DESIGN OF FUTURISTIC
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES USING GRAVITY AS PRIME MOVER
Nature gave us the design for our
factories in the form of the human body as a machine. Start at the top (mouth)
& finish at the bottom (rectum), yet high up above the ground (on legs).
Gravity
holds us on to this planet firmly, even when the mighty Earth is spinning so
fast that we could easily be shot out in outer space at the speed of light. In
the same fashion we tend to hold on to material things & our acquired sense
of Ego as if we are charged up with the power of Gravity. The sorrow in our
lives is self-generated & the simplest solution is to LET GO. Learn to use
the power to let go like we are doing with gravity in the case study given
above.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
To reduce our carbon foot prints we have planned to go green with energy
harnessed from wind, sun, tidal waves, and biogas/natural gas. But we forgot
about the most potent force of GRAVITY. When gravity is used in piecemeal or as
an afterthought then it is not economical. It is now proposed to plan at
corporate level to use the power of gravity by design. Large complexes capable
of accommodating hundred or more, small to medium industrial plants is being
planned on wasted plateaus/hillocks’ instead of flattened individual plots of
prime land.
MAJOR COST OF PRODUCTION IS MATERIAL HANDLING COSTS
Material handling costs form a major component of the total cost of production.
It can range from 50% to 70% of the total cost, depending upon the type of
product and manufacturing route. The basic function of layout planning is to
facilitate movement of materials with the least cost. This function will now be
fulfilled by delivering and storing the raw materials uphill of the processing
machines and moving the in-process materials and finished products by gravity,
totally free of cost.
THE BASIC THEME
The theme is to have the raw materials uphill of the industrial factories and
use gravity to move materials at every storage /processing point by choice and
design. A very large hill /plateau will be chiseled into ten basic steps
measuring 5m high by 5m deep each all along the outer perimeter of the
plateau/hill. In a nutshell it will resemble a giant sports stadium in reverse,
wrapped around the plateau. Each industrial plant/factory will be allocated and
laid out as a narrow strip from top to bottom of the plateau. The top of the
plateau will be connected by a long meandering wide road to the bottom step of
the plateau, and the incoming highway to facilitate movement of materials just
once, the first time and never again.
TOP TO BOTTOM APPROACH
The raw materials arrive by road or rail directly on the top of the plateau,
which is large enough to accommodate such traffic. Special purpose cranes and
unloading equipment unload the raw materials directly on to the first and
second steps. Third to seventh steps house the processing machines which are
inter linked by inclined chutes, gravity rollers, slides, idler spirals, self-moving
stairs, over lapping hoppers, self-unloading turrets, and other special purpose
conveyors running on gravity, free of charge. The eighth and ninth steps will
hold the finished products ready for dispatch/shipment. The final tenth step
will accommodate the trucks or railcars for loading by telescopic conveyors
under the power of gravity alone. This is how higher productivity, and lower
costs are achieved.
Each step within the individual plant will be inclined instead of being leveled
horizontal to facilitate movement of materials from point A to point B under
the influence of gravity alone.
The storage of raw materials and finished products will be palletized or
unitized and strategically positioned on inclined gravity conveyors for instant
retrieval and forward motion to the next point of use.
ABSTRACT: The theme of the invention is to
have the raw materials uphill of the industrial factories and use gravity to
move materials at every storage /processing point by choice and design.
BACKGROUND OF THE
INVENTION: To reduce our carbon
foot prints we have planned to go green with energy harnessed from wind, sun,
tidal waves, and biogas/natural gas. But we forgot about the most potent force
of GRAVITY. When gravity is used in piecemeal or as an afterthought then it is
not economical. It is now proposed to plan at corporate level to use the power
of gravity by design. Large complexes capable of accommodating hundreds or
more, small to medium industrial plants is being planned on wasted
plateaus/hillocks’ instead of flattened individual plots of prime land.
FIELD OF INVENTION
Material handling costs
form a major component of the total cost of production. It can range from 50%
to 70% of the total cost, depending upon the type of product and manufacturing
route. The basic function of layout planning is to facilitate movement of
materials with the least cost. This function will now be fulfilled by
delivering and storing the raw materials uphill of the processing machines and
moving the in-process materials and finished products by gravity, totally free
of cost.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ACT
A very large
hill/plateau will be chiseled into ten basic steps measuring 5m high by 5m deep
each all along the outer perimeter of the plateau/hill. In a nutshell it will
resemble a giant sports stadium in reverse, wrapped around the plateau. Each
industrial plant/factory will be allocated and laid out as a narrow strip from
top to bottom of the plateau. The top of the plateau will be connected by a
long meandering wide road to the bottom step of the plateau, and the incoming
highway to facilitate movement of materials just once, the first time and never
again.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The raw materials arrive
by road or rail directly on the top of the plateau, which is large enough to
accommodate such traffic. Special purpose cranes and unloading equipment unload
the raw materials directly on to the first and second steps. Third to seventh
steps house the processing machines which are inter linked by inclined chutes,
gravity rollers, slides, idler spirals, self-moving stairs, over lapping
hoppers, self-unloading turrets, and other special purpose conveyors running on
gravity, free of charge. The eighth and ninth steps will hold the finished
products ready for dispatch/shipment. The final tenth step will accommodate the
trucks or railcars for loading by telescopic conveyors under the power of
gravity alone. This is how higher productivity, and lower costs are
achieved.
SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS & VALUABLE ADVANTAGES
USE OF BARREN HILLY
TERRAINS, AWAY FROM TOWNSHIPS
Accordingly, the wasted
hilly terrains are utilized more profitably, and the prime flat lands are left
alone for agriculture & township expansions.
Accordingly, the
industrial congestion & associated traffic is greatly reduced in the towns
and cities.
Accordingly vertical
shaft wind turbines can be installed on the nearby hills to generate power for
this complex, very conveniently & cheaply.
LOW-COST BUILDINGS &
INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY
Accordingly, the capital
costs to set up industrial plants are drastically reduced on account of
compactness of design, use of air rights, overall cubic space utilization, and
minimum material handling equipment’s purchase cum installation, and site
development associated costs.
Accordingly, the depth
of foundations for the building columns and structures will be minimized on
account of common elements/sharing and standardized design for all plants in on
the plateau.
Accordingly, the cost of
production is significantly slashed because of non-motorized material handling
systems running on gravity power alone.
Accordingly, the overall
productivity goes up thus reducing the total cost of manufacture and increasing
the profit margins or competing in the overseas international markets.
USE OF GRAVITY POWER
INSTEAD OF ELECTRICAL POWER
Accordingly, the storage
of raw materials and finished products will be palletized or unitized and
strategically positioned on inclined gravity conveyors for instant retrieval
and forward motion to the next point of use.
Accordingly each step within the individual plant will be inclined
instead of being leveled horizontal to facilitate movement of materials from
point A to point B under the influence of gravity alone.
PHENOMENAL
SAVINGS
A table of comparative
analysis between the existing and the proposed systems has been attempted to highlight
the advantages of the gravity powered industrial complexes, below. The
potential savings in the cost of manufacture are phenomenal 58% on average.
COMPARATIVE
ANALYSIS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PARAMETERS EXISTING PROPOSD
SYSTEM SYSTEM
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Layout axis Two Three
Level of
handlings One level
Twelve levels
Foundations Deep Shallow
Structures Heavy Light
Handling equipment Powered Non-powered
HP requirement Excessive Optimum
Floor Space needed
{y}
Processing machines 0.30y 0.30y
Storage of materials 0.40y
0.30y
Handling equipment 0.30y 0.10y
Total
floorspace 1.00y 0.70y
Production Costs {x}
Raw materials 0.20x 0.20x
Miscoverheads 0.30x 0.30x
Material handling
0.50x
0.10x
Total Prod cost 1.00x 0.60x
Capital costs {z}
Landcost 0.10z 0.05z
Developmentcost 0.10z 0.20z
Building 0.20z 0.10z
Machinery 0.60z 0.35z
Total capital cost 1.00z 0.70z
TOTAL COST 1.00 XZ 0.42XZ
All figures are based on
annual reports of diverse industries.
ALL 10
E-BOOKS BY AUTHOR FOR YOUR BENEFIT
No comments:
Post a Comment