A DBC replication site in Nagpur

While development and demonstration of the technology are essence engineering works, dissemination of technology brings into play a lot of other factors. Sustained good results of the demonstration unit, the financial attractiveness, and the ‘doability’ of the project has to be made known to other industry clusters as well.

After the demonstration of DBC (divided blast cupola) and the PCS (pollution control system) i.e. venturi scrubber in Howrah foundries, the first replication of the DBC was commissioned at Nagpur foundry cluster in 2001. The time lag is a reflection of the above stated fact that a technology has to prove itself by delivering results and consistently continue to repeat the benefits before it is accepted. It also has to do with the level of awareness and dialogue in foundry circles, entrepreneur-centric decision-making, and more than anything else the state of the castings market.

To partially address these issues, a series of workshops were conducted in 2002 at the five most promising clusters in India. These workshops were designed to offer the DBC and the PCS as economically viable, energy efficient, and environment friendly solutions to the continuing throes of the competitive domestic and international castings market, which was worsened by the environmental pressures. An increasing number of foundries expressed their desire to know more about the innovations.

A large foundry falling within the Kolkata Metroploitan Area, manufacturing spun pipes for municipal applications, was facing closure due to its poor environmental performance and was looking for a solution to overcome the crisis. Subsequent to the demonstration and the first replication of TERI technologies, the foundry approached TERI and replicated three DBCs and a common PCS during 2003.

Rajkot, the next site of replication, has a vibrant and insightful business community. In 2002, with the castings industry just on the verge of a turnaround, a serious enquiry, prompted by one of the earlier workshops in Rajkot, was received to replicate the design. The DBCs were commissioned in 2003. Initially planned as a set of two DBCs, the entrepreneur went ahead and converted the other furnaces to this design as well.

This marked the beginning of a phase wherein foundries have continued to replicate the DBC. Today, TERI designed DBC and/or PCS have either being commissioned or are in the pipeline in Coimbatore, Vijayawada, Bhavanagar, Alwar, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Mangalore. It is expected that the trends will continue, and in the future the DBC would become the baseline iron melting technology for the sector.