DIARY GAME: HOW MY DAY WENT

MY VISIT TO EBIKANE FARMS
The day began as usual with resumption of work by 8am. As part of my Industrial Training at SLAWD PETERS Engineering Limited located at Etinan in Akwa Ibom , I participated in a field work at Ebikane Farms, located at Mkpat Enin, still in Akwa Ibom state.

Now the scope of work for the day was to go to the company and assess the already existing palm fruit processing plant, Identify the cause of failure, and profer solutions, as all the machines were not functioning ever since they had been installed. It was discovered that the fault was on the other engineering company as none of the machines were functioning despite spending over 50 Million naira, the machines weren't functioning due to the design and operational deficiencies.

Although SLAWD PETERS Engineering Limited (SPEL) had previously visited the site and developed redesign concepts for the plant, the visit was organized to expose us, IT students to practical engineering assessment and problem solving techniques and skills.

So we left for Ebikane Farms at around 1:00pm and arrived about an hour later. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed in by the management of the company and immediately proceeded to the inspection of the facilities. Our director, Mr. Peters Joshua guided us through the several sections of the plant.

Among the various machines inspected we saw the working principles of: the bunch shredder, bunch stripper, bucket elevator, cooking pots used for boiling palm fruits, screw press, and storage tanks for processed palm oil. Detailed explanations were also provided on why these machines failed to perform their intended functions and how redesign modifications could improve their efficiency.

After the assessment and inspection, the contract for redesign was confirmed, and then the dismantling commenced at around 4:00 pm, I participated actively in dismantling several machine components till about 7:00pm.

During the dismantling exercise, we were taken to the palm kernel oiI processing section, here we observed and learned about the various stages involved in processing palm kernels after the palm oil has been duly extracted. The machines which we were introduced to were the bunch shaker, the bucket elevators, oil presses and other equipment involved in the multi stage extraction process needed to obtain high quality palm kernel oil.

After the inspection of the palm kernel oil processing unit, we returned and continued dismantling and disassembling the equipment. The dismantled part were prepared and arranged in other to be transported back to the workshop for more modification and evaluation.

Work activities ended at around 7:00pm, but due to transportation delays, we had to wait on site till around 10:30pm, before another bus arrives to convey us back. We arrived at the company premises at around 12:00am

This visit provided valuable practical experience to me in machine assessment, engineering design evaluation, machine ergonomics, fault diagnosis, engineering design evaluation and equipment dismantling. It also enhanced my knowledge of palm oil processing systems and the importance of proper engineering design in industrial applications.