Steel coils are transported to different parts of India on rail rakes from steel plants. These specially designed wagons have rubber liners(pads) to avoid damage to the surface of steel coil and avoid the movement of steel coils during transit (refer figure 1a).
Typically, wagons have about 32 rubber pads. These rubber pads are fixed by using adhesives and rivets at 4 corners (refer figure 1b and figure 1c).
Rubber pads specification is as below;
- Dimensions (thickness x width x length): 10 mm x 150 mm x 500 mm
- Withstands temperatures up to 150o C (beyond which the rubber starts melting).
- Standard – IS:1891 (Part 2) – Current standard of Rubber pads.
- Grade – Heat & Abrasion Resistant
At plants, Hot rolled coils, when manufactured, are in the range of 550°C to 750°C. Each coil weighs around 16 MT to 30 MT. These coils are cooled to ambient temperatures before loading them on to the wagons. However, at times, due to operational reasons, the coils are loaded when they are still hot (around 250°C). This leads to burning of rubber pads (refer figure 1b). Burnt rubber pads could damage the steel coils as it comes in contact with the metal body in the wagon.
We are looking for solutions which will prevent burning of rubber pads. Cooling the coils completely down to ambient temperatures is not a viable option.
Solution should be
- cost effective
- environment Friendly
- easy to use
Awards:- INR 8,00,000
Deadline:- 23-09-2020
