Report of Internship

In Unicol Limited Mirpurkhas

Intern Name: Talal Khan
Class Roll#: 16CH50
Technology: Chemical
Engineering
University: Mehran University
Of
Engineering and
Technology, Jamshoro
(MUET)
Industry: Unicol Limited
Mirpurkhas
Preface
1) Introduction
2) Fermentation and Distilation Plant……………
4) CO2 Plant………………………………
5) RO Plant………………………………..
6) Boilers and Turbines…………………..
8) ETP (Bio Gas Plant)…………………….
9) Conclusion
Introduction

U nicol Limited is situated in vicinity of Mirpurkhas; it is 15

minutes drive from Mirpurkhas on the Umerkot road in the
neighborhood of Mirpurkhas Sugar Mill.

Taken from the Google Maps

The main products of this industry are Alcohol with different percentages
(95%-100%) exported all over the world.
Aside from the Alcohol it also contain different type of plant to make the main
product maximum and efficient like it contain CO2 Plant which consumes the
byproduct of Fermentation process (Carbon Dioxide)
It contains ETP which treats the spent wash and gets Bio gas which is used to burn
Boilers which power industry up and nothing is useless in this industry it also
contain RO plant which provides fine purified water.
All these process will be discussed in detail. Starting from the first
Fermentation Process

Fermentation Process
Introduction:
The main process of Unicol Limited is Fermentation and
Distillation so it is considered as very important.
Fermentation is the process in which a substance breaks down into a
simpler substance. Microorganisms like yeast and bacteria usually play a
role in the fermentation process, creating beer, wine, bread, yogurt
and other foods. Fermentation comes from the Latin word
fermentare, meaning “to leave.”

Instruments
Before heading towards the process it is important to
discuss the instruments used in the process
PUMPS
A pump is used to move liquids from one place
to another
Centrifugal Pumps: it is the type of pump that
uses an impeller to move fluids. Centrifugal pumps are
used to transport fluids by the conversion of rotational
kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid
flow.

PD Pump
A Positive Displacement Pump has an expanding cavity on the
suction side and a decreasing cavity on the discharge side. Liquid flows
into the pumps as the cavity on the suction side expands and the
liquid flows out of the discharge as the cavity collapses. The
volume is a constant given each cycle of operation.

Gear Pump
A gear pump uses the meshing
of gears to pump fluid by displacement.
They are one of the most common types
of pumps for hydraulic fluid power
applications. Gear pumps are also
widely used in chemical installations
to pump high viscosity fluids.
Rotation Pumps
It is the type of Positive
displacement pumps and used to
circulate fluids in order to
decrease it viscosity

Valves
Used to regulate and control the flow
of fluids
Ball Valve
Ball valve is a quarter turn operated valve. The closure member is a spherical plug with a through
hole.
Gate Valve
Gate valve is a sliding type of valve. In gate valves, the closing member is a metal gate
Butterfly Valve
Butterfly valves are most simple yet versatile valves. They are quarter turn operated valves which
are commonly used in multiple industries for varied applications
Globe Valve
In globe valves, the flow of the fluid through valve follows an S-path. Due to this, the flow direction changes
twice which results in higher pressure drops.

Disc Check Valves

Disc check valves, also called as non-return valves allow the flow to pass through them in only one
direction and stop the flow in reverse direction
Diaphragm Valves
Diaphragm valves use a 'pinching' method to stop the valve flow using a flexible
diaphragm.

Safety Valves
a valve that opens automatically to relieve excessive pressure

Heat Exchangers
A heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat between a solid object and a fluid, or
between two or more fluids. The fluids may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing
or they may be in direct contact.

Types of Heat Exchangers

Shell and Tube

Shell and tube heat exchangers consist of series of tubes. One set of these tubes contains the
fluid that must be either heated or cooled. The second fluid runs over the tubes that are
being heated or cooled so that it can either provide the heat or absorb the heat required. A
set of tubes is called the tube bundle and can be made up of several types of tubes: plain,
longitudinally finned, etc

Plate Heat Exchanger

Another type of heat exchanger is the plate heat exchanger. These exchangers are composed
of many thin, slightly separated plates that have very large surface areas and small fluid
flow passages for heat transfer. Advances in gasket and brazing technology have made the
plate-type heat exchanger increasingly practical.

Flow Indicators
Flow Indicator Controller
Mixers

Process
The process of Fermentation starts from the pits
Step1: Molasses to the Plant
The Raw Material (Molasses) is transported to the
Unicol by different industries and stored in Pits and
Storage tanks (Unicol has 10 storage tanks of
15,000metric tons capacity)

Step2: Analyses of Flow and control

From the pits and storage tanks the Molasses is moved to
the plant by the help of the pumps (Centrifugal, Gear)
initially Total Flow Indicators and valves are installed to
control and analyze the Fluid (Molasses) which also
indicates the Brix percentage of the Molasses.
Step3: Mixing
The fluid is then diluted in Static Mixer with water and
sludge and the process of mixing reduces the viscosity of
the fluid (Molasses) and raises the temperature
Step4: PH Adjustment
Then the fluid goes to the Acid tank where H2SO4 is
mixed with the fluid which lowers down the PH of the
Molasses from 9.5 to 4.5
Step5: Purification
From the acid tank Molasses goes directly to the
Decanter where by the action of gravity dust particles,
debris etc are settled down and separated
(Sedimentation) with the help of pump and moved to a
separate decanter then it is sent to another decanter for
the same process
Step6: Mixing
Again Mesh goes through a mixer where water is mixed
with it in a large quantity
Step7: Pre fermenters
Then the molasses is sent to the Prefermenters where
Urea, Sodium Fluoride, Yeast and Anti Foaming agents
are fed into it.
Antifoaming agents are used to reduce foaming layers in
the process that cause less evaporation and less heat
transfer
Step8: Fermentation
The Final step in which the mesh is moved to the
Fermenters where process of fermentation occurs and
produces alcohol and CO2
C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2 (In the presence of yeast)

Distillation Process
Once after the formation of alcohol the process of distillation takes place
Distillation is the process of separating the component or
substances from a liquid mixture by
selective evaporation and condensation. Distillation may result in
essentially complete separation (nearly pure components), or it may
be a partial separation that increases the concentration of selected
components of the mixture.
The same process carried out in this industry the alcohol is purified
and concentrated in Distillation columns
The Liquid first travels to the heat exchanger (Shell and Tube) and
attains the temperature and then the liquid is transported to the
column where evaporation takes place and consecutively liquid
passes through different columns resulting in purification and
increase in the concentration of alcohol.
Unicol produces three type of Alcohol percentage A grade
(99.9% Pure Alcohol) B grade (95% and 96.5%).

CO2 Plant
The CO2 is byproduct of fermentation process and releasing it
is harmful for humans and other living things.
In Unicol CO2 is Liquefied and then transported to the
beverage industries.
The Process of purification and liquefaction of Carbon
Dioxide is as follows
Step1: Scrubbers
When raw Carbon Dioxide is transported to the Plant .It first
goes to the Scrubber where, it is washed with the Water, Ethyl
alcohol is removed from it (As Ethyl alcohol is soluble in the
water)
After two columns of KMnO4 another Scrubber is installed
which further removes impurities.

Step2:KMnO4 Columns