Industrial oven monitoring with an exhaust system for health improvement and safe working environment: a case of Sosoma industries ltd (Rwanda)

Abstract

Food processing industry, specifically flour production from cereals like maize, sorghum, millet, and wheat, became more important for value additions in presently according to the cooking restrictions and the quality needed for good products, particularly at SOSOMA industries LTD in Rwanda. To get a quality product, various processing stages including cereals roasting, milling, sieving, fortification and vitamins premixes, and packaging must be monitored and controlled on real time. During roasting, the status of an industrial oven affects the quality of the product, and needs to be considered and followed up on a real time basis. It uses wood fuel as a source of energy, and when not controlled, can produce smoke flames and carbon monoxide in the working environment that may affect the respiratory system of employees who are closer in proximity and the working environment itself. When controlled well, it adds nutrients in the roasted cereals. In this study, a qualitative approach of data collection like unstructured interviews, discussion and field visit observation was used and data have been analyzed using content analysis techniques just to obtain system requirements. Various electronic components such as sensors to capture the physical environment, microcontroller to define tasks, SPI protocol to enable communication between devices, and output devices to react to environmental change have been used to design and develop a fully monitored and controlled industrial oven. Ultimately, the developed system was tested positively and found to meet the industry oven requirements, so it was accepted at SOSOMA industries due to its effective low cost, secured and friendly system.