<p data-path-to-node="2"><b data-path-to-node="2" data-index-in-node="0">VISAKHAPATNAM</b> — In a major technical milestone aimed at eliminating landside freight friction and securing critical raw material supply chains for Eastern India’s primary manufacturing corridors, Adani Gangavaram Port Limited (AGPL) has officially commissioned a state-of-the-art, fully automated rail-wagon unloading and discharge station dedicated specifically to low-moisture metallurgical coke and thermal energy supplies.</p><p data-path-to-node="3">Operating from the port’s deepwater industrial complex along the Bay of Bengal, the newly integrated dry-bulk unloading facility bridges quayside vessel operations directly with the national rail network. The mechanized installation directly addresses escalating blast furnace feedstock requirements across integrated steel, sponge iron, and heavy foundry complexes operating throughout Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand.</p><h6 data-path-to-node="4"><b>Overcoming Rail Head Friction and Rake Demurrage</b></h6><p data-path-to-node="5">Metallurgical coke is an essential carbon feedstock and reducing agent in blast furnace ironmaking. However, handling and discharging this abrasive bulk material through conventional rail yards has traditionally presented severe logistical and operational bottlenecks:</p><ul data-path-to-node="6"><li><p data-path-to-node="6,0,0"><b data-path-to-node="6,0,0" data-index-in-node="0">Protracted Wagon Dwell Times:</b> Discharging standard 58-wagon BOXN or BOBRN railway formations using conventional mobile grab buckets or payloaders frequently required between 4 and 6 hours per train set.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="6,1,0"><b data-path-to-node="6,1,0" data-index-in-node="0">Severe Rake Detention Surcharges:</b> Operational unloading delays routinely exceeded Indian Railways’ free-turn allowances, triggering costly demurrage penalties for industrial users and tying up high-demand rolling stock.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="6,2,0"><b data-path-to-node="6,2,0" data-index-in-node="0">Fugitive Emissions and Commodity Degradation:</b> Traditional open-air grab handling and hopper transfers led to high rates of fugitive coke dust emissions and lump degradation, compromising the physical integrity and low-moisture specifications demanded by modern blast furnaces.</p></li></ul><p data-path-to-node="7">The newly commissioned unloading complex eliminates these systemic pinch points by converting railcar evacuation into a continuous, enclosed, and digitally coordinated cycle.</p><h6 data-path-to-node="8"><b>Engineering Specifications and High-Speed Shunting Grid</b></h6><p data-path-to-node="9">The facility features heavy-duty mechanical engineering, automated indexers, and advanced environmental suppression technologies:</p><ul data-path-to-node="10"><li><p data-path-to-node="10,0,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,0,0" data-index-in-node="0">Tandem Rotary Car Dumpers:</b> The complex integrates dual rotary car dumpers capable of securely clamping and inverting two loaded railway wagons simultaneously through a 160-degree radial arc, emptying full 59-wagon rakes in under 90 minutes.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="10,1,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,1,0" data-index-in-node="0">Automated Side-Arm Beetle Indexers:</b> Inbound rakes are decoupled from mainline locomotives and engaged by automated side-arm train pullers (beetle indexers). These robotic indexers advance the train formation wagon-by-wagon onto the dumper platen with millimeter precision, eliminating the need for manual locomotive shunting.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="10,2,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,2,0" data-index-in-node="0">Subsurface Receiving Hoppers:</b> Discharged coke falls directly into deep underground receiving hoppers lined with ultra-high-molecular-weight (UHMW) low-friction polymer sheets, preventing material bridging, abrasion, and hang-ups.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="10,3,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,3,0" data-index-in-node="0">Enclosed Takeaway Belt Conveyors:</b> Variable-frequency vibratory feeders beneath the hoppers regulate the flow of bulk material onto high-speed, fully covered conveyor belts operating at over 4.5 metres per second, transferring cargo directly into automated secondary stacker-reclaimers or covered storage silos.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="10,4,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,4,0" data-index-in-node="0">Supersonic Dry-Fog and Mist Cannons:</b> To ensure total environmental compliance with State Pollution Control Board mandates, the unloading shed incorporates integrated negative-pressure extraction hoods, baghouse filtration units, and sonic dry-fog misting nozzles that suppress airborne particulates directly at the wagon rim.</p></li></ul><h6 data-path-to-node="11"><b>Accelerating Primary Steel and Manufacturing Value Chains</b></h6><p data-path-to-node="12">Operating in close physical and operational synergy with the Waltair Division of East Coast Railway (ECoR), the new automated wagon-discharge terminal functions as an indispensable supply chain artery for Eastern India's industrial backbone:</p><ul data-path-to-node="13"><li><p data-path-to-node="13,0,0"><b data-path-to-node="13,0,0" data-index-in-node="0">Powering Regional Blast Furnaces:</b> The high-velocity rail discharge circuit guarantees continuous, uninterrupted metallurgical coke feedstocks for major integrated steel plants, including the adjacent Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL / Vizag Steel Plant), Tata Steel, NMDC Steel, and Jindal Steel &amp; Power.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="13,1,0"><b data-path-to-node="13,1,0" data-index-in-node="0">Accelerating Rolling Stock Asset Turns:</b> Compressing complete train turnaround cycles to under 90 minutes speeds up the return of empty wagons back into the Indian Railways freight pool, increasing national freight liquidity and asset productivity.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="13,2,0"><b data-path-to-node="13,2,0" data-index-in-node="0">Preserving Raw Material Quality:</b> By eliminating multiple stages of payloader shoveling and secondary drayage, the fully enclosed conveyor circuit prevents structural fracturing of coke lumps, delivering superior chemical grade and size consistency straight to blast furnace hoppers.</p></li></ul><p data-path-to-node="14">Senior terminal engineering leadership at Adani Gangavaram Port noted that the facility establishes a benchmark in mechanized bulk handling, slashing logistics overheads for core industrial partners while advancing sustainable port practices under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.</p><p data-path-to-node="15">Port operations management confirmed that following exhaustive commercial load trials, the automated rail-wagon unloading terminal is now operating on a continuous 24/7 basis, processing scheduled commercial freight rakes immediately.</p>