Company Details: Vichoor Bitu Chemicals, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Application Areas: Tyre Recycling
Establishment Year: 2008
Total Employees: 160-180 employees

Mr. S. Rajan, Owner and Managing Director of Vichoor Bitu Chemicals, say, “Vichoor got Fornnax Tyre Recycling Crumb Rubber Plant (CRM-300) installed with an input capacity of 3 tons/hour. It also included secondary shredder R-2000 and Granulator TR-1400 along with attachments like PLC Panel, Steel and Fiber separation systems, Pneumatic conveying systems, and the dust collector. The reason why Vichoor Bitu Chemicals opted for Fornnax was, we identified Fornnax as an experienced, strong, and a reliable partner. Fornnax was supporting our company for many years. Vichoor was using European machinery for tyre recycling rubber powder plant, and we opted Fornnax for domestic support to run a smooth plant. Fornnax is our excellent domestic after-sales advisor too.”

Background of Vichoor Bitu Chemicals
Vichoor Bitu Chemicals was established in the year 2002 and is a part of the Vinora Group of Industries. Established for 18 years, the company is carrying out 125 Crores financial turnover in T.Nagar, Chennai. Vichoor is one of the top players in the category of Bitumen dealers in Chennai and serves as the top-destination serving local customers as well as the ones from other parts of Chennai.

The company has made its mark in this industry over the years. They believe that customer satisfaction is the foremost requirement, so their products and services have attracted an increased number of customers, and it is growing day by day. Vichoor employs individuals who are dedicated to the respective roles and puts in efforts to achieve the vision and goals of the company. Soon, it is planning to expand its products and services to a larger client base. The company will be providing top services in the categories like Bitumen Dealers, Transporters for Bitumen, Transporters, Asphalt Roofing Shingle dealers, Bitumen coating manufacturers, Bitumen Emulsion manufacturers, Bitumen Exporters, and Industrial Bitumen dealers.

Vichoor Bitu Chemicals - Pioneers in CRMB Application
Vichoor is the part of a top-notch Vinora Group of Industries that is involved in various projects in Tamil Nadu and other Indian states. Vinora Group is active in different tyre recycling businesses and other business projects too. The company considered tyre waste recycling as a major problem, and Vinora Group saw that this issue was not taken care of properly. After the establishment of Vinora Group of Industries, they were looking for solutions for recycling waste tyres that are continuously piling up in the world. Vinora has already heard about international success stories related to tyre recycling, so they started taping this market and matter too.

In the year 2013, the group decided to deal with the tyre waste problem, and they agreed upon recycling the tyre waste in this particular area. The company decided to recycle the waste pile into amazing reusable materials. They were looking for the best and workable equipment, so after enough searches, they installed the European Tyre Recycling plant in the year 2013. Here, they used full tyres as the input. The output was produced in the form of rubber powder. This recycling plant was able to process the whole truck and car tyres, with no prior de-beading.

The processing capacity was 4 tons of input per production/hour. From these used tyres, Vinora Group planned to produce crumb rubber powder for further use in CRMB (Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen), and for separating steel and textile (fiber). Moreover, two years have passed since Vichoor signed the contract with Fornnax to install Tyre Recycling Crumb Rubber Plant (CRM-3000). At this point, Vichoor wanted to take advantage of the large business opportunity for the production of rubber granules into rubber powder for use in the Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen or CRMB.

Choosing Fornnax - Providing Years of After Sales Service Support
Vichoor was running a tyre recycling plant with European Machinery for making the rubber powder. Moreover, in any of the tyre recycling plant, there are a few wear and tear parts used like screen, knives, knives holder, and other routine maintenance parts. But, the after-sales service engineer is required from a similar company where the parts are manufactured. It is seen that the domestic engineer, with years of experience in the field of tyre recycling, can save you downtime and money. This came to Vichoor Bitu Chemicals owner’s mind Mr. S. Rajan when he heard about the Fornnax Tyre Recycling plant in India.

Vichoor’s Owner Mr. Rajan contacted Fornnax’s Director, Mr. Jignesh Kundariya, over the telephonic discussion. Mr. Jignesh offered a modular Fornnax tyre recycling solution to Vichoor Bitu Chemicals owner and suggested to compare the machinery/plant specifications and price with that of the German Equipment or Plant. At this point, Mr. Rajan asked Fornnax to give suggestions and after-sales service support for their already installed European machinery. Vichoor wanted a domestic service provider to decrease the downtime and cost of maintenance, and Fornnax agreed to the proposal.

Moreover, Mr. S. Rajan, the owner of Vichoor Bitu Chemicals, stated, “Right from installation of the European Tyre Recycling plant in the year 2013, Fornnax became our company’s success key in 2016. Fornnax met our company for the smooth running of the plant and decreasing the downtime too. I even remember that we used to call the after-sales service engineer of the European Machinery for the wear and tear parts like knives, screen, knives holder, etc. But, we always had Fornnax’s after-sales service support with their knowledge of tyre recycling plant. This proved Fornnax as a pioneer in the tyre recycling region.”

Vichoor Bitu Chemicals - Working Towards Continuous Expansion of the Group
Mr. S. Rajan sees tyre recycling as having a bright future in India because it already been a hot topic over the last decade. Even CRMB or Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen is a kind of high- performance Bitumen that is manufactured by using the finely powdered scrap tyre rubber. CRMB is a type of hydrocarbon binder that is obtained through physical and chemical interaction of the Crumb Rubber with a few additives and mainly Bitumen. The CRMB offers the binders that are easy to handle and quite stable. It is also suitable for the pavements, subjected to different weather conditions, present at dense traffic roads, highways, seaports, junctions, etc. The CRMB-based binders are economical and durable for the new construction.

These types of pavements require low maintenance as compared to conventional Bitumen. In India, the CRMB or Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen will prove a boon for the construction of the new highways and roads. It is even expected that CRMB will grow rapidly because of the advantages associated with it.

Increased Demand for Rubber Granulates-based Products
S. Rajan, Owner and Managing Director of Vichoor Bitu Chemicals, says, “Firstly, we are witnessing an increased demand for the products made from rubber granulate. Even the demand for rubber made asphalt road is increasing gradually. The noise on these types of roads decreases significantly. Another benefit is they last longer and saves costs too. If this application is fully established, many roads in India are repaired and covered with the rubber asphalt.”

In 2018, Vichoor Bitu Chemicals acquired Fornnax Tyre Recycling Crumb Rubber Granules Plant (CRM-3000), including the Fornnax Secondary Shredder R-2000 and Granulator TR-1400 along with an attachment of PLC Panel, Steel and Fiber separation systems, Pneumatic Conveying system, and the Dust Collector were acquired. This plant has an input capacity of 3 tons per production per hour, and approximately, it produces 50 tons per day, producing 0.8 to 4 mm Crumb Rubber Granules.

Vichoor is thankful to Fornnax because the crumb rubber granulate produced is 99.9% free of the separated steel and textile. It made Vichoor’s team to feed these crumb rubber granulates to the Industrial Grinders for further reducing the size of rubber granules to the rubber powder. This will give out the required size in the mesh for using it in the CRMB, which is Vichoor Bitu Chemicals own business area. For manufacturing rubber powder, Vichoor never had to search for the selling market as we carry out self-consumption in the CRMB. The plant acquired by Vichoor is used for processing the pre-shredded tyres of input size, which is up to 50 mm to 300 mm. The company was able to get this size at the cheap price from the International Market with the help of Fornnax. Fornnax also helped them to get the import license from MOEF & CC and selected suppliers.

The tyre recycling Crumb Rubber Plant (CRM-3000) acquired by Vichoor consists of one Balanced Silo (BSS 3000), Secondary Shredder (R-2000), one Stability Silo (SSL 3000), one Over Band Magnet (OBMS 3000), two classifiers (CL 3000), two Industrial Granulators (TR-1400), and one Drum Magnet (DML 3000). It also includes belt and screw conveyors and Pneumatic Conveying Systems along with the Dust Collector.

Use of Plant Equipment
The machinery Balanced Silo ensures the continuous flow from the Secondary Shredder with maximum utilization of the machinery. The Secondary Shredder reduces the shreds to rubber mulch and chips, and the steel embedded in the input of the shredded tyres is also separated.

It is the first size reduction stage, and the input shreds of 50 to 300mm are reduced to 20 mm in the single pass. This includes 98% of the removed steel, and the machinery is equipped with exchangeable screens since the actual screen size determines the output size.

Here, output material like Chips can be used as the TDF or Tyre Derived Fuel, or it can be further processed in the plant. The Chips and the liberated steel are transported past an Over Band Magnet. It removes almost 98% of the steel from the rubber mulch. Steel gets diverted to one side, and Stability Silo ensures the continuous flow of rubber mulch into the Industrial Granulator. It reduces the chips in size and liberates the textile too.

The Industrial Granulators are equipped with exchangeable screens that possess different hole sizes and provides actual output sizes. Here, the first Industrial Granulator is used for the primary granulation stage and separates 50% of the textile contained in Tyres. The material is first to run past from a Drum Magnet that removes 1% to 2% of steel component and then a Classifier that removes 40% of the liberated textile. Now, the second Industrial Granulator is used for the final granulation stage, which liberates steel or textile and, after that removed in the Drum Magnet and the Second Classifier. Finally, 10% of textile is removed in the Separation Table. Granulates are divided into three sizes:

• Oversize Fraction (send back to the Stability Silo for downsizing and separation)
• Main Fraction (it is run through Separation Table and considered as an end-product)
• Fine Fraction (this is the end-product)

Easy to Operate Machinery Mr. S. Rajan says, “Fornnax manufactures robust and strong machinery. Their engineers did seamless installation without any delay. Fornnax Plant is automatic and easy to learn and operate. I am thankful for Fornnax’s introduction and backup, Vichoor’s technicians were able to handle all the operations from the start. Fornnax’s machinery provided operational safety as the whole system was automatic. It is a multi-size system that provides flexibility for producing different output rubber sizes. Fornnax’s equipment runs like a clockwork and caters to our company’s special requirements.”

Quality Matters at Fornnax Fornnax has a major focus on Middle Eastern and other foreign countries. It is essential to focus on the key factors of the new market to create a good reputation for the company and its products.

Ankit Kalola, General Manager at Fornnax, states, “Vichoor Bitu Chemicals that is a part of the Vinora Group has a strong local presence. Fornnax was aware that Vichoor plays a great role in the tyre recycling sector. So, we are glad to be a part of Vichoor’s successful recycling project.” The Project Manager at Vichoor added, “We are happy for the tremendous support received from Fornnax recycling.”

Even Production Manager at Vichoor Bitu Chemical states, “Fornnax Recycling was chosen because of its reliability, experience, and strength. Everything has been carried forward greatly. Fornnax has been identified as an excellent recycling equipment brand. As Vichoor mentions, we use Fornnax machinery so our customers can know about the high quality of our manufacturing products. Fornnax results and reputation speaks for itself. The market in India has great potential, and there is a huge demand for Vichoor’s products. The Shredded waste tyres keep coming, so Vichoor has a bright business future.”