The Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) at Yelahanka has managed to save a huge quantity of a valuable natural resource like sand over the past one year, after installing a recycling facility.
Instead of transporting sand from other states as was the case earlier, it is now self-sufficient.
The thermal sand reclamation plant was installed in March 2020 inside the wheel shop of Rail Wheel Factory at a cost of Rs 4.25 crore. It recycles 25 tonnes to 28 tonnes of sand per day. In the past year, it has saved over 5,000 tonnes of sand.
Rail Wheel Factory supplies axle and wheel sets to Indian Railways, with sand being a crucial component of the manufacturing process. To cast the mold of wheels, we need high quality sand.
Regular construction sand does not serve the purpose as they need a specific high quality sand. Since the sand mining was banned in neighboring states, RWF used to transport it from the beaches of Kerala.
The plus point of this recycling is that recycled sand makes for an even better raw material than fresh sand.
It helped the factory save nearly Rs 1.5 crore in one year. After a couple of years, they may need to mix some fresh sand in the plant, though the quantity required will be very less.
This is another example of how Indian Railways is try to be green and sustainable at the same time plus this has helped in slashing the manufacturing cost of wheels by 13%, making its products cheaper than Chinese ones in the international market.
This is an Agency News Feed; edited by Clean-Future Team