INFERNO (FIRE) IN GRAPHITE INDIA PLANT

 I was a witness to a major fire in the GRAPHITE INDIA plant in 1992.Industrial fires are of a major concern around the world as it can create huge economic losses and an extended and un-predictable down time.

Graphite India used to have a Baking unit which bakes charge coming from Extrusion department.It used to be done with furnace oil  in pits at a temperature of 800 degrees centigrade. Calcined petroleum coke and pitch are the key ingredients of making graphite which is a by-product of the Petroleum refining industry.

On that afternoon welding was happenning near by and a spark lit the oil largely that was scattered on the ground.The GM of Graphite India was A K JAIN and the Joint General Manager was Kersi KUKA.I used to have good relations with Kersi Kuka.A K Jain was out of town and Mr.Kuka was supervising things and sometimes had the temerity to go close to the fire which was ill-advised.

What ensued later was a very major fire towering above the plant and the fire engines arrived almost two hours later and doused the flames.

There was fire in BPL plant one night during over-time when some spark from some soldering machine lit cotton waste in the corner.

One of the reasons why I am putting these on record is that Indusrial engineers and managers must do everything possible to prevent fires.Sparks from the welding process have created fires at many places.The resonsibility of predicting possible fires and extinguishing them very early is a key aspect of Industrial engineering which would prevent huge losses to all stake holders and prevent organizations from going into a reverse gear.

MY EXPERIENCE IN ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE

I had fortunately some hands-on experience in Electrical Maintenance in Graphite India.Mr A K Jain used to be the GM,Mr K M I Bhat incharge of the Electrical section and Mr. G N N Rao the plant engineer Electrical.Mr. Mohan Rai was in-charge of Mechanical maintenance. I was interviewed by Mr. G N N Rao.Since my basic degree was in Electrical Engineering this place was very apt for me as I understood by and large the Electrical Engineering component very well.Mr.Narayan Vellampil used to be incharge of Energy conservation.

GI or Graphite India as it is known  is one of the few plants that directly gets 66KV into the plant from one of the substations which is stepped down to 11 KV by two independant transformers and the 11KV stepped down to 440volts by another four Power Transformers.,I used to be associated with the Motor room and there were various kinds of motors operating in the plant which needed re-winding.The Engineering fraternity were ably supported by a team of Electricians and fitters and I take pride in handling some of these staff very well in day to day breakdown issues.

Two key situations come to my mind which taught me lasting lessons.First was a constant tripping on the 440 volt side of a 11KV to 440V step down transformer. It tripped suddenly one morning and no one had a clue why it was happening. We struggled with this for nearly two days first changing the cables from the transformer to the Breaker and resetting the relay settings after which the problem ceased. Much later when I was heading the Computer section for few years a similar problem was hapenning in the UPS room and my earlier experience in this field came handy and I asked the staff incharge to reset the relay.

Another crisis came upon some time later when the transformer oil of the 66KV transformer had to be changed.After the oil change when the system was being charged an alarm bell was ringing.This went on for many hours.Mr GNN Rao and myself we were pouring through all circuits to ascertain the cause but later almost into the night we reset the bell and the system could be  charged. Such simple trappings could create crisis in maintenance .

GRAPHITE INDIA

Near my house at the Doddanakundi industrial area in Mahadevapura is the company called Graphite India that makes graphite electrodes for the steel industry. I think this company was set up in the year 1973 by the Bangur group with the help of Great lakes carbon corporation of the US. Mr.Maniar was a key person in the setting up of the plant it is said. Mr G K Nambiar was head of marketing for many years.

Graphite is a allotropic form of carbon found in natural form; however it can be manufactured as synthetically using manufacturing procedures.The industry by itself is very dusty with carbon. Pitch and coke are used as raw materials.

I used to know A K Jain who was the general manager of the plant in 1992. He used to be very pious man and used to walk around the plant every day praying to the various deities. I came to know later that he died of brain tumour. He had met with an accident some where in 1992 when his white ambassador car collided with a truck when he was on the wheel near Lowry  School.

This company is a major consumer of electric power with a 66kv line entering the factory premises. Mr. Ashwathnarayana Reddy a local politician was union leader for some time. John P Sachs the President of great lakes carbon corporation visited the plant some time during the late 1980's.

The entire area looks quite different now especially after the itpl came up in its vicinity. This company pollutes the environment and the owners and well-wishers must find some method to control and reduce the pollution.