Medium Scale Soap Making Machine: Design, Fabrication and Process Analysis

Abstract

Currently even though not too many but there are entrepreneurs in soap making industries. Opportunities open up as demand for a natural, organic soap is becoming more obvious. However, most of them are still continue to use manual method due to unavailability of a machine capable of producing soap in the local market. In fabricating the machine, its design and process involving soap making are being analyzed to find the optimum design and settings. The ones available in international market are mostly design for large scale; however their main principle is still the same whereas the machine incorporated mixing action to mix the ingredient of the soap. In term of the process, there are studies that show sound waves are being used to speed up saponification process. Using the same principle, other mechanical factors are being analyze which is electric current, heat and mixing speed to find their interaction and effects on the process. To analyze these factors, design of experiment is being used to minimize the experiment cost and repetition. Experiment is being conducted in eight different setting with three replicate to provide data for the design of experiment. The results from the analysis of variance prove that mixing speed and heat are significant factor to the saponification process while electric current are not that significant.