Chapter 1 - Introduction1.1 IntroductionThis study involves the design and manufacturing of a prototype automated ginger powder machine. This chapter contains the background of the study, the problem statement, the significance of the study, the objectives, scope and limitations as well as the conceptual framework. Section 1.2 provides a brief overview of ginger. Section 1.3 presents the main problem the group will need to address. Section 1.4 presents the importance and impact of this study. Sections 1.5 and 1.6 list all the objectives that the group must achieve. Section 1.7 describes the scope and limitations of the study. Section 1.8 shows the whole process of the machine.1.2 Background of the StudyThe Philippines is one of the largest producers of ginger in the world. In 2012, the country ranked 12th in the world for ginger production, with over 27,000 tonnes of ginger produced. India, for its part, is the world's leading producer of ginger with more than 700,000 tonnes of ginger produced, or around 35% of global production. China comes second, followed by Nepal, Nigeria and Thailand. [1]The soil and climate requirements of ginger facilitate its cultivation in the Philippines. The Philippines experienced steady growth in annual production and yield in a study conducted between 2003 and 2008. Total annual production increased by 21.76% from 22,616 metric tons in 2003 to 27,631 metric tons in 2012 The total annual return also increased by 11.98%. , from 6.26 metric tons in 2003 to 7.01 metric tons in 2008. [2]In 2008, the total ginger production in the Philippines is 27,538 tons, with the largest producers being Cagayan Valley (5,574 metric tons) , CALABARZON (4,707 metric tons ) and North...... middle of paper ......nants.• The packaging of ginger powder will not be included in the machine. The produced powder will be stored in a dispenser.1.8 Conceptual frameworkThe peeled and washed ginger will be manually loaded into the machine. The whole ginger will pass through a series of blades that will grate/slice it until it becomes small pieces. The parts will then be automatically transferred to the dryer where the drying process will take place. Hot air will be used to dry parts with a moisture content of 8-10%. After the drying process, the dried pieces will then be moved to the automatic pulverizer where they will be ground into powder form of uniform sizes. After the process, the powder will be transferred to the dispenser where it will be stored. A human-machine interface will accept a user's weight input and dispense the amount of powder based on the input..