It's more fun in COE.

I remember one of my instructors telling me that in their college, the word "KI-AT" is  justified in the truest sense of the word. Then he went to ask: "Kamo sa COE, unsa mo diha, ga-uga?"

I agreed with him. Yes. It's because "KI-AT" is not justified in COE. What we prove instead are the words "MAS KI-AT."

1. Take for example our sports events. It caters to the sports minded, the athletic, even to those who want to lose weight, wear a tan or stalk their crush.

Acknowledgment

Because JanMell would graduate, he would like to thank:

1. his power Plant Design groupmates Sheila, Russil and Jade. Especially Sheila, Russil and Jade. Without the three of them, he would never graduate. He believes that the best group to join would have to be the group where you can have the least contribution and your design would still be completed. He found that group in those three amazing people. He owes them a lot of money and gratitude. This part includes their printers, PCs and unrelenting patience for his lack of cooperation for reasons that range from livelihood to drinking sprees.

2. his extended family. They have been his constant reminder aside from the patabaing baboy, accumulating debts and cash flow problems that he should not give up and strive to graduate. Moreover, Imelda and Eric are so proud. He can’t disappoint them. They’ve practically told the whole neighbourhood that their firstborn will finish his bachelor’s degree with flying colors. His two brothers, John Michael and Paul Joseph and many a cousin need a luxury Kuya and his aunts, particularly Merle, Charity, Juvy, Grace, and Beverly need a trip around the world. He can’t fail them. The financial support they have provided to the point of depriving themselves will make this sheet of paper drenched in tears if he contemplates about it too much.

3. his inspirations. Chocolate, balut, ice cream and yes, fastfood chains. They have made every waking day tolerable. The prospect of eating always gets him going. He would like to single out McDo and Greenwich for being so delicious. And speaking of delicious, he would like to thank someone for being his inspiration. (Oh puhleease. Not two. The other one is an expiration).
(The thought of you makes him trip and stumble and your presence incites clumsiness. But he likes it. In your honor, he named his break-even analysis graph after you.)

4. Jessica Zafra and the iconic, Regine Velasquez whose blog and videos respectively have kept him awake during moments when he doesn’t know what to do and yet cannot find the audacity to sleep lest his group mates would throttle him. (Given of course that an internet connection exists.)

5. his friends. They taught him to party, emaciate a poor videoke machine, and get inebriated in between deadlines. Soo fake barkada for being true to their name. Special mention to Bernaden, who can tolerate his nagging and cravings for any food that comes to his mind. She says he’s just sexually deprived. He says it takes one to know one.  

6. Malu, for being a constant reminder that he will always have a friend no matter what.

7. his netbook whose name would incite anarchy if mentioned. It rises beyond utility and rests above high esteem, despite its price. Ha ha.

8. Engr. Ronald Bual (Ron!), Engr. Vergil Aleria (Verj!), Engr. Edmark S. Icalina (Fled!), Engr. Rodel Guerrero (Rodel!), Engr. Ralf Ruffel M. Abarca (Barcs!), Engr. Arniel Ching O. Dizon (Ching!), Engr. Dexter J. Navales (D’King!), Engr. Kristine Grace Bama (Tin!) and Prof. Rosalinda C. Balacuit (Rose???), Chairman, ChE/MetE/CerE Department, College of Engineering (whew!) and to all his teachers. Without their immense patience for his despicable character, he would not be able to get relatively wonderful grades, let alone pass.

9. Ate Malou, Kuya Chang and Uncle Pitman. Without their kindness, he would have been nowhere and hungry. During the hardest of times, they showed compassion to his struggles and they never questioned nor expected anything in return. It is the kind of genuine kindness he can never regard as memories. It keeps itself fresh and vivid. He was literally adopted by them. He could never thank them enough.

10. Christian Saguin and family for the succulent dinners, the surprising bonuses, and most importantly for regarding him as someone important. They have been a blessing to his life in more ways and another.

11. Ate Rica. Without her and her patience for accumulating debts and delayed payments, he would find himself kicking tin cans in the street and stitching garbage in his clothes. Not only does he owe Ate Rica his latest meal, but also his graduation.

12. Nanay Azon and family for generosity, patience and kindness. It would be preposterous to say that he would return all their favors because the magnanimity of it renders that impossible. His whole family is indebted to them yet they never remind them of it.

13. his former boardmates. The Limbago brothers, Jade, John Eric, Justin and the Gallardo sisters, Charise and Charmaine. Boarding life would have been insufferable without their company.

14. ChEpaPervs for reasons they already know.

15. his friend, the Renaissance painter, for an unknown reason.
(Somehow, he cannot end this without including you. But that doesn’t change the fact that he hates you.)

16. himself and his other selves for going beyond the limits of his intelligence and surviving Engineering, for not giving in to DOTA, endless movie marathons, or the temptation of the overpass. They should make a lot of certificates. They will all graduate cum laude.

17. everyone who in any way, minuscule or ginormous, have helped him achieve his goals. You are only too many and he may not be able to name you here, but there is no posting limit in his awareness. He will always be grateful. In moments when he apparently forgets, don't worry .You are all in his subconscious where, in principle, nothing is forgotten.

And oh,

17. God. 

Kinatoks: What people do when they just don't understand

Once upon a time in a Kinetics class, when information seems too much and differential equations lull you to an uneasy sleep (knowing that you still have to deal with it when you wake up), when students look at each other in unanimous realization that the ability to understand has left them just when they need it most,

they do one of these things:

Sheila: (Excited and sincere) Karl, can you give me some candy?

(My classmate Karlisle (pronounced Karlayl) is known for hording candies in his pocket. Probably because he's afraid there might be an impending candy shortage. This time, he just ran out of it. So, brilliant as he is, he thought of a solution. Bravo,bravo!)

The topmost scribble is not intellectual doodle. In integral calculus it's called change of variables, to make the expression "easier" (and by easier I don't necessarily mean easy) to integrate. We do a lot of that in Kinatay Kinetics. 

P.S. Note that the word Ondoy doesn't mean that the candy tastes like a supertyphoon.  Believe me, it's just his surname.

Look what Kinetics does to them. 

Kinatay, Kinetics

Of course the alliteration is considerable. However, not so considerable as the meanings itself. Kinatay-- that is-- to slaughter (wailing optional) depicts nothing short of the deplorable condition which I got myself (or any Chemineering student, I suppose) into. It's called Chemical Reaction Engineering. In response to the everyday call of laziness, we call it Kinetics because in my limited knowledge of the subject it concerns reaction rates. Simply put, however, we call it headache.

Headache because of the sleepless nights spent in studying and headache during the exam itself.

Afterwards, everybody would pray that when the moment the results come, the headache wouldnt turn into a heartache. 

Somehow I can understand the sentiments of that guy who jumped from the overpass. To prevent oneself from following his unfortunate demise, one motivation is to always bear in mind the patabaing baboy meant to be roasted when thy graduation comes. The ceremonial killing must not be postponed. It has grown enough and you must graduate.

Aaahh!! Kinetics!! It's a necessary evil, so to speak.

The frenetic

The adjective is too fitting it can't be the right one. Frenetic- busy as a bee. Thanks to the 5th Chemical Engineering Week Celebration. This year's theme is "Filipino Chemical Engineers: Breaking Boundaries." 

First on the list is the essay writing contest. I'll assess my own performance. It's deplorable. I never thought that waking up after having a very bad migraine could hamper my writing. The throbbing pain was still there at the back of my eye when it was augmented by the sight of what I am going to write about: On House Bill No. 1743 otherwise known as "An Act Converting MSU-IIT into a national state university in Iligan City to be known as Iligan National University (INU)." 

I almost surrendered. I have no firm grasp of that bill. The KASAMA officers were given copies of a primer on that bill but I failed to read it. It's so unfortunate I curse the moments when I read newspaper wrappings of flowers. I read crumpled material intently yet I overlooked the primer printed in bond paper. All I can do was use a different style, and I pray the judges were as informal as me.

Next came the Lecture Series.(Assuming 2 consecutive lectures would qualify for a series.) I was asked to deliver a lecture about nuclear power. I decided to focus on the feasibility of putting up a nuclear power plant here in the Philippines. My lecture was entitled "Why go nuclear? (And other frequently asked questions about nuclear power in the Philippines)." The lecture went on smoothly, with a couple of inquiries from a persistent classmate (Oy, Russil!) barely affecting my composure. I condemn my cough for destroying my moment. I can't amplify my voice and raise intonations without straining. And the worse thing is, it shows.

Which brings me to Radio Broadcasting. Yes, the one only heard of in Schools Press Conferences is now in the ChE roster of Literary Events. They made me the anchor, Henry Gabi Diaz with a whooping cough and an "excuse me po" to countermand it. I am so elated that I did not went into coughing fits while we are "on-air." I did not have to use the "Excuse me po."

Unless of course you champion in the spelling bee and quiz bowl. Spelling bee for 2 years and quiz bowl for 4 consecutive years. You definitely have the air of what you've achieved. 

Taking all these, I've already proven myself in the literary arena. What I'm excited about is my newest venture. A cross over into the Cultural events.The WannaBe competition. I want to be surprised, even shocked by no other than myself.

I can't wait.

Plant Tour MMX: Envious on the first day.

Still feeling like everything is shaken by the tempest of the sea, we ushered ourselves into the official place of stay—Cebu Business Hotel located in Colon, Cebu City. Colon is well, your usual populated district. The place reminded me of House trying to defend why he is certain that heaven is non-existent when in fact he hasn’t been there. “You don’t have to go to Colon Detroit to know that it smells.” Nonetheless, the agency arranged for the accommodation and as I’ve said, I’m not so good at complaining. It’s tiresome.

The moment we set foot on the hotel, everybody went straight to the dining hall which was named Sapphire, probably because of the color of the tablecloths. Our breakfast was already waiting to be devoured, and yes, we really devoured it. The food was ordinary—corned beef (not sure if it’s really beef, it looked like horse meat), sausage, and sunny side ups. It was supposed to be “eat all you can,” and with the famished appetite of everyone, the utensils were lucky they didn’t end up churned in gastric juice. The eating was incredible you’d wonder why the rice on everyone’s plate is red. Apparently, it’s the corned beef served in an amount that would make you think it’s the staple food and the source of carbohydrates.

But the day has just started. By 10 am we immediately proceeded to the first place of visit— University of San Carlos. We were greeted with yellow USC shuttles which seem to remind us how small our campus is. However it was not enough of the intimidation. Our purpose there was to visit their renowned Chemical Engineering Department.  Renowned because they have an adequate Unit Operations Laboratory. For those who don’t know what a unit operation is, examples are agitation, distillation, mixing, and other operations that doesn’t require a chemical reaction. It is contrasted to a unit process such as clinkering, where limestone and shale is converted to cement.

Back to the tour.

 The feeling of being confounded with Unit Operations laboratory 1 and 2, a research facility, wastewater treatment laboratory and a separate laboratory for chemical analysis of biodiesel and biogas was nothing short of envious. That was my first time to see actual machines like the lab-scale heat exchanger, the fluidized bed apparatus, the plug flow apparatus, the equipment for sedimentation, even a plate-and-frame filter press! Add to that the towering distilling apparatus that seems to be the pride of the department. Everyone seemed to be staring in awe as the apparatus stands 2 storeys high. I need not mention how grandiose it is. They have all this equipment, and their laboratory activities utilize these. On the other hand we utilize styro cups and thermometers, and of course, heated water. Their school, with the affluent studentry, can afford those high sounding equipment. Well what do you expect from a state university whose net tuition expenses for an entire degree equals that of a single semester tuition at USC? This argument could lead to the issue of separation of IIT from the MSU system for which I feel no sentiment to discuss. The Chemical Engineering Department of USC is housed on a 2 storey building, with the 2 Unit operations laboratories on separate infrastructures. The Department of Chemical Engineering at MSU-IIT is “roomed” on Room 318, sharing the space with the Ceramics and Metallurgical Engineering faculties, with a unit operations laboratory that is next to defunct. While the USC students were busy separating the volatile components of their mixture in their gigantic distilling apparatus, we were busy waiting for water at 60 degrees centigrade to cool to room temperature, and from that work our way to complicate the laboratory reports to compensate for the apparent simplicity of the performed activity.

However it is interesting to note that while knowledge of the fundamental chemical engineering principles is augmented by the utilization of such equipment, the Chemical Engineering Department of MSU-IIT never lacked the edge to perform well in the board exams. It would probably feel good to rationalize our deficiencies with our good performance, that even though we failed to get our hands to play with these apparatus we’re still at par with them. However, I believe a Chemineering student of MSU-IIT would excel and outlast if given the same resources. True, the tuition is never enough, and if ever the millions of peso required would be solicited from the government, it would take a jillion years to be realized. But without constant lobbying and requests and follow-ups, the department would continue to feel envious of such facilities and schools who own those.

It actually felt very informative and good to be able to visit other school’s ChE department. But it feels better if we have the capacity to let other schools tour on our department instead.


Photo taken by Karl Ondoy. 

Plant Tour MMX: Ang Paglalayag.

Ordinary. The last time I traveled by sea it was awesome because the vessel was ginormous. This time, the passengers were clearly clamoring for space. In the economy class, lying down becomes precarious as changes in sleeping position could lead to a man overboard emergency. Well, my bad. I chose to get an accommodation at the economy class. However, it turned out to be an advantage. The sea wind overcompensates for the air conditioning, and this makes the entire area air continuous a.k.a. "air-con."

Plus, you're supposed to pay 300 pesos additional for a tourist class accommodation (tourest, as heard many times) and I hate to part from my three hundred pesos. After all, I only utilized my economy bed for 2 hours. I slept by 1 am, I woke up by 3 am to get ahead with the shower. Most of the time, I loitered at the tourist area, with my classmates very eager to have me there to contribute to the body heat against the extreme air conditioning that turned it into an accommodation at the North Pole. 

The Trans-Asia ferry lifts anchor by 8 pm, and in order to deal with the waiting, I played cards with my classmates. The loser shall bear the punishment of the baby powder and shall walk around the place with demeaning white streaks all over the face. I'm quite lucky with all the training I got with card games. Back home, I'm a frequenter of gambling houses and gambling at wakes and that was way way back when I was  still at high school. I'm not kidding.
When everyone had enough of the powdery sensation, the restobar was already on fire. They almost had the videoke machine broken with the input volume of songs and too bad for me, because of unrestrained loquacity earlier during the trip, my voice was not in the tip top shape. But still, I sang. (Malat nga lang.) After I murdered Irene Cara's "Fame", I realized I would never light up the sky with a flame. So I decided instead to explore the "vast territories" of the ferry. 

I found myself at my bed. Seriously, I went to the topmost portion of the vessel before I got to my bed. All I got was wind and more wind. At least the view comforted me-- a canvas of black. And I mean really black, although there were some faint illuminations of a few candelas, enough intensity to make fireflies proud. I decided it wasn't at all life changing, and the shortness of my stay up there is testament to my diffidence about talking to someone I ought to explain myself to. As such, I preferred the "comfort" of my bed.

Notes: I got to the shower first. It's deplorable. I'm glad I'm not whiny. I don't usually voice out my complaints. It's tiresome.

Photos by Karl Ondoy. Doy, tenchuu.

Another reason why they won't let me design a nuclear power plant..

...apart from their notion that it digresses somewhat to the idea of a chemical plant designed by chemical engineers, and apart from the social issue invoked by my group mates about the relevance of such plant, and of course apart from the terrible and tedious job of actually designing one, another would be because it is now more costly and less clean than solar photovoltaic systems. (Not that I am planning to design now a solar photovoltaic plant. I am not a photovoltaic engineer. I "know" someone who is. He studies at the University of New South Wales.)

Before it was solar energy that is too expensive to tap, making calculators with a small strip of a solar panel more expensive and stylish, now, according to The New York Time's Nuclear Energy Loses Cost Advantage, solar photovoltaics have joined the ranks of lower-cost alternatives to new nuclear plants."

PARIS — Solar photovoltaic systems have long been painted as a clean way to generate electricity, but expensive compared with other alternatives to oil, like nuclear power. No longer. In a “historic crossover,” the costs of solar photovoltaic systems have declined to the point where they are lower than the rising projected costs of new nuclear plants, according to a paper published this month.

“Solar photovoltaics have joined the ranks of lower-cost alternatives to new nuclear plants,” John O. Blackburn, a professor of economics at Duke University, in North Carolina, and Sam Cunningham, a graduate student, wrote in the paper, “Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover.”

This crossover occurred at 16 cents per kilowatt hour, they said. 

While solar power costs have been declining, the costs of nuclear power have been rising inexorably over the past eight years, said Mark Cooper, senior fellow for economic analysis at Vermont Law School’s Institute for Energy and Environment. 

Read full article here.

JanMell and the Australian Salt

Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation's main raw material is salt. Yes, that harmless compound formed from the reaction of a poisonous gas and a violently reactive metal, unless of course you're the flightless half of a manananggal. However, it's not just ordinary salt. It's imported from down under, yep Australia, because Australian salt is 98% pure.

 It's a whole mountain of Australian salt and it's enough to instill to you the fear of osmosis and dehydration.

 I'm supposed to be pointing to an impending avalanche, only this time, when you're buried, you'll get preserved not from the cold, but from all your moisture drying out.

Apparently, I'm safe.

This salt is processed by Mabuhay Vinyl to produce it's two main products-- sodium hydroxide or caustic soda, and hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid, two of the most important industrial chemicals. By industrial, I mean to say something that is used as raw material to produce certain products. In this case, from plastics to the food we eat.

Photos Courtesy of Mary Bernadine Dumaog . Taken during the class Plant Tour. (She's not my official photographer. Ha ha)

Training the Dragon Within Me

In the middle of my class I received a text message. I thought it was just my textmate-- SMART, who always sends me the hottest, newest ringtones as if my phone will ever be capable of downloading one. To my surprise, it was the governor of the College of Engineering Executive Council, summoning me to appear before his excellent presence. I was thrilled. I felt like Lea Salonga being invited to sing before the Queen. My mind was asking, "What made the EC governor rummage for my mobile number?" Cripes, aside from janitorial purposes, I could only think of criminal reasons. Composing myself, I exited gracefully from my class, and ushered myself to the council's office. Then and there he asked me why he needed me. I prepared myself for a sudden outburst. 

Yes, I'm exaggerating.

Duh. He just asked me if I could be the emcee for the college's acquaintance party the next evening, citing carefully that the seasoned public speaker slash debater (one of the very few institute's best) and host of the previous acquaintance parties Ms. Ara Reyna Mamon refused to become the emcee because she wanted to experience what it feels like to loiter with her batchmates and be a part of the audience and hence recommended me in her lieu. You may as well argue that it's nothing, but for me, it's overtly something. I did not know what to make of it though. Certainly, it was flattering. For God's sake it's a big event. But I said i cannot refuse the governor, and suggested I tag along a partner, a very very effective partner (Oy, Beverly!)-- and I accepted it. 

I don't care if I don't have time to rehearse. Students wouldn't bother anyway. They're keener on the dinner portion than minding my blah-blahs.

The moment I received my copy of the program I thought it was spectacular. The concept was borrowed from the movie "How to Train Your Dragon." ( No copyright infringement intended though and they acknowledge the intellectual properties of whoever made this animation. ) Fitting for the college's symbol, and perfect connotation for engineering students coming together to discuss and celebrate COE life (not to mention an initiation rite for the ever docile freshmen.)

So my ever creative and flamboyant friend (aakalain mong na-possess ng bakla) Beverly created an introductory spiel that perfectly, as if by some kind of esoteric power, captured the whole spirit of the motion theme that I could not help but believe that she really is one of our batch's literary gems. (I will post the script later because I lost my copy.) True enough, it brought down the house and started the ball rolling quite paced, making us busy enough to deserve our VIP treatment. That's Food and Fame, quite unlikely but still desirable.

Photos Courtesy of Kerr Vien Abueva of COE-EC

O, the benefits of being the emcee, right, Bevs? (Thank you very much for that very inspiring message (put title and name of speaker here). At this junction we would like to call in (put name of next speaker here) for his Not-So- Short Talk. A round of applause, please.)

Very generic, very chicken.

But I couldn't stand the blinding lights directed straight at me, torturing people at the sight of my face, and the dreadful feeling of committing a diction error. (Like pronouncing pleasure as PLEASEsure, ugh!, haunting. It's like a deep wound throbbing painfully and making your consciousness ache.)

Nevertheless, I'm grateful to people who believed in my capacity to endure such. You know who you are.

In a Nutshell, ICC

Iligan City, hailed as the industrial capital of the Philippines, is home to a myriad of industrial and chemical plants. The industries range from metallurgy to food, caustic soda to pulp and paper, and of course- cement. Here in Iligan City, there are two cement plants, and one of them is Iligan Cement Corporation.

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Figure 1. The arresting cement silos. The first silo is for Type 1, the second for Type 1P and the third for Type P cement.

What is Iligan Cement Corporation?

ICC, as what the corporation is fondly called, started as an expansion program of the Mindanao Portland Cement Corporation (MPCC). Later however, the multinational company Lafarge bought it out. ICC is one of the top ten cement manufacturers in the Philippines. Established on February 19, 1971, ICC Cement plant is the 16^th cement processing plant to be established in the country and the only cement plant with an automated loading system for bulk and clinker exports.

ICC is certified for its QUALITY, ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH and SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001) - the first in the Lafarge Philippine group.

Note: Lafarge is the largest manufacturer of cement and concrete products in the world. Lafarge is also present in the Philippines. In concrete roof tile, CPAC Monier Inc. In gypsum, Boral Plasterboard.

The Plant

A. Location

The ICC plant is located in Kiwalan, Iligan City, 9.0 kilometers from city proper.

A. Safety

Figure 2. The cumbersome yet necessary PPE, with Jelyn and a fellow trainee.

The plant is known for their strict and tight implementation of health and safety rules and regulations, with their aim of having zero lost-time injuries. As such, the management requires mandatory Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when working at specific points in the plant particularly in the process line. These are hard hats, safety footwear, high visibility clothing, dust mask and gloves. Also, anyone who enters the plant, whether employee or visitor, is given a safety badge, on which the H and S regulations of the plant is found. The badge will be punched every time a safety regulation is violated, corresponding to a certain sanction.

A. Products

ICC manufactures three types of cement:

1. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) or Type 1

2. Portland Plus Cement Type 1P

3. Pozzolan Premium Type P

These are marketed under the brand name Mindanao Cement.

B. The Process Flow.

Quarrying. The ICC quarry is accessed 3-4 km from plant via MPCC road. The 519 hectares of quarry area houses 169.92 million MT of limestone and 25.25 million MT of shale.

Crushing. The crusher is composed of a primary jaw crusher and secondary crusher with a production rate of 310 tons per hour (tph). The feed enters at 800 mm average diameter and exits at 40 mm average diameter.

Drying. The plant utilizes 2 drum dryers with a production rate of 150 tph. The drying medium is heated air through a rectangular furnace heated with ricehulls and hot gas from preheater exhaust. The feed moisture, from 13% becomes 3% for limestone, 26% to 13% for shale and 26% to 13% for pozzolan. The fuel usage is at 90 kCal/kg dried materials and alternative fuels constitute 35% of the fuels used.

Proportioning. After drying of raw materials, proportioning is done before they are feed into the raw mill. The standard proportion is 76% limestone, 20.9% shale, 4% silica sand and 0.1% cinder.

Raw Milling. The mill is a Kawasaki-make ball mill, with a drive of 2200 kW and a production rate of 140 tph. It is operated closed-circuit with bucket elevators. The average power of the mill is 21 kWh per ton of dried materials.

Figure 3. The commanding raw mill silos.

Clinkering. After the raw mill product is homogenized, they will be fed to the kiln which comes in the four-stage suspension preheater type, with a rated capacity of 1580 tons per day. The preheater is composed of 4 cyclones, with the feed reaching different temperatures at each. At 100 degrees Celsius, which is roughly t

he temperature of the first cyclone, water is removed. Next, the chemically combined water is removed at the next cyclone at a temperature of about 500°C. At 900°C, on the other hand, decarbonation and CaO formation occurs at the third stage. Furthermore, the hot meal proc

eeds to the rotary kiln where at 1220°C, C₂S. C₃A and

C₄AF and C₃S are formed. Then finally at 1450

°C clinker is formed.

.

Figure 4. The towering preheater.

Figure 5. JanMell and the amazing rotary kiln.

Cooling. Since the product from the kiln is extremely hot, this stage is needed. The plant’s cooler is a conventional reciprocating grate type cooler with a rated capacity of 2500 tons per day. It has 6 chambers with beam aeration at first chamber only and there are 8 cooling fans installed.

Proportioning. The proper proportion of clinker and additives dictates the type of cement produced. For Type 1 cement, clinker constitutes 93%, limestone 4% and the remaining 3% is gypsum. For Type P, clinker is 63%, pozzolana is 34% and the 3% is gypsum. The other type, Type 1P Portland Plus composition is not disclosed.

Finish Milling. The plant has two finish mills, one located in the ICC plant (for TP and T1P cement) and the other located at the adjacent MPCC plant (for T1 and T1P cement). They are all ball mills with a production rate of 65 tons per hour, operating closed-circuit and with a drive of 2200 kW.

Packing and Shipping. The packing is accomplished by 2 Roto packers and 1 line packer with capacities of 3500 bags per hour. Each cement bag weighs 40 kg approximately. As evident, there are 3 cement silos corresponding to the three cement types, with each silo having a capacity of 12,000 MT. The dispatching is done in the overland through trucks and offshore through ships.

Iligan Cement Corporation is one of the top cement manufacturers in the Philippines and is one of the contributors of economic boost in Iligan City. Today, Iligan cement’s plant manager and VPO is Mr. Danilo Trugillo, a graduate of Chemical Engineering and Ceramics Engineering. He took up his CerE in MSU- Iligan Institute of Technology. His leadership, collated with the previous and current managers and personnels, contractors, employees and yes, apprentices has made Iligan Cement on top of its game. “For our dreams, trust only Mindanao Cement.”

[06.23.10]

Best of Both Worlds

It was a rather balmy morning and by some kind of miracle the OJT Orientation managed to make me feel motivated I could almost sprint all the way to the venue without minding the almost 10 kilometer distance at all.

“Please welcome, our Senior Process Engineer, here to discuss about the cement process flow. Let us all give him a hand.”

Certainly! At the sound of his position, I even thought he could also have my feet. He thanked us, and his next statement hit home.

“I am a Chemical engineer by profession...”

Surprised? No.

Amazed? Na-ah.

Rather, I was happy that a chemical engineer by profession is a senior process engineer, and not a laboratory detainee.

It is a common foreknowledge amongst incoming OJT’s that the stigma brought by the word chemical is very much pronounced even when appended with the word engineering. Hence, I’d already projected to the will of universe that time that even though my course is harder to spell, and takes longer to fully write, I’d still end up doing B.S. Chemistry stuff. And true enough, by the incontrovertible law of attraction, the universe projected it back.

Don’t get me wrong. I love being in the Quality Assurance Department. My supervisors, and of course the manager, are people you can easily get along. They were a very kind group, and somehow, now that the training is over, I miss them. I miss how I greet them good morning when I time in, arguing that a minute before noon is technically, still, morning. I miss how I was asked by the manager to make a calendar of events and how he was surprised by the apparent expertise of how I constructed it, not knowing there are plenty of calendar templates available for download. I miss the feeling of apprehension every time the phone rang simply because I might become my unrefined self and brush telephone etiquette away. I miss being practically drowned in cement samples waiting to be analyzed, and of course, I miss break time moments with employees and fellow trainees alike (especially the free meals and the “kuha lang mog bisag unsa sa canteen, i-charge lang sa akoa” line).

But sentimentality aside, while I was working in the laboratory I felt like singing Streisand’s “A piece of sky,” or Freddie Mercury’s “Break Free.” I have long since harbored the adventurous feeling that chemineers are supposed to crush, grind, agitate, sub-sonically flow, or isenthalpically throttle and not titrate, stir, filter, analytically weigh or precisely standardize. That is, as blatant as Section 4 of Article I of the Chemical Engineering Law which defines chemineering practice as, “… excluding chemical analysis and operation of the chemical laboratory…” However I have to make it clear, that even though at this premise the objective of the training seems to be flawed, I do not undermine the administration’s effort to offer quality apprenticeship and the things I had learned, developed and cultivated during the duration of my worthwhile adventure, and that even though I spent most of my time on the laboratory, there were a couple of instances where I was asked by the process engineers to do nothing short of discharge calibration of conveyor belt for gypsum and maintenance of dryers, valves, cyclones, and other equipment.

The world is not black or white. Having an amazing learning experience both academically and socially doesn’t have to be constrained by the dictums. Yes, I was at the laboratory, mostly, and according to the icy statement it is not definitive of the practice of my profession. But chemical engineering practice does not stop at those criteria. A true chemical engineer is someone who loves being one, who delights in being one, and is proud to declare that he is one despite the apparent misplacement in the laboratory.

“I am a Chemical Engineer by profession…” is insufficient.

“I am a Chemical Engineer by heart…” sums it all.

During my training I was lucky enough to say I had the best of both worlds. True, excursions to the process line might be sporadic due to safety concerns, but the moment it came, I had the most of it. Somehow, my assignment in the lab made me even more eager to discover the art and science of Chemical Engineering.

[06.29.10]

Why did you take up Chemical Engineering, huh, JanMell?

BATTLING INNER WARS By JanMell Dugenio

It’s 7:00 pm. You’re hungry, and then you decide to go out for dinner. You’re walking along Tibanga highway with all the eateries and fast-food chains to flood your vision. You walk to, and when you seemingly reach Gaisano mall, you walk your way back again, and find yourself heading home. Then you pinch yourself, and finally settled on Jollibee. Never mind, you say, that you’re Php40 transmuted into a plate of shanghai rolls and the ever scant rice, a glass of fizzy soda, and one peso. You just needed a clean and well-lighted place, so you could sink your mind into something in need of utmost attention, it feels like your dendrites and axons would shred. You were just given an assignment; call it an onus, a yoke, a terrible joke in the form of an interrogative sentence. The kind of joke that makes you smile but your face reads worry. And then you hear it again—clearly now, quite dreadfully, in a very deep, terrifying tone—you’re teacher saying, “Why did you take up Chemical Engineering?” (Put maniacal laughter, lightning and thunder effects here.)

And then you’re in my shoes.

It was neither an accident that I took up chemical engineering nor was it because I let my index finger play into the course list with my eyes closed, and then I said “Stop!”, and behold, “I’ll take that!” I would have to blame my former third year Chemistry teacher, Mrs. Zyhrine Mayormita, for igniting that spark which fueled my interest towards Chemistry (which later on grew to a conflagration), and when she mentioned that Mr. Edmark Icalina (apparently one of her two favorite students, I am the other one. Ha ha) was taking up Chemical Engineering, my curiosity over the course grew. Moreover, my classmate, and one of my best buddies, said that he too, would take it up, and together with the name that sounds high profile, Engr. (attach name here), I decided to place ChE as my first choice on every admissions exams there are, even on one when ChE is not offered at all.

This is one book whom I've always longed to devour. The approach is fundamental, but not layman, and I believe every disciple of Chemineering must read this by heart if he wants to be good in his craft. Stuff toy not included.

But I never really thought of the deeper reasons behind my adventure. Surely, a teacher’s words and a friend’s enthusiasm are mere bagatelles. With only a year more before I finally finish my B.S., I was put back on a reality check with this assignment, (God, this is even more difficult than being questioned why, given that you are a cactus.)and in the rare event of rummaging through the recesses of my brain I found several reasons. I took up ChE because I thought:

1. Civil Engineering is so hackneyed it has become battered and bruised.

2. ME best suits big boys who can carry a car’s V8 engine, and probably the car, too.

3. I don’t want to be electrocuted. Plus, I find circuits too much of a headache.

4. B.S. Bio is so expensive, I pass out at the thought of paying PhP10,000 for a dive. (And in this category, I would never dare to mention B.S. Nursing. Oh, I just did.)

5. B.S. Chem is too feminine, and the Physics area is gloomy and exudes an air of diffidence that I vowed never to place myself near it.

6. All CASS subjects can be self-taught.

And probably, the one with most sense, and not based purely on whims of a 20 year old who thinks he’s still a child,

7. I think ChE would give me more job opportunities, will make me a dignified and exemplary citizen of the world (in short, rich) and will give me an air of immense intelligence such that when I walk by (put wind effect here), you could hear me saying “Get out of my way”, without opening my mouth, and then everybody says “Whoah!”

Basically, that’s it. I wanted to lift my family’s poverty and put some bills on the coffers. The closest solution that I could think of is to choose a college degree that would best serve my purpose, without squeezing me dry of finances, even if it turns my brain into a dried coral. You see, I am not really good in Math of which my course is teeming. In high school, my idea of the inverse of functions is snoitcnuf. But I toiled, and managed not without adventure, to reach 5^th year without losing the main momentum (euphemism for a GPA which is nice to look at and makes you confident to leave your COR open for anyone to gawk.) It is my family’s future, not just mine, which is at stake. I do believe now, quite seriously, that they are the reason why I took up Chemical engineering.

[06.22.10]