A Low-cost GPS-based Locomotive Tracking System for Steel Plant Applications
R. K. Jha, K. K. Mallik and S.Jha
Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel, Steel Authority of India Ltd.
Phone: +91-651-441066
E-mail: ls@rdcis.bih.nic.in
T. willems
Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Ghent University, Belgium
Phone: +32-9-2644882
E-mail: Tom.Willems@rug.ac.be
Abstract
Integrated steel plants rely heavily on rail transport infrastructure for the transportation of goods within the plant. Generally, this network encompasses the entire plant premises, connecting all major shops and stockyards. Smooth functioning of this network has a substantial impact on the overall productivity of the plant. Material tracking and fleet management of locomotives always poses a stiff challenge to the traffic department, which operates the rail transport infrastructure on a continuous basis. Managing this infrastructure can be eased and can be made more efficient through the installation of a GPS-based locomotive tracking system (LTS). Based on the typical organisational structure of an integrated steel plant, a customised LTS system has been designed to solve this perennial problem. The installation of a few small stand-alone LTS systems, each concentrating on a different area of activity, appears to be the most economical option. This also allows the use of VHF radio links for the data exchange. While the proposed system typically costs twice more than a conventional voice only VHF network, its benefits can be more easily quantified. Its cost-benefit ratio is particularly persuasive when the much higher installation cost of radio trunking systems is taken into account.
Introduction
Rail transport forms an integral part of any integrated steel plant’s operation. The raw materials, the intermediate and the finished products all move on rails because of their heavy weight. Managing this infrastructure is a complex task.
Consider, for example, the Bokaro steel plant. This 4 million tonnes integrated steel plant has a fleet of 60 locomotives (see Figure 1). There are about 50 locomotives in operation on a 24x7x365 basis. In the period of one hour, each locomotive consumes about 18.08 litres of diesel and about 0.57 litre of oil. One locomotive run-hour, i.e. running one locomotive for one hour, costs about Rs. 2000 in total.
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