Processing Line Research Articles

Novel IR Laser Debonding for Heterogeneous and 3D Integration

Wafer carrier and thin wafer support during processing is key in 3D integration and advanced packaging processes. Today carrier technology can be divided based on the application and carrier wafer material. While for DRAM and other stacked memory applications silicon carriers are preferred, demanding special adhesive systems for mechanical debond, the adhesion is tuned to be high enough for processing but low enough for post process thin layer debonding. Which means the thin wafer thickness needs to be maintained typically thicker than 40µm in order to have a sufficient mechanical rigidity and support during debonding. On the other hand, UV based laser debonding decouples the adhesion during processing while the debonding is digitally triggered by UV laser irradiation and controlled destruction of engineered polymeric layer at the glass carrier surface. Despite this is the more universal debonding process, glass wafers are generally not suited for all process lines. To solve the above described difficulties, IR laser debonding has been developed enabling the combination of silicon as a carrier substrate as well as laser debonding through silicon. One solutions is in advanced packaging, where silicon can be seen as a replacement for glass wafers but still in combination with developed adhesive systems. The more impacting application, however, is the combination of IR laser release with fusion and hybrid bonding.

Study of the influence of vitamins on the fermentation process in the production of yogurt

The development of the technology of vitaminized dairy products remains a relevant topic for research, because dairy products are included in the daily diet of both children and adults, so the use of such products can reduce the number of cases of hypovitaminosis, both seasonal and general. The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of introduced ready-made vitaminized complexes on the fermentation process of milk mixtures during the production of yogurt. The article presents the results of studies conducted to determine the effect of vitamins A, D, E, C on the fermentation process of milk mixtures during the production of yogurt, which were added to the milk mixture in order to increase the biological value of the finished product. Fermentation is an important stage in the production of yogurt. To study the influence of added preparations of vitamins A, D, E, C on the fermentation process during the production of yogurt, 2 samples were chosen: “control” – a milk mixture for yogurt pasteurized at 90...92 °C without aging with the addition 5 % sugar. The “experimental” sample is a milk mixture for yogurt with the addition of 5 % sugar, pasteurized at 90...92 °C without aging, with the addition of vitamin preparations. Fermentation processes are influenced by the composition and dose of primary inoculation of sourdough cultures, physicochemical parameters of raw milk, additives included in the normalized mixture, as well as technological process parameters. Vitamins added to the milk mixture during the production of yogurt can affect the fermentation process of the milk mixture and the quality indicators of the finished product during storage. Thus, the task arose to investigate the effect of added preparations of vitamins A, D, E, C on the fermentation process, and to substantiate the fermentation regimes for the production of vitaminized yogurt. As a result of the conducted research, it was determined that vitamin preparations added to the milk mixture before heat treatment did not significantly affect the intensity of acid formation and gel formation. There is also no influence on the development of lactic acid microorganisms that were part of the sourdough, which is confirmed by the results of microbiological studies of the finished product. So, the fermentation parameters of milk mixtures for the production of fortified yogurt are as follows: temperature – (40 ± 2) °C, duration of fermentation – 5.5...6 hours. It has been established that the introduction of a vitaminized complex (A, D, E, C) into the yogurt recipe does not require significant changes in the technological process and equipment line. The content of viable lactic acid bacteria in the developed product is 4.0 ± 0.5 107 CFU/g, and there are no Coliforms, which meets regulatory requirements.

Study of the transfer of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli during the slaughter of cattle using molecular typing combined with epidemiologic data

Investigation on the distribution and biological characteristics of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) during beef processing is essential for in-plant critical control points and food safety risk assessment. Serogroups and subtypes of stx genes of STEC strains isolated from beef processing lines were first investigated. Identification to cross-contamination among different sampling sites was further conducted by combining multilocus sequence typing (MLST) with the previous distribution and characterization data. The PCR-positive rate for STEC in 435 samples from two slaughter plants in China was 14.3% and the isolation rate for the 62 PCR positive and the entire set of 435 samples were 26% and 3.68% respectively. The existence of serotype O157:H7 (33%) and serogroups O121 (42%) and O26 (21%) as well as the high detection rate of high pathogenic gene stx2a (68%) in these serogroups indicated potential risk to the safety of beef. Traceability analysis showed that hide plays a critical role in cross-contamination between feces, lairage pens and post-washing carcasses from a molecular perspective. Intervening measures revolves around de-hiding should be involved in the in-plant safety control policy according to the tracing analysis.

On the design of low phase noise and flat spectrum optical parametric frequency comb

Optical frequency combs (OFCs) have become increasingly pervasive in recent years, with their advantageous frequency coherence properties enabling significant developments in numerous fields, such as optical communications, spectroscopy, and microwave signal processing. Recent interest in OFC development emphasizes minimizing and mitigating phase noise of individual comb lines for high-quality signal generation, processing, and detection. Cavity-less electro-optic combs and parametric combs are attractive sources for these applications in that they permit flat spectra, tunable tone spacing, and robustness to temperature variations. Although previous research has demonstrated broadband parametric OFC generation, the scaling of the phase noise has not been systematically investigated. Here, we demonstrate a 25 GHz-spacing cavity-less parametric OFC generator and investigate the interaction between electronic and optical noise sources that affect its phase noise and linewidth. In addition, we study the optimal design of a nonlinear amplified loop mirror based pulse shaper with a focus on the impact of pump power on the signal-to-pedestal power ratio, which ultimately influences the spectral flatness and the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) after the parametric expansion. Notably, we design the OFC using all polarization-maintaining (PM) components, demonstrating the performance of PM highly nonlinear fibers in parametric comb generation. This results in a PM cavity-less comb with <9 dB power variation over 110 nm, >0 dBm power per tone, <10 kHz linewidth, and >23 dB OSNR. These characteristics make it highly desirable for application in communication and signal processing.

Towards a Cleaner Textile Industry: Using ASEC to Decrease the Water Footprint to Zero Liquid Discharge

Textile manufacturing is the second most polluting industry. It involves a series of processes that require large amounts of water and generates highly polluting wastewater. Four liquid wastes collected at different steps from two different textile factories (synthetic and natural fibers) were treated using a new disruptive technology (Adiabatic Sonic Evaporation and Crystallization—ASEC). After the treatment of the contaminated fluids, the byproducts obtained (freshwater and crystallized solids <1% humidity) were characterized to determine depuration efficiency and their potential commercial reuse. The physicochemical parameters were analyzed in the liquid and solid phases. The results evidence a completely efficient separation of the contaminants and solutes from the liquids analyzed, resulting in 100% pure water with the characteristics of distilled water (an electrical conductivity below 20 µS/cm) suitable for other industrial processes or water reuses, including human consumption. This implies an estimated annual reduction in the water consumption of these factories of between 16 and 103 Olympic pools. It would also avoid the disposal of 181 and 966 ton/y dried residue by the current synthetic and natural fiber textile processing factories, respectively. More than 75% of the resulting solid residue was S from the synthetic fiber industry, and light elements from the natural fiber residues. The installation of ASEC technology in different phases or at the end of industrial textile processing lines could change the paradigm of water consumption to a minimum, thus reducing consumption and resulting in the complete recycling of water. Using renewable energy and residual heat transforms the system into a zero-pollution technology; it makes it possible to attain almost 0% CO2 emissions, fulfilling the European Green Deal objectives such as a circular economy, the decarbonization of the textile industry, the protection of the biodiversity of river basins, and zero pollution.

Нейрорегулятор комплексной технологической системы переработки рудных отходов

The study is devoted to improving the management system of a complex technological system for processing ore waste. Such waste accumulates in large volumes in the territories adjacent to the mining and processing plants, posing a great environmental threat to both the population and the environment due to dust formation and the penetration of harmful compounds into the soil and groundwater. Therefore, the task of improving the management systems for the processing of ore waste, as one of the priorities, is on the current agenda of the management of mining and processing plants. The complexity of the technological system is manifested in the presence of two processing lines that differ in the set of units, and the choice of line depends on the granulometric composition of ore waste. The scientific novelty of the research results is the proposed structure of the neural network controller based on the reference model for the technological system, which is used as deep recurrent neural networks. The general structure of the neuroregulator includes several local neurocontrollers for each of the units of the technological system. Recurrent neural networks make it possible to create high-precision digital copies of individual units of two processing lines and use them to simulate the response of control objects when setting up controllers. Approbation of the proposed structure of the neuroregulator was carried out in the MatLab-Simulik environment, neural networks were designed using the Deep Network Designer tool. The results of testing showed that the speed of the control system is increased compared to other architectures of neuroregulators available in the Simulik environment, which can positively affect the operation of the entire technological system in transient conditions, in particular, reduce technological losses.

Oocyte recovery after overnight ovary transport provides an alternative source of cumulus oocyte complexes that are competent to produce live piglets.

COVID-19 impacted abattoirs worldwide. The processing lines became a hotspot for the spread of COVID-19 resulting in plant restructuring and ultimately a critical loss of pig material for research. Commercial sources of pig oocytes are available but are costly and companies were already operating at a maximum capacity for supplying the oocyte needs around the United States. Here, we provide an alternative source of oocytes that are competent to produce live, healthy piglets.

Determination of Carrier Frequency of Actionable Pathogenic Variants in Autosomal Recessive Genetic Diseases in the Turkish Cypriot Population.

Whole-exome DNA sequencing is a rich source of clinically useful information for specialists, patients, and their families, as well as elucidating the genetic basis of monogenic and complex diseases in clinical diagnosis. However, interpreting and reporting variants encompassing exome and genome sequence analysis outcome data are one of the greatest challenges of the genomic era. In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency and allele frequency spectrum of single nucleotide variants accepted as recessive disease carrier status in Turkish Cypriot exomes. The same sequencing platform and data processing line were used for the analysis of data from 100 Turkish Cypriot whole-exome sequence analysis. Identified variants were classified according to ACMG guidelines, and pathogenic variants were confirmed in other databases such as ClinVar, HGMD, Varsome, etc. Pathogenic variants were detected in 68 genes out of 100 whole-exome sequence data. The carriage rate was the highest in the CYP21A2 gene, causing 21-hydroxylase deficiency (14.70%), 11.76% in the HBB gene causing β-thalassemia, 10.29% in the BTD gene causing biotinidase deficiency, 8.82% in the CFTR gene causing cystic fibrosis, 8.82% in the RBM8A gene causing thrombocytopenia-absent radius syndrome, which is an ultra-rare disease, and 5.88% in the GAA gene causing glycogen storage disease II. The carriage of pathogenic variants in other genes causing the disease (GJB2, PAH, GALC, CYP11B2, COL4A3, HBA1, etc.) was determined as less than 5.00%. Also, the identified variations in the mentioned gene within the examined population were reported. The most prevalent mutation in North Cyprus was a missense variant (c.1360 C>T, p.Pro454Ser) detected in the CYP21A2 gene (rs6445), and the most frequently seen variant in the HBB gene was c.93-21G>A (rs35004220). We investigated reported pathogenic variants by estimating the lower and upper limits of carrier and population frequencies for autosomal recessive diseases, for which exome sequencing may reveal additional medically relevant information. Determining the lower and upper limits of these frequencies will shed light on preventive medicine practices and governmental actions.

A new strategy for browning regulation: Flos Sophorae Immaturus extract and thermal treatment modulates nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species network in fresh-cut potatoes.

Browning discoloration is a critical issue that negatively affects the quality of fresh-cut products and their industrial growth. Although many individual anti-browning technologies have been adopted, very few reports on the combination use of natural product extracts and physical methods exist. This study investigated the use of Flos Sophorae Immaturus extract in conjunction with thermal treatment and discovered that the combination effectively retarded browning in fresh-cut potatoes. Accordingly, the activities of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, as well as phenol accumulation, were effectively regulated. Meanwhile, this combination treatment also allowed for the modulation of nitric oxide synthase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities, while also regulating the concentrations of nitric oxide, superoxide anion, and hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, the duplex treatment also regulated the antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde concentrations. In addition, 39 phytoactive compounds, including protocatechuic acid, quercetin, (-)-alpha-pinene, and matrine, were identified in the extract, which may function as the anti-browning composition. These findings suggest that the combination technology modulated the dynamic equilibrium of production and clearance of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species, thereby reducing browning deterioration. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of the combined application of Flos Sophorae Immaturus and thermal treatment, which may offer a novel option for fresh-cut preservation. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The feasibility of integrating a novel highly efficient, safe, environmentally friendly, and easy-to-operate anti-browning alternative, with the ability to integrate into the existing processing line was investigated. The color of sliced potato chips was significantly improved (73.4%) by dipping them in a 0.01% Flos Sophorae Immaturus solution for 5min and then in 55°C water for 2min. In this regard, superior browning alleviation may depend on the regulation of the browning reaction and the NO-ROS network. This method has a promising future for making fresh-cut products more appealing to consumers and may provide guidance for fresh-cut producers and related industries.

EVALUATION OF QUORUM SENSING SIGNALS OF STRONG BIOFILM PRODUCING BACTERIA VIA LC-MSMS, HPLC AND BIOSENSORS

This study aimed to show presence of Quorum Sensing (QS) signals of Gram-negative and Gram-positive biofilm producing bacteria isolated from real dairy process lines. Defining the profile and chemical composition of QS-signals is an important factor in control of microbial resistance and biofilm production. We especially focused on unusual behaviour of Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates. Long-chain acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) signals (C14-HSL, C16-HSL and C18-HSL) and DFD (4,5-dihidroksi-2,3-pentanedione)-AI-2 signals of the isolates were studied by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Liquid Chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MSMS) methods. All Gram-positive isolates were defined as AHL-producers. All Gram-negative isolates, formerly defined as non-AHL producers by both biosensors and HPLC methods, were identified as AHL-producers. DFD signal was only detected from Gram-negative Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter cloacae and Klebsiella oxytoca isolates. The results demonstrated that the QS-system is a complex system and biosensor microorganism may not be the best method for QS-signal identification. The results also provided new insights in defining the profile and chemical composition of QS-signals importance for interrupting the chemical communication completely to reduce biofilm formation and prevent resistance gain of microorganisms.

Intelligent pulsed ultraviolet c radiation sterilization system: A cleaner solution of raw ready-to-eat aquatic products processing

The sterilization of raw ready-to-eat aquatic products is a crucial method for ensuring their safety for consumption after production. However, achieving intelligent decision-making and higher sterilization efficiency remains a technical challenge. In this paper, an intelligent ultraviolet c radiation (UVC) pulse sterilization system for raw ready-to-eat aquatic products processing lines is presented. The objective of intelligently classifying and grading aquatic products in an automated production line and then sterilizing them is attained. On the basis of the thermal radiation perspective factor method, an irradiation prediction model for the columnar pulsed UVC field is developed, and an automated decision model for the UVC sterilization level is developed in conjunction with the hierarchical analysis method. Automatic control of the UVC lamp is achieved with precision. Using a combination of direct measurements and simulation calculations, the accuracy of the prediction structure is verified. In addition, the system's key model, the UVC intensity decision model, was evaluated, and the results indicated that the decision model had an error rate of 13.3% in the sterilization of raw ready-to-eat aquatic products and that the system's sterilization rate could reach approximately 95%. Additionally, the economics of implementation and overall performance of the sterilization system were evaluated and determined to be effective in reducing spoilage rates and human resource losses, thereby promoting sustainable and clean production in the raw food fish processing industry.

Analisis Waste Pada Proses Produksi Sosis Ayam Dengan Pendekatan Lean Manufacturing Di PT. BI

PT BI is a food manufacturing company that produces several processed chicken products, one of which is chicken sausage. In the chicken sausage production process, some of waste was found, so a way is needed to improve productivity with the Lean Manufacturing approach, the Value Stream Mapping method. The purpose of this research is to identify waste and provide suggestions for improvements to the chicken sausage production process. From this research, it was identified that five workstations waste, in the Screening area, Preparation, Mixing & Stuffing, Link Cutting, and Multipack Packing. From the results and proposed improvements, it was found that the difference in processing time between the current time and the proposed time was 2.18 hours also the difference in the proposed process line efficiency was 1.72% greater than the current line efficiency. Keywords: Lean Manufacturing, Value Stream Mapping, Waste.

The impact of usage on the performance of lubricating emulsions in micro-forming

Lubricants are known to change over time, both in terms of aging of the oil and additives, and additive depletion through use. Samples were extracted at intervals from an industrial micro-deep drawing process line to evaluate how the lubricant changes over time. Four-ball testing showed that the tribological performance degraded quickly but stabilised after one million strokes. Measuring of the pH-level and correlation with the oil concentration showed that the emulsion initially becomes more acidic but stabilises after one million strokes, despite changes in oil concentration. Elemental analysis using water inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis standard showed that particles in the lubricant could be related to an increasing formation of wear debris. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis was used to evaluate changes in chemical composition of the base oil. Lubricant properties were found to degrade in samples obtained from the onset of the production, while they stabilised for samples that had been in use for a period of more than 1 week. The performance of the used lubricant is therefore different from that of the fresh lubricant, with four-ball wear scars increasing by approximately 30%. These results show that when tribological tests are tailored to industrial tribo-systems, the lubricant that is used in the test should be the steady state lubricant found in the real system rather than fresh lubricant.

A method for the spatiotemporal correlation prediction of the quality of multiple operational processes based on S-GGRU

Predicting quality indicators is essential in process production, process production often involves multiple processes. However, modeling the prediction model for quality indicators faces challenges due to frequent fluctuations in raw material composition and the control system's automatic adjustment of process parameters. Additionally, due to the mutual influence between processes, the problem of predicting quality indicators in process production is a systematic prediction problem. In order to deal with the challenges, firstly, the physical control relationships are transformed into graph data, which is input into GNN to calculate the spatial characteristics of process parameters on quality indicators under physical information constraints. GRU captures the temporal features of quality indicator data. Based on above study, a combination network GGRU integrating quality indicators' spatial and temporal characteristics was proposed. Finally, each GGRU is then connected based on the material flow between each process, and path information between processes is converted to the calculation flow between GGRU models to form the S-GGRU prediction model. Experimental results show that the proposed S-GGRU model, a multi-process prediction model based on GRU and GNN, outperforms the recurrent neural network model and the graphical neural network model in solving the quality prediction problem for multi-process and multi-metrics in-process production. Therefore, both the time-series information of quality metrics and the influencing factors among variables should be considered to achieve better predictions, and the S-GGRU performance better in predicting quality indicators for a 5-process process line.

Design and simulation of PLC and HMI-Based control and monitoring system of compressed air application in a pineapple cannery industry

Energy Conservation or ENERCON is the main concern of every industry today. With the advent of new technology installed in the process line, the need to address the conservation of applied energy such as steam, water, electricity, and compressed air are still the core to run an industrial plant. The use of compressed air as a blower is widely used now a day for several benefit compared to running the blowing system with the motor. The system presented in this study is used to automatically switch off the compressed air that serves as a can top blower before printing whenever there are no can detected in the conveyors in a pineapple cannery industry. The cutting off of the compressed air used will result in significant saving in the plant-wide drive on conserving energy. The hardware composition, control system design, software application and simulation of the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Human Machine Interface (HMI) - based monitoring and control system of compressed air are present in this work. The system’s main components are PLC, HMI, Inductive sensors and Directional valves. This paper focuses on the application for a pineapple manufacturing plant but not limited to the compressed air application but for all the industrial utilities mention above.

Bio-Mapping of Microbial Indicators and Pathogen Quantitative Loads in Commercial Broiler Processing Facilities in South America.

A bio-mapping study was conducted with the aim of creating a microbiological baseline on indicator organisms and pathogens in commercial broiler processing facilities located in a country in South America. Whole chicken carcass and wing rinses were collected from five stages of the poultry processing line: live receiving (LR), rehanger (R), post-evisceration (PE), post-chilling (PC), and wings (W). Rinses (n = 150) were enumerated using the MicroSnap™ system for total viable counts (TVC) and Enterobacteriaceae (EB), while the BAX®-System-SalQuant® and BAX®-System-CampyQuant™ were used for Salmonella and Campylobacter, respectively. TVC and EB were significantly different between stages at the processing line (p < 0.01). There was a significant reduction from LR to PC for both microbial indicators. TVC and EB counts increased significantly from PC to W. Salmonella counts at PC were significantly different from the other stages at the processing line (p = 0.03). Campylobacter counts were significantly higher than the other stages at PC (p < 0.01). The development of bio-mapping baselines with microbial indicators showed consistent reduction up to the post-chilling stage, followed by an increase at the wings sampling location. The quantification of pathogens demonstrates that prevalence analysis as a sole measurement of food safety is not sufficient to evaluate the performance of processing operations and sanitary dressing procedures in commercial processing facilities.

Optimization of smart tourism destination management based on linear regression model

Abstract With the rapid development of Internet communication technology, the tourism industry will certainly transform and upgrade to the direction of wisdom, and the organization and dissemination of tourist destination information will become a breakthrough in tourism development. This paper firstly constructs a tourism management system (DMS) in line with the idea of smart tourism development by constructing a process line from market opportunity analysis, interest motivation analysis, strategic planning stage, strategy implementation stage and evaluation improvement stage, respectively. Secondly, the evaluation model of tourism destination development based on logistic regression is systematically constructed, and the parameter estimation method is used to estimate the value for 8 influencing factors that affect the development of tourism destinations. The results show that through the empirical analysis of the Guizhou smart tourism destination management system, it is found that the AUC value shows an increasing trend, and the 5km grid has the smallest AUC value. When the grid continues to increase, the AUC value shows a decreasing trend, slowly decreasing from 0.836 (20km) to 0.844 (25km). It shows that the intelligent tourism destination management system constructed in this paper is reasonable and lays the theoretical foundation for realizing regional barrier-free tourism and achieving the development goal of integrated symbiosis.

The Use of Graph Theory for Modeling and Analyzing the Structure of a Complex System, with the Example of an Industrial Grain Drying Line

This article describes a method for analyzing and modeling a complex agrotechnological system using the example of an industrial grain drying line. Elements of graph theory were used to develop an effective tool for modeling such a system and to formally validate its structure. The proposed method can be applied to transform a general structural model into a set of relational models, to formally evaluate the resulting models’ functionality, and to comprehensively analyze different variants of the process. The method can be deployed at the stage of designing and operating an industrial grain drying line, and it can also be adapted for use in other areas, such as processing lines in the agri-food industry.

Technology and implementation of flax stripping in the primary flax processing line

This paper investigates the utilization of an oscillatory-type working body for the stripping process within the primary fiber flax processing line. It also introduces the equation governing the movement of this working body, thereby enabling the determination of the fundamental geometric parameters of the mechanism. (Research purpose) To develop the technology for fiber flax stripping at a flax mill using the proposed comb-type device, and to examine the parameters and modes of its functionality. (Materials and methods) A testing model was designed for a stripping machine, enabling an exploration of the flax combing process within the factory. The limitations of the parameters under investigation were identified. Furthermore, a theoretical model was formulated to calculate the performance of the stripper. (Results and discussion) The operation kinematic mode, stripping cleanliness, and seed losses during the stripping process are determined through theoretical analysis. It is discovered that the quality of stripping is influenced by the thickness of the flax ribbon. Specifically, an increase in the flax straw's thickness results in the clogging of the stripping device, subsequently leading to the formation of tangles and entanglements on the working body. On the other hand, insufficient thickness of the flax ribbon leads to significant damage to the stems. The limits for the thickness of the flax ribbon are established considering both the potential minimum and maximum yields: the lower limit being 0.01 meters and the upper limit set at 0.05 meters. The application of the factory's stripping technology is expected to ensure a 10 percent reduction in seed losses and an additional 6 percent reduction in production costs. (Conclusions) Theoretical justification for the parameters and operational modes of the stripper in the flax processing line, along with its design, is provided. The feed speed of the flax ribbon is configured to range between 1.0 and 1.5 meters per second, while the rotation frequency of the working body varies from 2.2 to 3.0 revolutions per second.

Influence on the sintering process of lime distribution between the blending storage and the mix department of SP-5 PJSC “MMK”

A research methodology is presented to determine the rational distribution of lime for the agglomeration process between the blending storage (fraction 0‒10 mm) and the mix department of the sinter plant (0‒3 mm). Together with the technological staff of the sinter plant four variants of lime distribution were tested and, accordingly, four piles with different lime content fraction 0‒10 mm were formed. The results of determining the granulometric composition and temperature of the mix under the conditions of lime dissociation along the process line for preparing the mix for sintering are presented. It has been established that when lime fraction of 0‒3 mm is supplied to the mix department, which ensures its content in the mix of 3%, it is heated to a temperature of 62 °C, i.e. to the “dew point”, which practi-cally prevents moisture condensation in the bed of the sintered mix. The analysis of the chemical composition of raw iron ore materials, mix and sinter, and its fluctuations has been carried out. It has been established that both for iron ore raw materials and mix, and as a result for sinter, the fluctuations of the chemical composition, estimated from the homogeneity coefficient, does not exceed 10%. The influence of the basicity of the sinter on the sulfur content in it has been established. It was found that when the content of lime fraction 0‒3 mm in the mix reaches 3%, the productivity of the sinter machine increases by at least 5.2% compared with the supply of all lime fraction 0‒10 mm to the blending storage. In this case, there are no problems for the blending storage in the cold season, when the remaining 1.5% of lime fraction 0‒10 mm is introduced into the concentrate consumption. Thus, it is recommended in winter conditions to sup-ply lime fraction of 0‒3 mm to the mix department in an amount that ensures its content in the mix equal to 3%, and the rest of the lime with a fraction of 0‒10 mm is fed to the blending storage.