INNOVATIONS DONE ON ZONAL RAILWAYS – JANUARY, 2015

Central Railway

  • To avoid detention of trains on account of low buffer height and consequential unloading of parcels at stations, a very simple buffer height limit gauge was developed in-house in Mumbai division. The gauges have been handed over to commercial staff, whichareplaced on the track while loading is going on and stop loading as soon as the buffer starts touching the limit gauge. The gauge can be folded to a smaller size to make it easier for carrying.

Eastern Railway

  • Swarf disposal system- A unique swarf (metal chips and turnings) disposal system for the wheel lathe has been developed and fabricated in-house by the staff of Andal Diesel shed using scrap material of the shed. The swarf being generated during wheel turning at the lathe is automatically collected through conveyor belt into a rail-mounted trolley. The trolley is moved by operating a winch till it reaches the swarf storage area, where the swarf is finally disposed through the self opening bottom discharge system provided in the trolley. This system ensures that no human comes in direct contact with the sharp and rusted metal chips of the wheel lathe for handling purpose till its final disposal.

East Coast Railway

  • Engine Purging Device (EPD) testing stand for WDG locos-Diesel loco shed,Visakhapatnam has rigged up a test stand for EPD. The device is a mechanically operated pressure sensitive device used to determine abnormal condition of engine coolant pressure & crank-case vacuum in the locomotive which protects the engine by tripping governor plunger causing shutting down of engine. This test stand helps a lot in improving the reliability of the EPD in WDG4 locos.

Western Railway

  • Test bench for checking lube oil leakage between engine piston pin and centre sleeve-Ratlam Diesel shed has developed in-house a test bench for checking the leakage of lube oil (if any) between the engine piston pin and centre sleeve, before assembly. The piston pin being tested is secured on test bench between two fastening plates horizontally, with the help of fasteners, springs and gaskets. Center hole on piston pin body is connected to FIP outlet through a flexible pipe while remaining holes on pin body dummied by gaskets provided at top and bottom plates. Fresh fuel oil is used to operate the plant. This fuel is stored in a small container and flows to FIP inlet port, by manually operating FIP. As the pressure to the piston pin gradually increases up to 8.0 Kg/cm2, any leakage through pin body and sleeve will be visible at both ends of the pin and will be indicated on pressure gauge reading. After testing, fuel pressure is released to drain container by operating release cock. Left over fuel in pin body is also collected to drain container through a flexible pipe fitted at the bottom of test bench. This system of testing of piston pin improves the lube oil consumption and mitigatesfailure.
  • Mobile waste heat recovery plant-Whenever used fuel/lube oil filters, cotton waste/packaging material/paper/oil soaked saw dust etc. are burned, heat is generated in the process of combustion. However the heat so generated usually gets wasted into the environment.

A simple arrangement has been made at Vatva Diesel shed, Ahmedabad for burning the used fuel/lube oil filter. Complete waste heat recovery plant is mounted on a portable rail trolley. In this plant following items have been used:-

a)Loco lube oil filter housing.

b)Fabricated box surround the filter housing.

c)Portable rail trolley.

d)Drain cock on opposite side of the fabricated box for draining of water.

Used fuel/lube oil filter are put into the inner housing. Water is filled up in the annular space between outer of filter housing and fabricated box boundary. When used fuel/lube oil filter are burnt, the waste heat is utilized for heating the water which is used for loco maintenance and cleaning of utensils of staff canteen.

  • Centre of excellence “FIAT Bogie shop” developed by Parel workshop-Lower Parel workshop has developed “FIAT Bogie shop” as Centre of excellence and inaugurated on 10th January, 2015 with following facilities:-

(a)Mechanized cleaning of bogies with proper drainage and protection by developing separate bogie cleaning section.

(b)Computerized traceability of safety items of FIAT bogie.

(c)Palletization for segregating good, serviceable & condemned items for efficient handling of materials.

(d)Availability of drawings and quick accessibility of maintenance information/guidelines by computerizing storage and display.

(e)Provision of aesthetic epoxy coated flooring which can be easily cleaned and maintained.

(f)Demarcation of shop floor by colour coding for clear defined pathways for movements.

(g)Dedicated tool cabinets and material palette trucks for internal movements of materials and tools.

(h)In-house development and fabrication of hydraulic fixture for bogie bolster assembly and testing of draft gear of LHB coaches.

  • Air brake test benches for LHB coaches-Lower Parel workshop has developed air brake test benches for testing brake cylinder and other equipments like check valves, stainer/filter, isolating cock & cut-off valves of LHB coaches which are put in service on 10th January, 2015.
  • Add on to rolling in examination through CCTV camera-In an effort to supplement manual rolling in/out examination at Vadodara, high resolution HD cameras have been installed on trial basis at rolling in/ out points of line 1 & 2, from which video footage as well as sound of under gear of passing trains are relayed to C&W platform duty room through smart video control signal transmission over coaxial cable. The audio/video footage is displayed on a composite HD video display/ audio panel in the C&W platform duty room. These audio/video footagesare being recorded on hard disks, which can be utilized for future analyses during investigation of any case.

  • Employees electronic grievances redressal system atDRM officePratapnagar-A newly developed “Employees Electronic Grievances Redressal System” was inaugurated at DRM office, Pratapnagar on 7th January,2015 which is operated on railnet on IP address 10.35.228.29. Employees can lodge their grievances through SMS on Cell No. 9724091620 and they will be advised registration no. as well as follow up action through SMS.
  • Development of in-house plant by Electrical loco shed, Valsad-Previously during overhaul, the CCF in the gear case (which is hard in nature) was removed partially, manually and further by heating the gear case with gas etc. In this case, lot of gas was used and further the gear case was not fully free of CCF. This also resulted in air pollution. Electrical loco shed, Valsad has developed in-house plant for this purpose. This plant has number of electric coils. When these coils are electrically energized, heat is produced which evenly melts the CCF of the gear case. The melted CCF is collected in a drum which can be reused. Further, such gear cases can be examined for any abnormality and can be repaired before refitting in the loco if required.
  • Initiative of replacement of ‘V’ belts in SG coaches on PIT line-For replacement of ‘V’ belts in SG coaches, the coaches are required to be marked sick causing loss of time. BCT division has taken initiative and has developed in-house facility to replace V-belts on pit lines without marking the coach sick. The activity is carried out in co-ordination with the mechanical staff as dismantle and re-assembly of the suspension and braking gears are involved. TL depot at BCT has successfully started replacing the ‘V’ belts on pit line during trip maintenance and belts in a non AC coach is replaced in mere 75 m without sick marking/detachment of the coach. Same procedure is planned for AC coaches as well.

West Central Railway

  • Material management information system-S&T Department of Kota division, WCR has developed software for all store depots (19 nos.) of the division as a step towards computerization of all stores. This has been implemented at all depots. This is a user friendly, network based software with following features –
  1. Network based software, uses existing railnet infrastructure.
  2. Client server architecture, so no fear of losing data from client side problems.
  3. Multiple access level – officers, depot admin and DBA.
  4. Integrated feedback and support system that enables the remote user to make contact with the administrator using this facility.
  5. Inbuilt module to check network connectivity.
  6. Comprehensive reporting.
  7. Easy data entry operations as most of the entries by clicks or by auto fill features.

Modules in MMIS Software–

  1. Depot user module.
  2. Officers’ module.
  3. Admin module.
  4. Support and feedback module.
  5. Network monitoring module.
  1. Depot user module-Here a depot user can enter all data related with store activities through this module, which includes-

(i)Tally book creation.

(ii)Linking store items with tally book and page numbers.

(iii)Receiving items.

(iv)Issuing items.

(v)Stock balance report.

(vi)Search items on divisional level.

  1. Officers’ module-This module is developed to provide different reports for stores management.
  2. Admin module-This module is developed to provide following functionalities in the software–

(i)Add and update items in standardized item list.

(ii)Providing support to all remote users.

  1. Support and feedback module-This module is developed to create a reliable internal communication channel between depot users and system administrators. This system is used for following purposes –

(i)For adding any new item in the system, user can send request to Admin.

(ii)If there is any difficulty in operations, user can send request to Admin.

(iii)Admin can view request and reply back after solving the problem.

(iv)User can view reply given by Admin.

(v)Suggestions can be given by officers, depot users.

  1. Network monitoring module-This module is developed to monitor the network health continuously and to inform the user in real time.

Advantages of MMIS–

  1. Availability of material at depot and division level can be found.
  2. Indent preparation based on consumption report of material.
  3. Division level item search helps in better utilization of store inventory.
  4. Identification of slow moving material and accordingly surplus store can be identified.
  5. Detail of released material.
  6. Management can take better and quick decisions based on real time reports.
  7. Wastage of stock items reduced to a great extent.

Future plans –

  1. Development of indent module.
  2. Critical level indication of particular material.
  3. Integration of bar code technology in software.
  4. Alert generation if no entry in a particular duration.
  • Micro processor based test bench developed by Electric loco shed, Tughlakabad-A micro processor based test bench for EP contactors, which ishelpful in maintaining paperless record of the contactorshas been commissioned,.
  • Modification in traction motor sump cap length developed byElectric loco shed, Itarsi- Modification is being done in traction motor sump cap length and orientation to prevent damage of traction motor power cable due to sharp edge of its cap.
  • Gradient charts and station diagrams of Kota division- Gradient charts and station diagrams of Kota division with actual replica have been prepared by Tirora, Kota. This will help in smooth train operation especially on gradients and is a very useful tool in train operation for crew.
  • Developed skid to restrict roll down of coaches on dummy bogieinnovated by CRWS, Bhopal-A skid has been developed by Bogie shop to restrict rolling down of coaches on dummy bogie. The skid has been developed using released brake shoe key, chain of berth and a channel. Provision for hanging this skid has been made in one corner of dummy bogie (Head stock position). After shunting of coach, these skids can be put beneath the wheel. The channel aligns the skid to the track and the brake shoe key prevents the wheel from rolling. The chain is used to hang the skid on dummy bogie when not in use.

Provision of two skids in each end of bogie would prevent coach from rolling.

  • Lux test benchfor LED typeclassificationlightinnovated by Diesel shed, New Katni Junction-During commissioning of new units of LED type classification lights and also during overhauling in section, it is not possible to know the light intensity of the units. Sometimes it becomes difficult to ensure reliability of these units for next two years of service on locomotives. To overcome this problem and ensure reliability, a test bench for lux measurement has been developed in line with the DLW specification DEL/SPN/192 dated 06.05.98 at New Katni Junction shed. For this a close chamber is fabricated and lux meter is used for measurement, which should be more than 75 lux at 1 meter for each white and red LED operation.

This innovation will ensure high reliability of safety in loco operation.

  • Mechanical unit injectorcalibration machineinnovated by Diesel shed, Itarsi-“Unit Injector” is the most important part of the fuel system of EMD locomotives, which is a high pressure fuel metering pump and spray valve combined into one compact unit.In order to adjudge the functioning of various component of unit injector and also to check the rate of delivery of fuel from it, the calibration of injector is a pre-requisite. The calibration also ensures that the desired metered quantity of fuel is feeding in the system through injector.

An “HHP Loco Mechanical Unit Injector Calibration Machine” has been designed and fabricated by the staff of Diesel loco shed, Itarsi with the available resources. The market price of this machine is 13 to 15 lacks. Hitherto, the unit injector of HHP loco were being sent to Hubli shed for calibration. This activity not only consumes lot of productive man-hours of the unit but also increase substantial down time of HHP locomotive in shed. Hence this machine will be helpful in improving the overall productivity of diesel loco shed as well as will also be helpful in ensuring the efficient functioning of unit injector & control fuel consumption of loco as well.

Important Parameters:-

  1. Calibration fuel temperature- 35-40°C.
  2. Calibration fuel pressure - 35 PSI.
  3. Constant speed (RPM) of machine – 900+2 RPM.
  4. Unit Injector delivery in 300 strokes - 280+03 CC.
  5. Fuel rake– Full.
  • Test stand for testing temperature sensors of 3-phase a/c traction motor of HHP locos innovated by Diesel shed, Itarsi-3-phase a/c traction motoris used in AC-AC transmission system. Each motor is provided with individual temperature sensor, these sensors continuously monitor the temperatures of stators of these traction motors using PT-100 type transducers probes. PT-100 indicates that the probe has resistance of 100 ohms at 0°Ctemperature and is made of Platinum (PT).

As the temperature of stator increases, the signal sent by the temperature sensor causes torque reduction in loco thereby reducing the speed. For rise in 10°C temperature above 2000°C the loco control reduces the torque by 3.3% and 100% torque is reduced at 2300°C. Hence proper working of these sensors help in reliability of HHP type locos.

Diesel loco shed, Itarsi has fabricated one test stand for testing temperature sensors of 3-phase a/c traction motors of HHP Locos using available shed resources.

All traction motor temperature sensors can now be checked before putting into service and the sensors giving improper values can be removed from service before it can give any failure.

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