Sunday 7 July 2013

CHAPTER 18 : X-RAY ENGINEERING COMPANY (INDIA) PVT. LTD.


This work was started in collaboration with foreign experts. Very often tiny cracks remain in the joints of pipes etc. Sometimes the joints are not secure enough. As a result the liquid flowing through the pipes leaks out. Therefore it is necessary to make use of X-rays. It is possible to detect the cracks using X-rays. To take on the work of inspection, the company took the help of experts from the well known American company, ‘X-ray Engineering International,’ situated in California and started the work.
This company had a laboratory well equipped with various instruments. To transport the film to different places and carry out inspections they had a motorised van with a dark room to develop the film on the spot. With this kind of equipment and expert and knowledgeable engineers, this was the best company in India at the time for this remarkable work.
The field of activity of this company was vast. In addition to testing pipelines they also tested large metal pressure vessels (Horton spheres) used for storage, boilers, penstock* etc. During the eight years, from to 1963 to 1971, the main companies for which they carried out testing were: Calcutta Gas Pipeline, Gujarat Pipeline, Caltex Pipe Works, Burmah Shell, Tata Locomotives, Mukund Iron, Ceat Tyres, Sindhia, Indian Oxygen, Alcock Ashdown, Richardson and Cruddas, Walchand Industries, Skoda, Tastil Mazgaon Docks, Ordinance Factory, Nangal and Trombay Fertilisers, Union Chemicals, Synthetic and Chemicals, Travancore Fertilisers and Chemicals, Larsen and Toubro, Polychem, Nestor Boilers, Ri Hand Scheme, Koyna Organisation, Gandarbal (Kashmir) Organisation, Andhra Power, Altadhari (Maharashtra) Organisation, Neria Mangalam of Kerela, Paniyar and Pothgal Kathu and in addition the thermal power stations in Chandni (Madhya Pradesh), Uttaran and Dhuvaran (Gujarat), Trombay etc.
The expert X-ray technicians had devised a method of carrying out the tests without disturbing the work in progress, so that during the testing process water, oil and other liquids could continue to flow and there was no need to stop the work.
This work was extremely delicate so many different instruments had to be used. Thus the company’s laboratory was equipped with the latest instruments.
The directors of this company were Shri Punamchand Kamani, Shri Rasiklal Kamani and W. W. Oftner of X-ray Engineering International.
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*penstock: A regulator consisting of a valve or gate that controls the rate of water flow through a sluice; conduit that carries a rapid flow of water controlled by a sluice gate.

Along with the successful industrial progress during these eight years, research and development in the company was also moving ahead by leaps and bounds, so the future of the company seemed very bright.

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