactor is received
in the aeration stage by pumping.

EALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES

At Varun beverages industry risks are manual handling , repetitive motion tasks,
slips , trips and falls and machinery related hazards . Another risk is noise induced
hearing loss which is caused by glass bottling lines , product impact on hoppers ,
compressed air noise , .To minimize the risk of occupational health hazards
mployers must have a defined prevention program in place. Contamination and
spoilage is one of the biggest risk in the beverage industry and during production
stage ingredients , packaging material and manufacturing equipment are
susceptible to contamination. Contamination can also be in water used in
production or other purposes ,packaging could also have damages or
contamination. To avoid contamination of beverages thorough inspections and
quality control procedures are required. Another risk is bad employee hygiene is
anther risk and without protective equipment and procedures employees can
infect the production line while performing tasks. The main risk during work is
exposure to harmful levels of carbon dioxide , nitrogen and ammonia . Methods
available to prevent these incidents are monitoring levels of CO2 in the
atmosphere and also providing workers with personal CO2 detectors. Ammonia
leaks can cause fatalities when a worker is exposed to large doses due to its toxic
and flammable properties . A NH3 monitor is highly advised to ensure safety .
QUALITY ISSUES
Product quality issues – bad air quality can lead to product quality issues
and shortened shelf life.
Cross contamination/ food safety- if a beverages contaminates themselves
they might no longer be safe to consume
Operational efficiency -mechanical equipment used in the production need
more cleaning and maintenance .

CONCLUSION
It was a very productive visit because l learnt a lot about how the plant is run and
what it takes to make the plant run efficiently and effectively. l also learnt to
always wear your protective gear before entering the plant and one should be
always hygienic to avoid causes any problems in the plant.