Back RSP capacity expansion — RITES flags inadequate plant rail infrastructure
Santanu Sanyal
| RITES has made it clear that the extant of rail infrastructure at the Rourkela Steel Plant is inadequate to support even the current level of output and the gap will only widen with the increase in the level of production. |
RITES has identified several limitations in the rail infrastructure at the RSP and these include limited handling facilities at OBBP (ore bedding and bending plant) making it difficult to handle full rakes and unload the raw material from certain types of wagons (for example, the BOBRN type)' archaic coal tippling facility at the coke oven plant where the existing two tipplers are of the 1960s vintage; manual handling of boiler coal rakes at the captive power plant where facilities for full-rake placement are not available; and the absence of provision of tippler for unloading coal dust injection.
It also stressed the need for electrification of several tracks and for upgradation of track maintenance and signalling systems. Also, the present movement of hot metal from the blast furnace to the steel melting shop interferes with the movement from marshalling yard to coal handling plant.
By 2012, when the RSP's hot metal production is to increase to 3 mt, the volume of raw materials to be moved into the plant will exceed 10 mt from 6.84 mt now, and the outward movement of the finished products to 2.548 mt from 1.55 mt.
The rail infrastructure must, therefore, be geared to handle the projected volume of traffic, both inward and outward.
For example, the iron ore movement into the plant by rail will increase to 4.9 mt from 2.7 mt now, and this will call for a major reorganisation of the rail movement. This is because the inward movement of around five mt of iron ore annually presupposes a daily loading of five rakes of ore at the mines.
The facilities at the mines, therefore, have to be adequate to handle the increased volume of traffic.
It has been indicated that the RSP's future requirement of ore will be met from Taldih and Chiria mines in the place of the Barsua and Kalta mines now.
According to indications available, Taldih will produce two mt and Chiria 10 mt annually. Daily, roughly, four rakes will be loaded at Chiria mines and one at Taldih for the RSP.
The problem is that the route is already so congested that a third line has to be constructed between Chakradharpur and Bondamonda.
The South Eastern Railway, which operates in the area, is believed to have already urged the Rail Board to defreeze the proposal for a third line between Goikera and Monoharpur in the Chakradharpur division.
At the projected three mt production level, the loading of finished products will increase from 60 wagons a day now to 105 wagons and the rail coefficient will play a major role in estimating the wagons to be required for movement of the increased volume.
The RSP basically manufactures flat products and, hence, the plate mill plays a key role in production.
The average daily loading at the plate mill will increase from 915 tonnes, involving 16 wagons now, to 2,785 tonnes (48 wagons). This calls for not only deployment of more wagons but also enhanced and improved handling facilities such as replacement of existing old cranes by more higher capacity cranes, installation of electronic weighing device and so on.
Since the wagon demand is set to increase all over the country, the availability can be improved by reducing detention.
RITES makes it clear that unless the detention time is reduced, it will be difficult to get sufficient number of wagons to meet the requirement of increased movement of raw materials and finished products.
The RSP, it has been estimated, pays nearly Rs 2 crore a year as demurrage for detention of wagons, and the inward traffic accounts for 51 per cent of this charge, the outward traffic 32 per cent and back-loading the balance 17 per cent.
Thus, the detention of a BOBS rake is estimated extends to 11 hours, a Box-N carrying ore over 26 hours, and that carrying coal more than 40 hours.
RITES is of the view that it will be impossible for the existing Bondamonda exchange yard to cope with the projected increased volume of traffic unless the link line is doubled, crossovers are provided to accelerate transactions between the steel plant and the railways, and all the lines in the exchange yard are upgraded so that they are fully electrified and can handle full rakes.
To decongest the existing movement of inward traffic between Bondamonda and the steel plant, it is important to divert coking coal traffic via Dumetra to the RSP fertiliser plant yard.
Unless thoroughly repaired, the defective box wagons should be segregated and marked unfit for steel loading and taken out of the circuit. Also, the repairing facilities of loadable wagons should be augmented.
With the liberalisation of siding rules, the Railways will be undertaking electrification of sidings at the rate of Rs 18 lakh per km if the offered traffic is more than the threshold value.
While the Railways will thus be electrifying a limited length of the track, in its own the RSP must undertake electrification of other necessary lines inside the plant to reduce wagon detention.
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