Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, has supplied around 400 tonnes of liquid oxygen, last week to various destinations in Andhra Pradesh and other States.
The Air Separation Plant (ASP) in the RINL has five units of oxygen extraction plants for 7.3 mtpa steel plant. Out of which three units have capacity to produce 550 tonnes per unit per day and two units have the capacity to produce 600 tonnes per unit per day.
On an average, the ASP produces 2,600 tonnes of oxygen and 100 tonnes of liquid oxygen, which is used for medical purposes.
Rising to the occasion of oxygen requirements for COVID patients in this pandemic crisis, the RINL has already supplied around 400 tonnes of liquid oxygen last week and last year it has supplied 8,842 tonnes of liquid oxygen, said top sources in the RINL.
Future commitment
Special ramps are being erected at the railway siding in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) jointly by the VSP and technical staff or the railways to receive the empty liquid oxygen containers and later load them on to the wagon Roll On Roll Off (RORO) trains.
The ramps will allow the container lorries to move down the wagons on to the ground. They would be driven into the oxygen plant for loading and after loading they would be driven back to the siding and mount the wagon via the ramp.
The special container train, which was supposed to have started in Maharashtra on Sunday evening, was delayed and is likely to start on Monday and expected to reach the VSP sometime on Tuesday, according to sources.
A green corridor is created to ensure speedy movement of the oxygen special to meet medical needs of people in various parts of the country. All other trains would give passage to this train. Around 15 of the 32 tankers of the oxygen special train, are expected to be loaded at the VSP. Each tanker would be of 15 tonne capacity, according to the sources.
