[ETTC Cocoa Factory] Grinding and pressing plant

[Bregir]

 In the outskirts of King's Harbour, construction work had been going on for some time. So far, its exact nature had been unknown, but a few days ago the ETTC announced the imminent opening of a cocoa grinding and pressing plant.

 With this announcement came an invitation to the Colonial Governor to visit the plant on its opening day. Thus, Captain Jonathan Cooke had now made his way to the site in the company of Ibn al'Sayeed, manager of the Montoya estate and local representative for the ETTC.

 "The plant applies the newest Corlander innovations all around to achieve high output levels without overworking the employees."

 "First, follow me around the side here, where you will find something quite interesting..."

 "Allow me to introduce Mr. Thomas Brickcomen, a young engineer recently arrived from the Royal Polytechnic University of Belson. He is the man behind the contraption you see behind him. Mr. Brickcomen, this is Captain Jonathan Cooke, colonial governor of these isles."

 "Honoured to make your acquaintance, sir... " said the young man shyly.

 "Likewise, young man." Cooke said absentmindedly, his attention entirely taken up with the strange and noise contraption before him. "Please, tell me of this machine!" he added with an enthusiasm quite remarkable for him.

 Stunned for a moment that any official would show anything but contempt for his machine, he stuttered a few words before himself bring caught up with enthusiasm. "Certainly, sir. It is what I call an atmospheric steam pump. You see, the factory needed a steady watersupply in the height of 12 bricks, and as rainfall is unpredictable in these lands (as you can see, the tank also collects rainfall from the roof) a different, more reliable source was needed. As it happened, I was looking for investors and bumped in to al'Sayeed while I was wandering the docks looking for work.. Erhm... Investors, I mean...  "

 "Yes?"

 "Well, not to put too fine a point on it, the ETTC hired me, and I built this. Shall I tell you how it operates or will that be too technical?"

 "I studied the invention of the flying balloon, and attended Alberto de Pontelli's presentation on the subject. I shall venture to follow your description."

 "Oh sir, would it be imprudent to discuss that matter with you? I have some thoughts on the matter... But another time... You see, in the boiler, we create steam, which is let into the main power cylinder of the pump as it is raised by the rocker arm's return to its initial position. You see, there are weights on the other side, in the pump cylinder, there. As the power cylinder reaches its maximum elevation, a valve opens, and lets in a small jet of cold water from the ancillary tank, resulting in... "

 "Resulting in the steam condensing, lowering the pressure behind the piston, and the atmospheric pressure pushing down the piston, operating the pump!" Cooke interrupted, his eyebrows rising as it dawned upon him. "Most ingenious, young man. I shall ask you to join me to further discuss the principles of operation at a later time. For now, I must continue my tour, I believe."

Cooke followed al'Sayeed inside through the large gates.

"Through a set of gears, the waterwheel outside drives these millstones, into which the fermented, dried and roasted beans are poured to be grinded. During milling, the temperature rises and the beans are ground into a thick cocoa mass, which flows out through slots in the bottom of the grinder. Here it cools and solidifies to be retrieved through the grates you see in the floor."

"Please follow me... This cocoa mass contains neigh on 60 % cocoa butter, which is extracted through pressure in this press. We load the cocoa mass into the main pressure chamber here..."

"...and pivot the pressure plate around in its mounting. As you will know, typical presses are screw-operated, but we have went with a more innovative and efficient process. At this stage, the pressure plate is perfectly balanced with these iron weights and can be turned by a single man, while a typical press would require many more people for handling. "

"If you will look up there... To apply pressure, we lower the contraption and open the valve, which pours water into the four big barrels on the press. This water is supplied by the steam pump outside. As the water level rises, the pressure follows..."

"...and the finest cocoa butter can be tapped by our two expert chocalatiers by this tap and three others like it. The butter is then barrelled and shipped off to market, just like the residual product, the cocoa solids, which we extract from the press and ship off separately. We expect a great interest for this in both the old and the new world, as the taste is quite extraordinary!"

______________________

The first part of the ETTC Royal Cocoa factory is hereby opened. (And the last part of the process, unfortunately.) The production process is largely correct.

It has been standing on my shelf for a long time, and now I finally managed to finish it. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the process from my ETTC collaborators, and as always, C&C is more than welcome.

[Garmadon]

Wee!   Very nice factory, Bregir - loving that steam engine outside! - and great job describing and walking us through the production process!   The machinery looks wonderful as well and those masonry brick pillars out front really add something great here!  Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other parts of the collaboration! 

[Professor Thaum]

That's a great factory... really.

 

The water mill is the standout of this wonderfull built for me.

The steam machine is great too !!

[blackdeathgr]

Great factory! But isn't this called CHEATING due to the use of steam?  Oh, well...the Corries were always technologically more advance...!

[Capt Wolf]

Awesome build, Bregir! I'm a big fan of these "process" builds. And do the gears actually work, as it appears they do? Impressive!

[Kodan Black]

Highly creative factory! Loved all the pictures and the story. I liked the machinery inside and yet it still felt clean as it should. The outside was a bit "dirtier" which would make sense as it doesn't have the same concerns.

[Professor Thaum]

25 minutes ago, blackdeathgr said:

Great factory! But isn't this called CHEATING due to the use of steam? 

Sure there's some jealousy here !!

 

You're a naughty boy !

[blackdeathgr]

45 minutes ago, Professor Thaum said:

Sure there's some jealousy here !!

 

You're a naughty boy !

Naaah, I really love these industrious builds so I can't really complain . But please Reds, don't land on the moon on your next MOC!   

[Kai NRG]

Fantastic factory Bregir!  Steam or not, it's really cool to see the process behind it all, I love all the gears and whatnot!  Cool facade too, with the masonry bricks.  The best part, though, has got to be the fact that you're making chocolate!!!  

[Bodi]

Impressive build Bregir! The steam engine is most interesting, what a fine factory you have here.

5 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

Great factory! But isn't this called CHEATING due to the use of steam?  Oh, well...the Corries were always technologically more advance...!

Seconded!

[Professor Thaum]

10 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

 But please Reds, don't land on the moon on your next MOC!   

Mwahahahahahaha !

[Bregir]

First, before someone gets all tied up in knots about the use of "space marine technology" in the form of a so-called "steam engine".

What I have depicted here is a parallel to Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric steam engine, which was invented in 1712 and in widespread use during the 18th century.  (And the explanation of its operation is quite close to reality, I should add) The steam engines most people think about are Watt's double acting steam engines which powered locomotives, ships, etc. This one neither have the sort of power, or the ability to create fluent circular motion necessary for such applications. So I really don't think it is outside the scope of BoBs in this form. So don't worry, Corrington will not be launching railroads and steam-powered Ironclads next!

12 hours ago, Garmadon said:

Wee!   Very nice factory, Bregir - loving that steam engine outside! - and great job describing and walking us through the production process!   The machinery looks wonderful as well and those masonry brick pillars out front really add something great here!  Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other parts of the collaboration! 

Thanks. Garm - the process description was a two line description Ayrlego found somewhere, which led to all this. I too enjoy the process builds by other builders here, and its really fun to build too.

I am also looking forward to the rest - have only seen some WIP shots, but I think more will come soon(tm).

12 hours ago, Professor Thaum said:

That's a great factory... really.

 

The water mill is the standout of this wonderfull built for me.

The steam machine is great too !!

Thank you, professor - builds really come to live when some sort of "functionality" is built into them, rather than just being a facade or storehouse.

12 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

Great factory! But isn't this called CHEATING due to the use of steam?  Oh, well...the Corries were always technologically more advance...!

Thanks BD, and don't worry - no steam powered tanks coming your way, as explained above

12 hours ago, Capt Wolf said:

Awesome build, Bregir! I'm a big fan of these "process" builds. And do the gears actually work, as it appears they do? Impressive!

Thanks, Captain. The gears works, although the last connection to the waterwheel isn't coupled. (My waterwheel wasn't strong enough to be agitated too much). Process builds are awesome!

11 hours ago, Kodan Black said:

Highly creative factory! Loved all the pictures and the story. I liked the machinery inside and yet it still felt clean as it should. The outside was a bit "dirtier" which would make sense as it doesn't have the same concerns.

Thanks, sir. I did my best to ensure the whole factory had a nice finish. And while I never thought about cleanliness, you have an excellent point! It is consumables after all! Happy you like the story too - I thought a guided tour was a good way to explain what was going on in a more interesting way.

7 hours ago, Kai NRG said:

Fantastic factory Bregir!  Steam or not, it's really cool to see the process behind it all, I love all the gears and whatnot!  Cool facade too, with the masonry bricks.  The best part, though, has got to be the fact that you're making chocolate!!!  

Thanks, Kai - You will learn more about the whole process when my colleagues post theirs. Mind you, this is just cocoa, the end product being cocoa butter and cocoa solids. We have already talked about building a chocolate factory next, though, to use the outputs of this one.

[Kwatchi]

A lovely factory you built.  Nice clean lines and detailed enough that we can discern it is based on something realistic. 

 

And it may be dating myself, but my brain brought up the old Bugs Bunny factory theme when I saw it.  I actually ended up googling it.  Starts up in earnest 1 minute in https://youtu.be/qaC0vNLdLvY

 

[Mike S]

Nice build with lots of great details! My favorite part has to be your press... 

[Ayrlego]

Fantastic build Bregir, it's going to be very difficult to match the level of detail in my fermentation section - which is basically just large piles of rotting cocoa beans!

The masonry columns really add something to the facade and I like the overall clean feel of the factory.

The steam engine, gears and grinder are really cool, but my favourite part has to be the press, that is very nicely done!

Great job all over!

I shall have to get working on my section now, I can't keep Cooke waiting too long!

 

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Wow, quite impressive!

 

[Elostirion]

The use of the technic parts is really great, and makes all the machinery appear so realistic.

The frontside looks fantastic, really like an old factory from early industrialisation. I absolutely love it. The slightly shifted masonry bricks, the roof construction, the overall colour choice, the windows, the arches of the doors - brilliant choice, it really comes to life.

My favourite is the third picture, where you can see the whole interior. It just seems so... realistic. The small office room, the pillars, the crates - just so great overall. A true masterpiece!

[Captain Dee]

Fantastic factory. The overall appearance looks great for a historic setting and I really like the subdued earth tones. But the inner workings are the highlight - you obviously spent quite some time laying all that out, and it all fits together really well. The various machinery is nice, and the early steam engine is really good. Great work overall.