ACT Apr-Jun10.p65 - Petroleum Conservation Research Association

esources after removing the material and
process related shortcomings in the existing
pot making process. Three different pot
material compositions were identified for
making of improved as well as control test
pots based on various varieties of clay and
grog. The trial and testing activity of the
pots was carried out at the glass processing
unit (bangle making) of M/s Navjeevan
Glass Industries.
The following pictures show the pot
replacement process in the running pot
furnace at M/s Navjeevan Glass Industries.
Achievement and impact
generated
The most important and easily identifiable
indicator of the successful implementation
of activities is the increase in pot life inside
the pot furnace.The outcome of the testing
activity have been highly rewarding in terms
of increase in pot life by more than twice
of the existing average pot life and more
than thrice of the control case provided for
the experiment. The pot life has increased
from the control case of 10 days to the
best result of 31 days and the average pot
life established for processing the red colour
glass now stands at 15 days. It was reported
by the plant management at M/s Navjeevan
Glass Industries that such successful
intervention and improvement in the pot
life has been possible for the first time in
the history of Firozabad glass processing
units. The achievement becomes more
significant and meaningful when seen in the
light of usage of only locally available
materials, workmanship and resources
which can be accessed, implemented and
adopted by the pot maker community from
within their affordable resources.
The improvement in pot life has not only
reduced the monetary losses associated
with frequent pot replacements rather it has
Taking out damaged pot from running pot furnace and transferring new pot inside the
furnace
also made significant impacts on several
issues such as:
● Reduction in GHG emissions which is
directly linked to the reduction in natural
gas consumption by avoiding frequent
replacement of pots in the pot furnace.
● Huge energy losses are associated with
replacement of pots in a pot furnace as
the entire operation is done while the
pot furnace is running at temperature
of over 1,400 0 C, hence increase in pot
life has a proportionate reduction in
these losses.
● Since the pot replacement operation
exposes workmen to very high
temperatures and difficult working
conditions, thus less frequent instances
of pot breakage would also lead to lesser
times the workmen are exposed to high
temperatures inside the furnace and hence
improvement in workplace environment.
● The margins involved in pot making had
been coming down since last several
years resulting into shutdown of many
units but with the improved pots
decreasing the monetary losses incurred
by the end user (glass melting unit), the
pot makers can now demand a higher
price with a higher profit margin for
the same.
The way ahead
The results achieved from the realtime trial
of pots inside the pot furnace have been
compiled and further development and
testing would be conducted for establishing
the most promising method for pot making.
The improved pot making process shall be
disseminated among the community and
the indigenously developed process will be
envisaged to gain wide acceptance within
the pot makers. The development would
not only address the long standing issue of
unreliable pot failure inside the pot furnace
but would also ensure the sustained
livelihood of the pot makers of Firozabad
as many attempts to harness and implement
cost intensive technology from outside the
cluster would take a back seat owing to
ready availability to local resources.
Courtesy: Manish Soni, Program Officer
Winrock International India
Email: manishs@winrockindia.org
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active conservation techniques