Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) produces high purity oxygen using air separation process. This oxygen is used for manufacture of wheels and axles. For this purpose, the gas is supplied at 12 bar g through pipelines. RWF received several requests for medical oxygen during the second wave of COVID-19. However, since the oxygen produced by RWF is in gaseous state at 12 bar g, and Oxygen gas is required at 150 bar g for bottling the medical oxygen cylinders, RWF took up the project of setting up an Oxygen Cylinder Bottling facility to cater to the requirement of medical oxygen in the event of the third wave of COVID-19 hitting Bengaluru.
The bottling plant includes a compressor and charging system, cooling water piping and oxygen piping, loading & unloading area, stacking area for empty and filled cylinders housed in a dedicated manifold and is set up at an approximate cost of INR 75 lakhs. The primary source of oxygen is tapped at 12 bar g from the existing supply line. The compressor has been manufactured by M/s CET Engineering s.r.l. Italy. It is specially designed to compress oxygen gas, to ensure that it remains in a pure state, uncontaminated by lubricants or other substances.
