Abstract:
Sri Lanka is the largest tea exporter and the fourth largest producer of tea in all over
the world. But green tea manufacturing is functioning at a very low level with fewer
production rates. Less knowledge of the production process and expensive
machinery are the main reasons to the low production of green tea. The main
objective of this project is to make a beneficial improvement in the local green tea
industry. A single machine was developed to achieve this by the project team. Test
results of the existing machine show areas which can be improved. This paper
presents novel methods to improve and optimize production of the existed single
machine. Main five processes of steaming, pan frying, rolling, drying and sorting"
have been redesigned in the project using some of the existed parts. The new design
that can generate required shape, colour, and odour. The fabricated compact
machine able to process 15 kg per day, which makes economical help cottage level
people. The success of the project, it will scale up to mass production that makes a
huge direct influence on GDP, Sri Lanka.
