B.Tech Mech Engg.

, University of Kerala

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The industrial revolution led to the development of factories for large-scale production, with consequent changes in society. Originally the factories were steam-powered, but later transitioned to electricity once an electrical grid was developed. The mechanized assembly line was introduced to assemble parts in a repeatable fashion, with individual workers performing specific steps during the process. This led to significant increases in efficiency, lowering the cost of the end process. Later automation was increasingly used to replace human operators. This process has accelerated with the development of the computer and the robot. Industry in the sense of manufacturing became a key sector of production and labour in European and North American countries during the Industrial Revolution, which upset previous mercantile and feudal economies through many successive rapid advances in technology, such as the steel and coal production. It is aided by technological advances, and has continued to develop into new types and sectors to this day. Industrial countries then assumed a capitalist economic policy. Railroads and steam-powered ships began speedily establishing links with previously unreachable world markets, enabling private companies to develop to then-unheard of size and wealth. Following the Industrial Revolution, perhaps a third of the world's economic output is derived from manufacturing industriesmore than agriculture's share. There are many other different kinds of industries, and often organized into different classes or sectors by a variety of industrial classifications. Industry classification systems used by the government commonly divide industry into three sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The primary sector of industry is agriculture, mining and raw material extraction. The secondary sector of industry is manufacturing. The tertiary sector of industry is service production. Sometimes, one talks about a quaternary sector of industry, consisting of intellectual services such as research and development (R&D). Industrial visit is a part of the engineering course, during which students visit companies and get insight of on the internal working environment of the company. The
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industrial visit also provides an insight on how companies work and also useful information related to the practical aspects of the course which cannot be visualized in lectures. The students get the opportunity to see the mechanisms which are used in the present day industries by these kinds of field visits As a part of our curriculum we visited 3 industries and undergo an inplant training on an industrial plant. The factories visited are Hindustan Machine Tools Limited, Kalamassery unit The Fertilisers And Chemicals Travancore Limited, Udyogamandal Travancore Titanium products Ltd, Thiruvananthapuram

The inplant training is done in Travancore Cochin Chemicals, Kochi

B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

CHAPTER 2 HMT Ltd, KALAMASSERY

2.1. HMT (India) HMT, formerly Hindustan Machine Tools, is a state-owned manufacturing company under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in India Hindustan Machine Tools was incorporated in 1953 by the Government of India as a machine tool manufacturing company, in 1977 it become a public limited company under the name HMT Ltd. Over the years diversified into watches, tractors, printing machinery, metal forming presses, die casting & plastic processing machinery, CNC systems & bearings. HMT is headquartered at Bengaluru (Bangalore). Successful technology absorption in all product groups through collaborations with world renowned manufacturers and further strengthened by continuous in-house R&D. Today, HMT comprises six subsidiaries under the ambit of a holding company, which also manages the tractors business directly. HMT Limited took over Praga Tools Limited as one of its subsidiaries 1988. Praga Tools Limited was established in May, 1943 as Praga Tools Corporation Limited to manufacture machine tools with its head quarters at Secunderabad. It was renamed as Praga Tools Limited in 1963. It is mainly involved in manufacture of machine tools including CNC machines. HMT Limited has 18 manufacturing units. The constituent subsidiaries are given below while the holding company retains the tractors business group. HMTs tractor business commenced its operations in 1971 in technical collaboration with M/s MOTOKOV, Czechoslovakia. HMT started the operation with the manufacture of 25 HP tractors at the manufacturing plant in Pinjore, Haryana state. Over the years, it has developed tractors ranging from 25 HP to 75 HP.

B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

The five subsidiaries namely HMT Machine Tools Ltd HMT Watches Ltd HMT Chinar Watches Ltd HMT (International) Ltd HMT Bearings Ltd

2.2. HMT Ltd, KALAMESSERY UNIT The HMT Ltd installed their 4th unit in kalamassery in the year 1964. The HMT Ltd, kalamassery unit consist of two operating divisions. They are the printing machine division and the Machine tools division. We visited the machine tool division. The facility was installed with the foreign collaboration of Societa Nebiolo, Turin, Italy. As years passed the HMT Ltd, kalamassery unit has grown in to a state of art facility with features like Online material management system Production monitoring system Fully fledged Design Dept with cad facilities High tech tool room Heat treatment plant Foundry of annual capacity 2500 MT Wide variety of CNC machines handling

HMT Ltd, kalamassery uses best application engineering with a capacity of products up to 10 tons.

B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

2.3.MAJOR FACILITIES INSIDE HMT Ltd, KALAMASSERY We visited the HMT Ltd, kalamassery units Machine tool facility. The facility consist of various machining equipments. We studied the working of the various machining equipments. The HMT Ltd, kalamessry build machine that can weight upto 10 tonnes. The various machines we saw in the unit are Pattern making: - this facility is used by the HMT itself. In this facility the pattern of the various machine tools are created. The HMT have a foundry and the machine tools are molded in the foundry. The design of the tools is made in this pattern making facility. The patterns are then transferred to the foundry and molding is done. The patterns are made of clay. The property of the clay is improved by adding additives. The single pattern consist of a number of tools because the size of the tools are small then is is easy that way. If the size is very large the single mod patterns are used Foundry: - It is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods. Fabrication: - It refers to building metal structures by cutting, bending, and assembling. The cutting part of fabrication is via sawing, shearing, or chiseling (all with manual and powered variants); torching with handheld torches (such as oxy-fuel torches or plasma torches); and via CNC cutters (using a laser, torch, or water jet). The bending is via hammering (manual or powered) or via press brakes and similar tools. The assembling (joining of the pieces) is via welding, binding with adhesives, riveting, threaded fasteners, or even yet more bending in the form of a crimped seam. Structural steel and sheet metal are the usual starting materials for fabrication, along with the welding wire, flux, and fasteners that will join the cut pieces. As with other manufacturing processes, both human labor and automation are commonly used. The product resulting from (the process of) fabrication may be called a fabrication. Shops that specialize in this type of metal work are called fab shops. The end products of other common types of metalworking, such as machining, metal
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stamping, forging, and casting, may be similar in shape and function, but those processes are not classified as fabrication. Conventional machining: - It is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools, such as saws, lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, are used with a sharp cutting tool to physically remove material to achieve a desired geometry. Machining is a part of the manufacture of many metal products, but it can also be used on materials such as wood, plastic, ceramic, and composites. A person who specializes in machining is called a machinist. A room, building, or company where machining is done is called a machine shop. Machining can be a business, a hobby, or both. Much of modern day machining is carried out by computer numerical control (CNC). Computers are used to control the movement and operation of mills, lathes, and variety of other cutting machines. Numerical control (NC): - It refers to the automation of machine tools that are operated by abstractly programmed commands encoded on a storage medium, as opposed to controlled manually via hand wheels or levers, or mechanically automated via cams alone. The first NC machines were built in the 1940s and 1950s, based on existing tools that were modified with motors that moved the controls to follow points fed into the system on punched tape. These early servomechanisms were rapidly augmented with analog and digital computers, creating the modern computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools that have revolutionized the machining processes. In modern CNC systems, end-to-end component design is highly automated using computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs. The programs produce a computer file that is interpreted to extract the commands needed to operate a particular machine via a postprocessor, and then loaded into the CNC machines for production. Since any particular component might require the use of a number of different tools-drills, saws, etc., modern machines often combine multiple tools into a single "cell". In other cases, a number of different machines are used with an external controller and human or robotic operators that move the component from machine to machine. In either case, the complex series of steps needed to produce any part is highly automated and produces a part that closely matches the original CAD design. Lathe: - It is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.
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Lathes are used in woodturning, metalworking, metal spinning, and glass-working. Lathes can be used to shape pottery, the best-known design being the potter's wheel. Most suitably equipped metalworking lathes can also be used to produce most solids of revolution, plane surfaces and screw threads or helices. Ornamental lathes can produce three-dimensional solids of incredible complexity. The material can be held in place by either one or two centers, at least one of which can be moved horizontally to accommodate varying material lengths. Other work-holding methods include clamping the work about the axis of rotation using a chuck, or to a faceplate, using clamps or dogs. Milling machine: - It is a machine tool used to machine solid materials. Milling machines are often classed in two basic forms, horizontal and vertical, which refers to the orientation of the main spindle. Both types range in size from small, bench-mounted devices to room-sized machines. Unlike a drill press, which holds the workpiece stationary as the drill moves axially to penetrate the material, milling machines also move the workpiece radially against the rotating milling cutter, which cuts on its sides as well as its tip? Work piece and cutter movement are precisely controlled to less than 0.001 in (0.025 mm), usually by means of precision ground slides and lead screws or analogous technology. Milling machines may be manually operated, mechanically automated, or digitally automated via computer numerical control. Milling machines can perform a vast number of operations, from simple (e.g., slot and keyway cutting, planing, drilling) to complex (e.g., contouring, die sinking). Cutting fluid is often pumped to the cutting site to cool and lubricate the cut and to wash away the resulting swarf. Grinding machine: - It is often shortened to grinder, is a machine tool used for grinding, which is a type of machining using an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain of abrasive on the wheel's surface cuts a small chip from the workpiece via shear deformation. Grinding is used to finish workpieces which must show high surface quality (e.g., low surface roughness) and high accuracy of shape and dimension. As the accuracy in dimensions in grinding is on the order of 0.000025mm, in most applications it tends to be a finishing operation and removes comparatively little metal, about 0.25 to 0.50mm depth. However, there are some roughing applications in which grinding removals high volumes of metal quite rapidly. Thus grinding is a diverse field. Planer: - It is a type of metalworking machine tool that uses linear relative motion between the workpiece and a single-point cutting tool to machine a linear toolpath. Its cut is
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analogous to that of a lathe, except that it is (archetypally) linear instead of helical. (Adding axes of motion can yield helical toolpaths; see "Helical planing" below.) A planer is analogous to a shaper, but larger, and with the entire workpiece moving on a table beneath the cutter, instead of the cutter riding a ram that moves above a stationary workpiece. The table is moved back and forth on the bed beneath the cutting head either by mechanical means, such as a rack and pinion drive or a lead screw, or by a hydraulic cylinder. Heat treating: - It is a group of industrial and metalworking processes used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is metallurgical. Heat treatments are also used in the manufacture of many other materials, such as glass. Heat treatment involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to extreme temperatures, to achieve a desired result such as hardening or softening of a material. Heat treatment techniques include annealing, case hardening, precipitation strengthening, tempering and quenching. It is noteworthy that while the term heat treatment applies only to processes where the heating and cooling are done for the specific purpose of altering properties intentionally, heating and cooling often occur incidentally during other manufacturing processes such as hot forming or welding. 2.4. MAJOR PRODUCTS The HMT Ltd Kalamassery produces a range of products. They have a strong market in India as well as in the countries like UAE, Middle east, USA, and some African countries. Their major products are, Centre Lathes NH CNC Turning Machines SB CNC 40/60, STC 20, STC 25, Stallion 100, Stallion 200, ECONO CNC 22/26 Sheetfed Offset Printing Machines Single, Two, Four colour SOM 125G, 125B, 125N, SOM 136, 136N, SOM 225, 225N, 236, SOM 425, 436 Programmable Guillotine (Paper Cutting Machine) PG 115 Reconditioning & Refurbishing Shell Turning Lathe-SB CNC 60 4A 5M CD sub spindle Flat Bed Lathes-CNC-AUTOMANN 26 Axle Turning Lathe AXLE TURN 40

B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

2.5.MAJOR ACHEIVEMENTS 1. First in the country to manufacture CNC Slant Bed Turning Center through in-house development 2. First in the country to develop flexible turning cells 3. Design, development, manufacture and commissioning of fully automated flexible turning system to manufacture heavy armor penetrator for Strategic Sector 4. Heavy duty CNC Turning Machines with gantry load/unload systems

Machines exported to Europe, America and Middle East Countries

B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

CHAPTER 3 THE FERTILISERS AND CHEMICALS TRAVANCORE LIMITED

FACT, a Government of India enterprise, has business interests in manufacturing and marketing of fertilizers and caprolactum, engineering consultancy and fabrication of equipments. Units of FACT include the two manufacturing division, Udyogamandal complex (UC) and Cochin division (CD), the consultancy unit FACT Engineering & Design Organization (FEDO), the fabrication division FACT Engineering Works (FEW), and the marketing division. The company has also interests in petrochemicals, hydrometallurgy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

3.1. UDYOGAMANDAL DIVISION FACT commenced operation at Udyogamandal with the commissioning of 50,000 tons per annum Ammonium Sulphate Plant in 1947. In the decades that followed multi stage expansion programs were undertaken bringing in the latest technologies of the day which were quickly mastered and successfully implemented. Today the division is a mostly mix of 35 year old small capacity plants and 2 year old state of the art technology plants. The latest addition to this unit is 900 tons per day ammonia complex set up with an investment of RS 642 corers. FACT Udyogamandal division is 14001 certified.

Udyogamandal Division

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3.2. COCHIN DIVISION FACT Cochin Division has set up in the 1970's at Ambalamedu 30 km from Udyogamandal and adjacent to the Cochin Refineries. Phase-I of the division saw the setting up of an integrated Ammonia urea complex utilizing Indian Engineering skills. A large scale complex fertilizer plant of 485,000 TPA was set up as phase-II of Cochin Division and sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid plant of marketing capacity.

Cochin Division

3.3. PETROCHEMICAL DIVISION FACT diversified into petrochemicals in 1990 with the production of caprolactam. This versatile petrochemical is the raw material in the manufacture of nylone-6, which finds extensive application in textiles, tyre cord and engineering products. Thanks to its high quality the products have been acknowledge as among the best in the world. The division is located adjacent to the Udyogamandal division. Co-product ammonium sulphate is transferred for processing to the fertilizer plant of udyogamandal division. Petrochemical Division is ISO 9002 and 14001 certified.

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3.4. CAPROLACTAM

FACT Petrochemical Division is one of the only two manufacturers of Caprolactam in India. For FACT customer satisfaction through excellence in quality of products and services comes first. This is why we have strictly adhered to documented quality systems. In February 1996, FACT Petrochemical Division was certified to ISO 9002 (1994) and ISO 14001 (1996). This prestigious certification was conferred by RWTUV, the reputed German Quality Audit firm.

FACT Caprolactam plant was built with licence and know-how from the world leaders in Caprolactam technology - M/s Stamicarbon, the engineering subsidiary of DSM of Netherlands. Sourcing of technology from a single source ensured unified package and excellent consistent quality right from the time of commissioning. Detailed engineering of the plant was undertaken by Chiyoda Corporation of Japan in association with FACT Engineering and Design Organisation (FEDO), a subsidiary unit of FACT.The plant can produce 50,000 TPA of Caprolactam and 2,25,000 TPA of Ammonium Sulphate as coproduct.

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3.4.1. Caprolactam Process CYCLOHEXANONE, the main intermediate, is produced from benzene by hydrogenation to cyclohexane and subsequent oxidation. HYDROXYLAMINE, the second intermediate, is obtained in the form of its stable sulphate salt, from ammonia, sulphur-di-oxide and ammonium nitrite by the proven, easy-tooperate and efficient Raschig route. CAPROLACTAM is produced by the Beckmann rearrangement of the OXIME in the presence of oleum. The subsequent neutralisation step yields ammonium sulphate as coproduct. The crude CAPROLACTAM is purified by solvent extraction, ion-exchange, hydrogenation, evaporation and vacuum distillation to obtain products of extremely high purity and consistent quality.

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3.4.2. Packing Of Caprolactam FACT Caprolactam is available in 25 Kilograms packed in a multilayer bag. Inner Bag - Transparent LDPE loose bag, 150 microns thick, heat sealed at the top and bottom. Outer Bag - Brown kraft paper bag laminated with HDPE woven fabric. Middle Paper Layer - Brown loose craft paper 60 gsm, separating outer and inner bag. Caprolactam is filled in the inner LDPE bag and heat sealed at top.

The middle paper layer and the outer bag are stitched with Rayon thread and crepe paper tape. For export, Caprolactam bags will be loose stuffed in 20'(T.E.U) containers each of which will contain 16.5 / 17 MT of Caprolactam.

3.4.3. Caprolactam Export 10,000 to 12,000 Metric tons per year of Caprolactam is earmarked for meeting Export orders. FACT Caprolactam is currently being exported to USA, China, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, Slovenia and Sri Lanka. Response from our buyers indicate that they consider FACT Caprolactam at par with the best available anywhere in the world. They are also appreciative of the high consistency in the quality parameters that we maintain and the strict adherence to committed schedules and trade terms.

3.4.4. Application of Caprolactam Caprolactam is the popular monomer for the versatile Nylon-6 polyamide. Nylon 6 offers excellent properties like high strength-to-weight ratio, good chemical and thermal stability and durability. Textile yarn manufactured from Nylon-6 exhibits fine drape, resistance to abrasion, high flexibility, chemical and biological stability etc. Nylon-6 is widely used in manufacture of fishing nets, tyre yarns, sewing threads, industrial drive-belts etc. As an engineering plastic, it finds wide application in castings, injection moulding and extrusion. Items manufactured using Nylon-6 offer excellent engineering properties.
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3.5. FACT ENGINEERING & DESIGN ORGANISATION (FEDO) FACT Engineering & Design Organization (FEDO) was established in 1965 for utilizing the considerable indigenous plant building expertise accumulated by FACT in its process of nurturing the nascent chemical fertilizer industry. FEDO is today one of India's premier project engineering organization, catering to a wide spectrum of industries like petrochemicals, refining, pharmaceuticals, hydrometallurgy etc as well as petroleum storage, environmental engineering, offsite facilities etc. The division undertakes project execution on consultancy and turnkey basis, handling the intricacies of the technology sourcing, design and engineering, hardware procurement and construction with practiced ease. FEDO is ISO 9001 certified.

3.5.1. Functional setup of FEDO Multi-dimensional services and vital experience gathered over the past four decades, attract clients from all spheres of industry to this engineering consultancy. And FEDO offers them an entire gamut of services at every stage of a project, delivered through the coordinated functioning of the various specialist groups,as indicated in the graphic.

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3.6. FACT ENGINEERING WORKS (FEW) Established in 1966, FACT Engineering Works was originally conceived as a unit to fabricate and erect equipment for fertilizer plants. Over the years, it developed capabilities in the manufacture of Class I Pressure Vessels, Heat Exchangers, Columns, Towers etc. required for the fertilizer, petrochemical and petroleum industries. FEW received ISO 9002 Certification in 1998. 3.7. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT FACT's well equipped R & D section has advanced facilities with pilot plants, modern equipment and accessories. The division is backed by a team of highly motivated research scientists. Various processes have been developed and patented by FACT R & D division of which several have been commercialized successfully. A 150 TPA Bio Fertilizer Plant is set up at R&D centre.

3.8. MARKETING FACT has been a pacesetter in fertilizer marketing. The marketing network of FACT is spread over the southern states of Kerala, Tamilnadu, Pondichery, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The distribution netwrok consists of 100 Agro Service Centres, 50 field storage points and over 7900 retail selling points in these states, and serves the farmers by supply of fertilizers and agronomy advice. Through innovative farmer education and fertilizer promotion programmes, FACT has created awareness about scientific cultivation and fertilizer use.

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3.8.1. MARKETING OPERATIONS: Agro Service Centres SWC / CWC Points Soil Testing Laboratories Area & Regional Offices Field Sales Offices Dealer Points 100 43 3 20 100 7759

3.9. COMPUTER SERVICE CENTRE FACT is a pioneer in the industry for adopting information technology and has the unique distinction of having implemented IT enabled enterprise business systems way back in 1965 to meet the growing need for management information, engineering and commercial applications. IT systems have since then been kept constantly upgraded so as to keep pace with the rapid technological advancements. The latest in the chain of enhancements is the FACT>>FORWARD enterprise resource planning system (ERP) implemented in November, 2009 by in-house core group along with implementation partners M/s SAP, the world leader in ERP segment. FACT Computer Services Centre (CSC), the in-house IT department performed a key role in implementation of FACT>>FORWARD system including feasibility analysis, securing management approval, selecting/ managing core group members from different functional groups, coordinating project management during project preparation, blueprinting, realization, final preparation and go-live. CSC is equipped with around 25 numbers of centrally located virtualized servers for hosting SAP system and the corporate IT network, FACTNET encompasses around 600 connected PCs, a Citrix based virtual private network (VPN) that connects via Internet around 150 sales points spread across the 4 southern states, 2 Mbps leased line from CSC to FACT Cochin division, 4 Mbps Internet leased line for hosting Citrix VPN, 64 Kbps leased lines from CSC to FACT Engineering Works & FACT offices in Willingdon Island and
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around 15 km of optical fibre network that links FACT offices in Udyogamandal complex & nearby locations. Functional modules of ERP system including Finance, Costing, Materials management, Sales & distribution, Production planning, Quality management, Plant maintenance, Project systems, Human capital management, Supplier relationship

management are maintained by the in-house Centre of Excellence consisting of members from functional groups. Technical modules including Enterprise portal, Business intelligence and ABAP based custom software are maintained by the in-house IT team. Besides functioning as a central hub for IT support in the organisation, CSC has an important role to play in ensuring compliance to enterprise wide standards, business rules and best practices, keeping management abreast of fast paced technological changes and recommending timely enhancements of IT resources in the enterprise. CSC is geared up to augment its infrastructure with state-of-the-art data centre, disaster recovery site, optic fibre network for FACT Cochin division, access control system for sensitive areas, e-kiosks for extending enterprise portal to employee work-spots and to explore IT enabled sectors such as mobile computing, e-commerce/ e-payment/ payment gateway, B2B systems and so on.

3.10. FACT MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT CENTRE The FACT Management Development Centre (MDC) was established in April 1978 and is engaged in the training and development of managerial personnel. The training philosophy springs from the conviction that there exists a compelling need to continuously prepare mangers for meeting tomorrow's challenges. The Centre has adequate facilities for conducting management training programs.

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3.11. PERSONAL WELFARE There are 2000 managerial and 5350 non managerial employed on the rolls of FACT on 31/9/2000. At FACT, employees are the most valuable assets. Their welfare and well being is paramount. FACT has always devised a range of appropriate welfare amenities specially for their benefit. The facilities at FACT comprise of planned townships with well designed residences, support services like hospitals, dispensaries, schools, sports stadiums, auditorium, banks, post offices, telephone exchange, shopping centres, cooperative societies and entertainment facilities. Apart from these, they enjoy personal benefits like health schemes, incentives and subsidy schemes.

3.12. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FACT is always in the forefront of service to socially and economically weaker section of the society. The company constantly undertakes multitudinous welfare projects. Under FACT's village adoption programs, various necessary public amenities like water tanks, sanitation, bus shelters, safe drinking water distribution systems etc are constructed. Free medical camps at regular intervals are conducted and books and television sets are donated to village libraries and reading rooms. Financial assistance is also made to the weaker section of the society.

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CHAPTER 4

TRAVANCORE TITANIUM PRODUCTS Ltd, TVM

4.1. TRAVANCORE TITANIUM PRODUCTS Ltd Travancore Titanium Products Ltd (TTP), is the leading manufacturer of anatase grade titanium dioxide in India. The company was incorporated in 1946 at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, India on the initiative of Sir C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer. The main product is pigment grade titanium dioxide which is extracted from ilmenite, which is abundantly available as placer deposits on beaches near Kollam, 65 km north of Thiruvananthapuram. Ilmenite, a mixture of titanium dioxide and iron in the form of ferric/ferrous oxide, is treated with Sulphuric Acid to get Titanium dioxide and ferrous sulphate. The company was promoted by His Highness Chithira Tirunal Balaramavarma Maharaja, the then ruler of the State of Travancore (now Kerala State in India) with the technical collaboration of British Titan Products, (now Ti-oxide Group). Though the company was registered in 1946, actual production was started only in 1952 with a small capacity of 5 t.p.a. Later subsequent expansions were made in 1962 and 1973 and now TTP can produce about 20000 tones of titanium dioxide per annum. In 1960 Government of Kerala took over the management of the Company. Now the administrative control is vested with the Department of Industries, Government of Kerala. The company also possesses a modern sulphuric acid plant which was commissioned in 1996, for utilizing the tail gas recycling DCDA (Double Catalysis Double Absorption) technology. An alkali scrubbing system is incorporated in the plant, and this in turn helps to keep sulphur dioxide emissions from the factory well within permissible limits. For about 50 years, TTP was one of the profit making Public Sector Undertaking of Government of Kerala. Every year company declares a dividend of around 20 per cent. TTP
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is contributing crores of rupees to the State exchqeuer by way of Sales Tax, other duties and levies. Welfare amenities, salary and perquisites, working environment etc. are comparatively satisfactory. TTP has a good library with around 25000 books in stock. During the 70s, TItanium Football team was one of the most acclaimed Football Clubs in Kerala, winning so many covetable tropies. Players like Sankarankutty, Abdul Hameed, Najumuddin, Thomas Sebastian were members of Titanium Football team. In 1980 Titanium Volleyball Team was formed with national and international players like Cyril C. Velloor, K. Udayakumar,Abdul Razak,N.C.Chacko,P.S.Mohammed Ali, Sebastian George etc. Subsequently Danikutty David, Binu Jose ,Tomy and others joined the team .Volleyball team won the Federation Cup in 1993. TTP has a strength of around 1300 employees now. 4.2. TECHNOLOGY/PROCESS Travancore Titanium Products Limited is currently producing TiO2, antase grade, through the sulphate route. Ilmenite, a mixed oxide of titanium, ferrous iron and ferric iron is the main raw material for the production of titanium dioxide pigment. Ilmenite is reacted with sulfuric acid in reinforced cement concrete tanks called Digesters, lined with lead and acid resistant bricks. Exothermic reaction is initiated by the heat of dilution of the acid with water and a porous cake is formed. The mass in the solid form is dissolved in dilute sulphuric acid to get titanium in solution as titanium oxy sulphate (TiOSO4) along with other metallic ingradients in ilmenite as their sulphate. The liquor is reduced using scrap iron, when the ferric iron gets completely reduced to the ferrous state.

The resulting black liquor is clarified, concentrated and boiled by injecting steam to precipitate the titanium content as hydrated titania. The hydrated titania is filtered over drum type rotary vacuum filters. Any ferric iron still present is reduced to ferrous iron by leaching the pulp with dilute sulphuric acid. It is washed free of iron and other impurities and calcined in a rotary kiln is cooled in rotating coolers and de-agglomerated in pendulum mills to very fine particles. The fine white powder is packed in 25kg HDPE bags. Ilmenite + Sulphuric Acid => Titanyl Sulphate => Hydrated Titanium Dioxide => Titanium Dioxide

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4.3. PRODUCTS Titanium Dioxide is the whitest of white pigments and has replaced other less effective pigments such as Zinc Oxide, Lithopone etc. This is because of the unique combination of its superior properties of a high refractive index, low specific gravity, high hiding power and opacity,and non-toxicity. It also has high tinting strength and dispersion properties as well as chemical stability. Titanium Dioxide is produced in TTP in the ANATASE form and marketed as AJANTOX Anatase grade possesses excellent water dispersion properties and gives a clear tone in all ranges of application.

Travancore Titanium Products Limited has recently launched a Rutile Grade Titanium dioxide pigment viz., TTP RD-01. This product was developed in the year 2002 indigenously through the Sulphate route. TTP markets this product without surface treatment at a very competitive price.

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CHAPTER 5

TRAVANCORE COCHIN CHEMICALS Ltd, KOCHI

5.1. TCC Ltd, KOCHI The Travancore-Cochin Chemicals Ltd., popularly knows as TCC was established in 1950. The idea of establishing the unit was conceived by M/s Sheshasayee Brothers the then Managing Agents of FACT. The venture was started as partnership concern in the name Travancore Mettur Chemicals with FACT and MCIC (Mettur Chemicals and Industrial Corporation) as partners. In 1951 the partnership was registered as a Public Limited Company, with the State Government contributing the major share of equity and the company was then named as TRAVANCORE-COCHIN CHEMICALS LTD. M/s Sheshasayee Brothers continued to be the managing agents for the next 10 years.

Commercial production of Caustic Soda from the first plant of 20 tpd capacity was started in 1954 January. TCC is the first unit in India to manufacture Rayon grade Caustic Soda.

5.2. STAGES OF GROWTH

1956 - A continuous Caustic Fusion Plant 20 tpd for producing Caustic Soda flakes. 1958 - Chlorine Liquefaction Plant 1960 - Capacity enhanced to 30 tpd further to 40 tpd. Established new plant for manufacture of Sodium Hydrosulphate 3 tpd capacity 1967 - 7 tpd Sodium Hydrosulphate, 60 tpd Caustic Fusion Plant 4 tpd Iron free Sodium Sulphate 1975 Added another 100 tpd Caustic Soda Membrane Unit thereby increased the production capacity 200 tpd own Water Treatment Plant.

(by 1988, many of the old unit were dismantled)

1997 - 100 TPD Caustic Soda manufacturing unit using Membarane technology capacity 125 tpd.

1998- New CCF Plant in place of existing 60 tpd. 2005 -Addition 25 tpd 2006 Addition 25 tpd
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B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

At present total installed capacity is 175 tpd Caustic Fusion plant for 100 tpd. The company produces Rayon grade caustic soda using Membrane cell Technology. The main raw materials are common salt (NaCl) electricity and water. Company has three running plants which are membrane plant, CCF plant and Soda bleach plant. 5.3. TECHNOLOGY/PROCESS DESCRIPTION 5.3.1. Membrane cell technology It employs Ion exchange membrane placed between coated Titanium anode and coated Copper cathode. It requires lower current consumption and is an environment friendly technology. However the caustic soda lye thus produces is of low concentration-(32%) compares to the Caustic Soda production in mercury, and the major part of it is to be further concentrated to 48-50% for use of consuming industries. The membrane cell technology use the following steps to produce the caustic soda they are described below Brine saturation and purification Electrolysis Lean brine dechlorination HCl Synthesis Chlorine liquefaction

The chloralkali process is an industrial process for the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution (brine). Depending on the method several products beside hydrogen can be produced. If the products are separated, chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) are the products; by mixing, sodium hypochlorite or sodium chlorates are produced, depending on the temperature. Higher temperatures are needed for the production of sodium chlorate instead of sodium hypochlorite. Industrial scale production began in 1892.

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B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

When using calcium chloride or potassium chloride, the products contain calcium or potassium instead of sodium. The process has a high energy consumption, for example over 4 billion kWh per year in West Germany 1985, and produces equal (molar) amounts of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, which makes it necessary to find a use for the product for which there is less demand, usually the chlorine. There are three production methods in use. While the mercury cell method produces chlorinefree sodium hydroxide, the use of several tonnes of mercury leads to serious environmental problems. In normal production cycle a few hundred pounds of mercury per year are emitted which accumulate in the environment. Additionally, the chlorine and sodium hydroxide produced via the mercury-cell chloralkali process are themselves contaminated with trace amounts of mercury. The membrane and diaphragm method use no mercury, but the sodium hydroxide contains chlorine which has to be removed. The most common chloralkali process involves the electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride brine) in a membrane cell. Saturated brine is passed into the first chamber of the cell where the chloride ions are oxidised at the anode to chlorine: 2Cl Cl2 + 2e At the cathode, hydrogen in the water is reduced to hydrogen gas, releasing hydroxide ions into the solution (C in figure): 2H2O + 2e H2 + 2OH The non-permeable ion exchange membrane at the center of the cell allows the sodium ions (Na+) to pass to the second chamber where they react with the hydroxide ions to produce caustic soda (NaOH) (B in figure). The overall reaction for the electrolysis of brine is thus: 2NaCl + 2H2O Cl2 + H2 + 2NaOH

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B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

A membrane cell is used to prevent the reaction between the chlorine and hydroxide ions. If this reaction were to occur the chlorine would be disproportionated to form chloride and hypochlorite ions: Cl2 + 2OH Cl + ClO + H2O Above about 60C, chlorate can be formed: 3Cl2 + 6OH 5Cl + ClO3 + 3H2O Because of the corrosive nature of chlorine production, the anode has to be made from a nonreactive metal such as titanium, whereas the cathode can be made from Nickel. In the membrane cell, the anode and cathode are separated by an ion-permeable membrane. Saturated brine is fed to the compartment with the anode (the anolyte). A DC current is passed through the cell and the NaCl splits into its constituent components. The membrane passes Na+ ions to the cathode compartment (catholyte), where it forms sodium hydroxide in solution. The membrane allows only positive ions to pass through to prevent the chlorine from mixing with the sodium hydroxide. The chloride ions are oxidised to chlorine gas at the anode, which is collected, purified and stored. Hydrogen gas and Hydroxide ions are formed at the cathode.

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B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

Fig. 5.3.1 PROCESS DIAGRAM

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B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

Fig 5.3.2. ION EXCHANGE MEMBRANE

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B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

5.4. PRODUCTS 1: Caustic Soda Caustic Soda is a basic alkali entering into the manufacturing of a host of articles of daily use like soap, paper, and textiles. There are various concentrations available which are used by different industries. Using this technology brings about 30% reduction in electrical power requirements. This is free from pollution hazards of mercury. 2: Chlorine Chlorine, a co-product obtained in the process of manufacturing of Caustic soda is an equally important basic chemical, inevitable for the manufacture of plastics, textiles & paper, insecticides, pharmaceuticals etc. It is also renowned water purification chemical 3: Hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochlorite TCC also produces high-purity Hydrochloric Acid used for manufacture of ossein, which is exported for edible pharmaceutical application. Another by-product, sodium hypochlorite, finds its use in bleaching and disinfectant applications and also for extraction of rare earth materials.

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B.Tech Mech Engg., University of Kerala

5.5. MAJOR ACHEIVEMENTS Moving with the times, TCC keeps up its technology regularly updated and continue to be the competitive strength in the Chlor-alkali industry. With expanded plants and higher production capacity, TCC has come out to be the profitable public sector undertaking. Over the years we have achieved recognition and awards for the remarkable performance in the industry with regard to production, productivity, energy conservation and environmental protection. 1981 - Best Performance Award for Safety in the State from Directorate of Factories & Boilers, Government of Kerala 1988-89 - Best Pollution Control Award under group "Heavy Inorganic Industries" in Kerala, from Kerala State Pollution Control Board 1989 - Award for Best Performance in Safety in India under "Chemical Industries" group from National Safety Council. 1989-90 - Prize for Productivity from Kerala State Productivity Council. 1993 - Best Performance award for Energy Conservation in the State of Kerala under group "Chemical & Fertilizers above 3000 KVA" from Government of Kerala. 1994-95 - Best Performance award for the Productivity in the State of Kerala under group "Large Industries" from Kerala State Productivity Council. 1995-96 - Best Performance award for Productivity in the State of kerala under group "Large Industries" from Kerala State Productivity Council. 1998 - Best performance award for Energy Conservation in the State of Kerala under group "Major Industries" from Energy Management Centre, Govt.of Kerala. 1998 - Performance award for Energy Conservation under group "Chlor-alkali Sector". Ministry of Power, Government of India. 2003 - Kerala State Energy Conservation Award

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CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION This seminar includes all the Industrial Visits and Industrial Training I had undergone during this course. These industrial visits were done as a part of curricular activities. The selection of apt industries was a difficult task and more over availing there permission was a tedious job also. Industrial visits and training enabled the familiarization of real working environment. The industrial visits were a kind of stepping out from a theoretical world of books to the practical world. These visits also enabled to create awareness to the need of harmony at work. The essence of industrial morale and other disciplines in industries were also understood.

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