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VOL. 50 | ISSUE NO. 4 | APRIL 2015 | MUMBAI | ` 150 NEWS ► Industry News/ 6 Technology News / 20

NEWS FEATURES ► A First Generation Entrepreneur with a Noble Heart / 22 India: A Dynamic Market with Attractive Growth Rates / 26

FEATURES ► Bringing Manufacturers to the Tech Table / 28 – Ramesh Subramanian, Global Delivery Head, Blue Star Infotech Process Optimisation by Applying Modern Drying Technology / 32

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Chemical Engineering World

CEW Industry News India to Lower LNG Imports from Qatar

RIL has Commissioned Two Polyester Plastic Plants

New Delhi, India: India is looking to reduce the import volumes of natural gas from Qatar under its long-term contract. A number of sources stated that since the gas price in the spot market is less by almost USD 6 a unit than the present long-term price that the country has with RasGas, India is looking to reduce the contracted volumes by almost 10 per cent.

Mumbai, India: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has successfully commissioned a new Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and PET resin (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plants at Dahej, Gujarat.

The PTA plant with a capacity of 1150 KTA is built with Invista technology. This state-of-the-art facility is highly energy efficient and environment friendly. With the commissioning of this plant, Reliance’s total PTA capacity will increase to 3.2 MMTPA and global capacity share to 4 per cent. Paraxylene, the key feedstock for the PTA plant is sourced from Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery.

The PTA plant is also forward integrated with a 650 KTA PET plant in the same complex. The integrated operation will help in lower operating cost and capture full chain margins. Another PTA plant of similar capacity is under construction at the same location. With these capacities, Reliance will be placed among the top five PTA manufacturers globally. The PET Plant consists of two lines with a combined manufacturing capacity of 650 KTA and has also been built with Invista Technology for Continuous Polymerisation and Buhler AG Technology for Solid State Polymerisation. This is one of the largest bottle-grade PET resin capacity at a single location globally. This consolidates Reliance’s position as a leading PET resin producer with a global capacity of 1.15 MMTPA. Current global effective PET resin capacity is estimated at 30 MMTPA. PET resin from the new capacity would find application in packaging for water, carbonated soft drinks, pharmaceuticals and other food and beverages.

Under their long term contract, Petronet LNG imports 7.5 million tonnes from RasGas annually. Currently, the gas has been priced at USD 13 a unit, while the spot price at Indian shore is about USD 7 a unit. Before the end user receives this gas, the price has additions of re-gasification costs, transmission tariffs, marketing margins and local taxes and levies.

At present, Petronet is meeting about 30 per cent of India’s gas demand. Although the central government permits companies to import LNG under the open general licence, talks between India and Qatar are taking place at the high level.

Post Belarus-China Deal, India Bargains for Potash Mumbai, India: The deal between Belarus and China of selling potash to China at a price which is lower than expected has prompted India to look to have a similar bargain before the new contracts are signed this month and this is likely to hit spot rates which are already facing pressure because of the intense competition.

Last month, Belarusia Potash Company (BPC) agreed to increase the potash export costs to China by USD 10 to reach USD 315 per tonne which did not go in favour of Russia and North America who were negotiating to high the price by USD 25-30.

India imports potash to serve its entire demand for the crop nutrient and last year, bought it for USD 322 on a cost and freight basis which is the lowest in the past seven years. The thought is to keep the price stable even this year. Since India buys potash in small consignments, it pays a bit more than China for additional freight. The spot prices have been down at almost 18 per cent since the breakup of BPC at USD 330 per tonne.

Pidilite to Make Investment in Nina Waterproofing New Delhi, India: Pidilite Industries is to acquire a 70 per cent equity stake and will be investing about ` 100 core in Nina Waterproofing. The company stated in a regulatory filing that the Board of Directors has approved of the investment in the equity share of Nina and has proposed to make it the Pidilite’s subsidiary.

The filing also stated that the initial investment to be made in Nina would be ` 23.33 lakh and the board has given its approval for additional investment up to ` 100 crore.

6 • April 2015

Ashland Incorporated to Start Manufacturing Unit Hyderabad, India: Ashland Incorporated has revealed its plan to plans to set up a manufacturing unit in India soon. According to J Kevin Willis, Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, the company, however, needs an ecosystem like availability of raw materials, transport, warehousing and logistics facilities as well as customer presence. In more than 100 countries, Ashland provides the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow.

Production Resumes at Aditya Birla Nuvo’s Urea Plant New Delhi, India: Aditya Birla Nuvo has announced that its Jagdishpur Urea Plant in Uttar Pradesh has resumed production.

In a regulatory filing, the company stated that it has restarted the Jagdishpur ammonia/urea plant and has expected the production of urea to begin by April 2, 2015. The urea production at the plant was halted on February 27 since the present government policy makes production above the capacity unviable. Being a controlled commodity, the government, through a subsidy, offer the difference between the MRP and cost of production. If the production exceeds 100 per cent capacity, the subsidy is then ascertained based on import prices.

Since the import prices have reduced considerably, it is not viable to produce beyond capacity.

Chemical Engineering World

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CEW Industry News Münzing Chemie and IMCD to Continue Partnership

CRI Makes a Foray into Pipes

Mumbai, India: Münzing Chemie and IMCD NV have announced that they have further expanded their successful partnership for the distribution of coating additives to India. Effective immediately, this new agreement is the extension of an existing partnership in Australia, New Zealand and Italy as well as in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria for waxes. IMCD will serve customers in the architectural, decorative paints, industrial coatings, adhesives, printing inks, wood coatings, emulsion polymerisation and pigment paste markets across India with Münzing’s coating additives range including liquid defoamers, rheology modifiers, wetting and dispersing agents, levelling agents, emulsifiers, open time additives, crosslinkers, release agents, hammerfinish additives and liquid matting agents.

Mumbai, India: CRI Pumps Private Limited has announced to enter into the non-metallic high end pipes segment as part of its rapid diversification strategy. It will manufacture uPVC and CPVC pipes, designed with higher durability to provide an efficient pumping and plumbing system, at its two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Gandhinagar and Hosur. Gandhinagar in Gujarat that will cater to the western, northern and central markets, and Hosur in Tamil Nadu that will cater to the southern and eastern markets, are expected to commence full-fledged commercial operations soon.

Bio-fuels Need of the Hour: Nitin Gadkari Mumbai, India: The government is exploring options of moving the Apex court in the country to seek a redressal from the recent Green tribunal order to ease out 10 year old diesel fuelled vehicles from the capital city even as the transport ministry takes initiatives to bring in biofuels in the public transport system. Speaking at the Session, ‘Biofuels in Road Transport’ at the Bio-Fuels Roundtable-2015, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in the Capital on April 15, 2015, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road, Transport and Highways and shipping, said, “The transport ministry will make efforts to bring in biofuels including ethanol, biodiesel and bio-CNG for public transport in Delhi to reduce carbon emissions which has an adverse impact on climate change.” He said, “Bio-fuels can be socio-economic change agents as it would address crucial issues of farmer suicides, agri surpluses in the sugar wheat and rice industries and fuel economy.

Higher use of biofuels will directly help reduce petrol and diesel imports which are at about ` 6 lakh crores. He further added that the recent Green tribunal decision merits the need to concentrate more on biofuels to ensure a country free from pollution. He said, “Highest priority needs to be given to biofuels.”

Government to Revive Fertiliser Units New, Delhi: With an investment of about ` 12,000 crore and by making use of 2,000 km proposed gas pipeline from Jagdishpur to Haldia, the two shut fertiliser plants in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will be revived, the Cabinet announced. ` 10,000 crore Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline is targeted for completion by 2019 and it will supply the feedstock for the urea plants at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Barauni in Bihar.

The pipeline would also provide the fuel to power stations as well as to feed city gas requirements. According to the government, the pipeline would provide gas to 1 crore households in eastern India.

The decision on gas pooling can help the government save ` 1,550 crore subsidy, will improve operational efficiency, there will be uniform gas distribution and provide relief to farmers who face problems of urea supply.

8 • April 2015

The Gandhinagar plant has successfully test-marketed its products with highly encouraging results. Announcing the launch of the manufacturing facilities, G Soundararajan, Vice- Chairman of the company, said that the foray into pipes segment was not an ad hoc one, but part of an overall business development strategy arising out of their five-year Vision 2020. Explaining the rationale behind the entry, he said, “As part of Vision 2020, we have fixed on achieving an annual turnover of ` 5,000 crore by the end of 2020. To achieve this, we planned to rapidly diversify and add more products to our existing line. Even in an adverse market situation, CRI has grown around 20 per cent compared to the previous year to achieve the highest growth in the organised Indian pump sector in the financial year 2014-15.”

Workshop on DWSIM Mumbai, India: The FOSSEE(Free and Open Source Software in Education) project at IIT Bombay is conducting workshop on DWSIM a chemical engineering simulator. The workshop would be held between 29th and 30th May 2015 at IIT Bombay. The workshop would explain how to use the simulation package – DWSIM. C o m m e r c i a l c h e m i c a l p r o c e s s s i m u l a t i o n p a ck a g e s a r e prohibitively expensive and are out of reach of many companies.

But DWSIM is open source software and hence it will be freely available. The software will be useful for many companies, especially small scale ones, to optimize on cost without incurring heavy expenses.

DWSIM allows chemical engineering students and chemical engineers to better understand the behaviour of their chemical systems by using rigorous thermodynamic and unit operations’ models with no cost at all. DWSIM comes with excellent thermodynamic package, CAPE OPEN. DWSIM runs on Windows, Linux, and MAC OS. Interested individuals may register themselves for workshop at fossee.in/workshop/dwsim.

India’s urea imports increased 23 per cent to 87.49 lakh tonnes last fiscal on higher demand.

Chemical Engineering World

CEW Industry News GACL Celebrates Silver Jubilee of Successful Operations of Membrane Cell Plant

Sandvik Establishes a State-of-the-Art Rebuild Facility at Nagpur

Mumbai, India; Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) recently c e l e b r a t e d t h e S i l ve r J u b i l e e o f the successful operations of their Membrane Cell plant (MC1) which was converted from mercury cells at their Vadodara Complex in Ranoli, Guajrat.

The company was the first in India A M Tiwari (IAS), MD, GACL is felicitated by P D Samudra, MD – to opt to convert their than 100 tpd ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions Mercury Cell plant in 1988, when they (India) and Dy CEO ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions Regional selected the ThyssenKrupp Industrial Cluster for India Solutions’ Membrane Cell technology for the manufacture of mercury-free Caustic Soda. The plant was commissioned in the year 1989, and became a reference plant for other caustic soda producers in the country with mercury cell plants. Since then the plant has been upgraded a number of times, and currently operates using the new Generation VB cell elements. In addition to impressive production and energy consumption figures, the plant has achieved a ZERO Lost Time Incident ongoing record of over 4,300 days.

Mumbai, India: Sandvik Mining has established a 2450 square meters refurbishment facility at Nagpur for catering to aftermarket and maintenance needs of their key customers in India. The facility was jointly inaugurated today by key customers of Sandvik in Nagpur K Ramachandran Rao (left), Vice President , Mining, SMS Infrastructure Limited and Rajesh Verma, DGM Mechanical, Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) in the presence of senior management member of Sandvik.

In 1994, in reiteration of their successful operation of MC1 & proven association with the ThyssenKrupp Group of Germany and its Indian subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (India) – formerly Uhde India – the company opted for conversion of their MC2 plant to membrane cell technology.

The Silver Jubilee was celebrated in Vadodara where GACL speakers presented their experience with the Membrane Cell technology and improvements carried out in-house, followed by presentations on the ‘Uhde’ Membrane Cell technology & recent developments in chlor-alkali technologies by the ThyssenKrupp Group. The Group remains one of the few to offer under-one-roof solutions for Caustic Soda plants, in the nature of grassroots facilities, upgradations, capacity augmentations, conversions and expansions, as well as new-age developments like the manufacture of Caustic Soda /KOH using ODC Technology.

GSFC to Invest ` 15,000 Crore in Two Years Mumbai, India: In order to materialise its future plans to increase its capacity for Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), melamine and nylon, Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GSFC) has lined up an investment of about ` 15,000 crore. The company has revealed its plans to double the capacity of DAP plant in Sikka, Gujarat and also increase caprolactam capacity by another one lakh metric tonne over the next two years period. The company is also looking at increasing fibre capacity to 20,000 TPA and high speed chips to 30,000 TPA. 10 • April 2015

“In India we have a strong presence in the underground metal mining and are in process of establishing our footprint in underground coal.

Our fleet population has significantly increased in the last five years owing to increasing impetus on mechanisation in underground mining by customers. To ensure optimum performance over the life of the equipment we realised the need for establishing the refurbishment facility that would cater to mid- life overhauling of all critical components and select equipment”, says Subhasis Das, Vice President, Sandvik Mining, Sales Area India. Kobus Malan, President Emerging Markets, Sandvik Mining, present at the inauguration cited, “India is a key growth market in our emerging markets strategy for Sandvik Mining. The Sandvik rebuild facility reinstates this focus.

Most importantly, this initiative is strongly aligned to our India growth strategy that aims to achieve service excellence by ensuring maximum equipment availability and productivity for our valued customers.” Parag Satpute, Managing Director, Sandvik Asia Pvt Ltd shared his insights on India as a key market in the journey of Sandvik’s global growth . “The mining business area has been a key contributor throughout the journey where Sandvik’s innovations have provided high technology solutions to enhance mining operations for our customers. The Sandvik Rebuild facility is an important step in this direction and that would ensure quality products and improved equipment performance for Mining customers.”

New Mountain Capital to Acquire Zep Inc for USD 692 Million Atlanta, USA: Zep Inc and New Mountain Capital have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which a fund managed by New Mountain Capital, LLC will acquire all outstanding shares of Zep Inc common stock for USD 20.05 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately USD 692 million, including net debt. Under the terms of the agreement, Zep Inc stockholders will receive USD 20.05 in cash for each share of Zep Inc common stock they own. The purchase price represents a 23 per cent premium to Zep Inc’s 90-day volume weighted average stock price for the period ended April 7, 2015. The agreement was unanimously approved by Zep Inc’s Board of Directors.

New Mountain Capital has received fully committed debt financing in connection with the acquisition and the acquisition is not subject to a financing condition. The transaction is currently expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2015.

Chemical Engineering World

CEW Industry News Bio-on and Pizzoli to Set-up PHAs Bio-plastic Production Plant

Solar & Wind Energy are UAE’s Most Competitive Energy Sources

Bologna, Italy: Bio-on SpA and Pizzoli SpA will work together to build the first plant in Italy for the production of PHAs bioplastic from from residues of agro-processing industries in potatoes. The partnership, signed by the two companies, came from research laboratories Bio-on and experience of Pizzoli in potato processing and aims to put in a production plant of 2,000 tons/year of PHAs, expandable in the future, to 4,000 tons/year.

The PHAs or poly-hydroxy-alkanoates are bioplastics that can replace many traditional plastics, obtained today with petrochemical processes using hydrocarbons. The PHAs guarantee the same thermo-mechanical properties with the advantage of being completely biodegradable in a natural way. After a first phase of study to optimise integration with existing structures and to verify their economic compatibility, the project will be completed in about two years. The new plants will go into production from 2017.

Abu Dhabi, UAE: Solar and wind may now be the cheapest sources of new energy supply in the United Arab Emirates, according to a report released by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. Marking the country’s first public comparison of different energy technology costs and potentials, the Renewable Energy Prospects: United Arab Emirates report finds the UAE could achieve a 10 per cent share of renewable energy in its total energy supply – and almost 25 per cent in the power sector – resulting in energy system savings of USD 1.9 billion (AED 7 billion) annually by 2030. The report cites sharp declines in renewable energy costs in the UAE, as well as rising costs for natural gas as domestic production declines and the country turns to more expensive imported sources, as the key drivers for renewable energy’s financial attractiveness. Solar PV costs, for instance, have fallen by 80 per cent since 2008, while the cost of new gas supplies in the UAE has grown from under USD 2.5/MMBtu in 2010 to USD 6-8/MMBtu for domestic production and USD 10-18/MMBtu for imports today, even after the recent decline of oil and LNG prices. The report estimates that solar, wind, and waste-to-energy are preferable for power generation when new gas is above USD 8/MMBtu – making them immediately competitive in the UAE, where natural gas supplies almost 100 per cent of power.

Versalis and Lotte to Strengthen Presence in Asian Market San Donato, Italy: Versalis (Eni) and Lotte Chemical have extended their cooperation in the elastomers business under a technology license agreement regarding, in particular, the Styrene-Isoprene-Styrene and Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SIS/SBS) product lines to target the specialty hot-melt adhesives market and additional market segments such as technical and sports articles, bitumen and plastics modifiers.

The SIS/SBS license agreement marks the consolidation of a partnership started off in 2012 when Versalis and Lotte Chemical launched the development of elastomers productions with Versalis proprietary technologies in Yeosu, South Korea, and which led to the establishment in October 2013 of Lotte Versalis Elastomers (LVE), their 50:50 joint venture.

The joint venture will use Versalis SIS/SBS proprietary technology for a 50 kt/y plant to be constructed at LOTTE Chemical Yeosu site, South Korea.

The cooperation has a strategic value enabling both partners’ aim to seize the opportunity to strengthen and enlarge the scope of their alliance onto premium market segments with a rapidly escalating demand in the Asian region.

AVEVA Launches Major Electrical and Instrumentation Software Upgrade Cambridge , UK: AVEVA has announced new productivity enhancements in the latest release of AVEVA Electrical and AVEVA Instrumentation, feature-rich software applications for electrical & instrumentation engineering and design in plant and marine projects. New functionality also includes offering best-in-class cable routing capabilities based on AVEVA Everything3D (AVEVA E3D) as well as delivering greater flexibility to the way in which distributed engineering teams can configure and control projects. The new product upgrade makes AVEVA Electrical the only engineering product of its type that allows accurate cable length and sizing calculations through integration with AVEVA E3D for cable routing.

14 • April 2015

A Schulman to Set-up Masterbatch Production Plant in Turkey Ohio, USA: A Schulman Inc plans to establish a new masterbatch production plant in Turkey. This new facility will produce, when fully operational, approximately 40 million pounds of the company’s premium additive, white, and breathable masterbatches for food and industrial packaging customers in Turkey and other fast-growing countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The company plans to lease existing industrial facilities in the greater Istanbul area, which it will convert into a state-of-the-art production plant at a cost projected to be in the Euro 5 million to Euro 7 million range. This new facility is expected to be in production by the end of fiscal 2016.

“By establishing this production plant in Turkey, we simultaneously achieve several strategic priorities. First, through this timely investment, we will be ideally positioned to participate more fully in the accelerating growth occurring throughout Turkey and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Likewise, it creates a strategic platform from which we can increase our share in this fast growing market. Furthermore, since we are currently serving our customers in Turkey from plants in Northern Europe, this new facility will allow us to improve service times and utilise capacity in Northern Europe in a more efficient manner,” said Heinrich Lingnau, Vice President and General Manager - Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA).

Chemical Engineering World

CEW Industry News Tecnimont Awarded EPC Services Contract for SOCAR’s Milan, Italy: Maire Tecnimont SpA announced that its subsidiaries Tecnimont SpA and KT – Kinetics Technology SpA, following the completion of Open Book Cost Estimate services activities, have reached an Agreement with SOCAR Polymer for the award relating to the realisation of a polypropylene plant and relevant utilities and off sites facilities on a EPC Lump Sum basis.

The plant will be located in the Sumgayit Petrochemical Complex around 30 km North of Baku, Azerbaijan. Total contract value is approximately Euro 350 million. The Project’s Scope of Work envisages the provision of complete engineering ser vices, equipment and material supply, erection and construction activities up to start up and guarantee test run. The plant will have a capacity of about 180,000 t/y (tons per year).

This will be the first polypropylene plant in Azerbaijan and will utilise the propylene feedstock coming from the existing naphtha cracker.

With this achievement the Maire Tecnimont Group consolidates its leadership in the polyolefins field, by further strengthening its presence also in the Caspian Area, leveraging on its technology-driven expertise in petrochemicals.

Showa Denko Completes Capacity Expansion of High-Purity Aluminium Foil Plant Tokyo, Japan: Showa Denko has completed construction work to expand its capacity in China to produce high-purity aluminium foil, which is a major material for aluminium electrolytic capacitors. The expanded plant went into quantity production this April. Aluminium electrolytic capacitors are used in wide areas such as electric appliances, IT devices, electric vehicles, hybrid cars and equipment for power generation utilising renewable energy sources.

Especially in China, the demand for medium- and high-voltage electrolytic capacitors is expected to increase in applications including power conditioners for environment friendly cars and solar power generation. Showa Denko Aluminum (Nantong) Co, Ltd (SDAN) has been conducting final processing of rolled aluminium foil as intermediate product supplied from SDK’s Sakai Plant, functioning as a base to provide our customers in China with highpurity aluminium foil for high-voltage use in a timely manner.

Since the establishment of SDAN in October 2013, the Chinese market for high-purity aluminium foil for high-voltage use has been continuously expanding. Through the expansion work completed this time, SDAN’s capacity to produce high-purity aluminium foil has been increased from 400 tons to 600 tons per month. The Showa Denko Group will continue responding quickly to the expansion of the global market for aluminum electrolytic capacitors, and ensuring stable supply of high-quality, high-purity aluminum foil.

16 • April 2015

Kuraray to Expand into Bio-based Barrier Materials Tokyo, Japan: Kuraray announced the completion of the acquisition of all of the shares in Plantic Technologies Limited which is engaged in the bio-based barrier film business, from Gordon Merchant No 2 Pty Ltd. The acquisition of Plantic enables Kuraray to provide barrier materials which meets the increasing global demand of bio-based food packaging materials. This is in line with Kuraray’s corporate mission “we in the Kuraray Group are committed to opening new fields of business using pioneering technology and contributing to an improved natural environment and quality of life”. As a world leading producer of barrier materials, Kuraray will further develop its business through the addition of Plantic’s best in class bio-based barrier material. In addition there are significant synergies between Kuraray’s existing barrier business and Plantic’s bio-based barrier technology which will drive new applications.

Further, Kuraray’s market leading technology and global sales network is expected to accelerate the development and expansion of a barrier material business including Plantic’s technology.

Morrells Woodfinishes Acquired by RPM Ohio, USA: RPM International Inc announced that its RPM2 Group has acquired Morrells Woodfinishes Ltd. Based outside of Manchester, Morrells has annual net sales of approximately USD 33 million. The company will remain a stand-alone operation within RPM2’s Wood Finishes Group. Morrells designs, manufactures and distributes a portfolio of high-performance wood coating systems.

The Morrells product line includes proprietary wood stains, lacquers, colorants and adhesives for niche applications in the furniture, cabinetry, and building construction and restoration sectors. Among its specialty coatings are finishes that provide protection from fire, weather and bacteria.

The company’s products are sold under the Xerofire, Induro and Omnia brands. Morrells also provides professional application equipment and accessories under its Sprayshop brand. The company has an extensive network of branches throughout the UK, which provide local support to manufacturers for their particular needs.

“We intend to accelerate Morrells’ growth by leveraging its coatings technologies across the RPM network,” stated Frank C. Sullivan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, RPM.

Lanxess Begins Production at EPDM Plant Changzhou, China: Lanxess has successfully started its new EPDM plant in Changzhou (Jiangsu Province), China. With the gradual rampup of the new plant Lanxess completes its global EPDM (ethylene propylene diene rubber) asset base. Over the next months Lanxess will be running sampling and approbation processes with customers. The new plant will produce in total ten premium grades of EPDM tailored to Chinese and Asian customer needs. The plant has a nameplate capacity of 160,000 metric tons per year. It is located at the wellestablished Changzhou Yangtze Riverside Industrial Park, with access to excellent storage and ship uploading facilities.

Chemical Engineering World

Chemical Engineering World

Final Ad template amol.indd 117

December 2013 • 117

24-01-2014 10:39:53

CEW Industry News Lubrizol to Have a Centre of Excellence for Surface Modifiers

R o q u e t t e A n n o u n c e d t h e Wo r l d ’s L a rg e s t Isosorbide Facility

Cleaveland, USA: The Lubrizol Corporation’s Performance Coatings business is forming a new global Centre of Excellence at its Ritterhude, Germany facility, centralising the research, testing and production of forward-thinking surface modifier technology for coatings and inks. The new Centre of Excellence will allow closer team coordination, faster scale-up and improved commercialisation of new surface modifier wax technology. “Lubrizol is building this Center of Excellence with one primary goal - to focus on the right surface modifier technologies that will help advance the coating and ink industry on a global basis,” comments Herbert Fuesser, Lubrizol Performance Coatings global product manager, surface modifiers. Manufacturing capabilities have been upgraded to ensure the continued delivery of outstanding product innovation, consistent production and customer support of advanced micronised and liquid wax products. “The installation of new milling lines offers increased manufacturing flexibility to meet our customers changing performance requirements and growing demands. We’ve also successfully integrated production into the plant of nearly all surface modifiers that were previously produced in North America,” continues Fuesser. Consolidation of manufacturing resources at the same site where all technical and global technical support staff are based enables direct translation of customer requirements into new product solutions.

Overall, the upgrade of manufacturing processes will lead to improved capabilities to customize surface modifiers for customers as well as increase capacity and flexibility in production.

Lestrem, France: Roquette reinforces its position as world leader in isosorbide for the performance plastics and chemistry markets.

The group announces the launch of the world’s largest isosorbide production unit at its site in Lestrem, Pas-de-Calais, France. A global player in the processing of plant-based raw materials, the Roquette Group confirms its ambition to become a preferred supplier in the performance plastics and specialty chemistry markets. Thanks to its new production unit, which has a capacity of 20,000 tons and uses high-performance technologies, Roquette offers its customers a range of POLYSORB isosorbide in very high quality.

Shin-Etsu to Set-up New Photoresists Plant Tokyo, Japan: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co, Ltd will establish a new plant in Taiwan, aiming for the expansion of its photoresists-related business. Presently, Shin-Etsu is applying to the Taiwan authorities for a construction permit, and the construction work will be started as soon as the permission is received. The construction period is estimated to be about one year, and the investment amount is expected to be about 13 billion Japanese Yen. A photoresist is a photosensitive polymer material essential in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices. They are used in the semiconductor lithography process, a process of forming patterns coated with a photoresist by exposing integrated circuits to light – such as excimer lasers – through a mask and developing high precision three-dimensional patterns on the silicon substrate after heat treatment.

Shin-Etsu Chemical has been growing its photoresists business by offering customers cutting-edge photoresists-related products. The demand for photoresists-related products is growing in Asia and the United States with the increase in production volume of semiconductor devices and advances in microfabrication. By carrying out the production of photoresists-related products in Taiwan, one of the areas of growing demand, Shin-Etsu Chemical will steadily capture the growing demand for photoresists. Moreover, by having two production bases for photoresists-related products – the combination of the existing Naoetsu Plant and the new Taiwan Plant – Shin-Etsu will be able to achieve the dispersion of business risks and further strengthen the company’s photoresists business.

18 • April 2015

The new Roquette unit, equipped with the latest technologies, produces isosorbide of very high purity responding to all quality requirements of its customers. Thanks to this new industrial installation, Roquette can now reach high capacity of the different grades of isosorbide and satisfy the market expectations.

Based on its know-how, expertise and skills acquired over decades, Roquette has developed a unique patented process based on sorbitol, a product for which the group is world leader. The different steps of purification help obtain isosorbide grades with over 99.5 per cent isosorbide content.Roquette’s research & development teams, as well as its application development centres, support customers, offering innovative solutions that meet market requirements in terms of quality and functionalities. Roquette has also developed exclusive processes of shaping as well as packaging to facilitate handling.

SI Group to Expand Formaldehyde Capacity in Brazil Schenectady, USA: SI Group Inc announced today an expansion of its affiliated Rio Claro, Brazil manufacturing location with a new, state-of-the-art formaldehyde plant. The expansion is expected to bring another 60,000 metric tons per year of capacity on line.

By investing in Rio Claro, SI Group supports its two-pronged Vision 2020 strategy—substantially improving the company’s strength in business excellence while also creating opportunities to intelligently expand its business. The new formaldehyde plant will transition the company’s affiliated Rio Claro site into a world-class, balanced plant in terms of energy management and productivity.

“SI Group’s new for maldehyde plant br ings best-in-class technologies to Rio Claro, substantially improving the efficiency and increasing our sustainability at the site. We’re expanding production capabilities to competitively serve customers while positioning our Brazilian operations to meet growth projections for the coming years,” said João Paulo Porto, Vice President of South America. As a result of this investment at Rio Claro, SI Group will consolidate all of its Brazil operations, including Jundiai, at that site by 2017. All of its current customers will continue to enjoy their current service levels and, in the long term, will benefit from SI Group’s improved efficiency and sustainability.

Chemical Engineering World

CEW Technology News Plant Oils Can Produce Novel Bio-Based Plastics Washington, USA: Researchers have developed a new way to use plant oils like olive and linseed oil to create polyurethane, a plastic material used in everything from foam insulation panels to tires, hoses and sealants. The researchers, led by Michael Kessler, Berry Family director and professor in Washington State University’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, have published a paper on the work in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Polyurethane is extremely tough and corrosion and wear-resistant, but researchers would like a more environmentally friendly alternative to the petroleumbased product. While there are already some polyurethanes made from plant materials, Kessler’s research group developed a new method that uses vegetable oils to create materials with a wide variety of flexibility, stiffness and shapes. Plant oils are inexpensive, readily available, renewable and can be genetically engineered.

In the study, the researchers made polyurethane using olive, canola, grape seed, linseed and castor oils. While other researchers have struggled with using petroleum-based solvents, the WSU researchers, working with colleagues from Iowa State and from Cairo universities, didn’t use solvents or a catalyst in their production. Read more about the research on https://news.wsu.edu/

Light-to-Electricity Conversion Faster With Graphene

This is an illustration of ultrafast photovoltage creation after light absorption at the interface of two graphene areas with different Fermi energy.

Barcelona, Spain: The efficient conversion of light into electricity plays a crucial role in many technologies, ranging from cameras to solar cells. It also forms an essential step in data communication applications, since it allows for information carried by light to be conver ted into electrical infor mation that can be processed in electrical circuits.

Graphene is an excellent material for ultrafast conversion of light to electrical signals, but so far it was not known how fast graphene responds to ultrashort flashes of light.

ICFO researchers Klaas-Jan Tielrooij, Lukasz Piatkowski, Mathieu Massicotte and Achim Woessner, led by ICFO Prof Frank Koppens and ICREA Prof at ICFO Niek van Hulst, in collaboration with scientists from the research group led by Pablo Jarillo-Herrero at MIT and the research group led by Jeanie Lau at UC Riverside, have now demonstrated a graphene-based photodetector that converts absorbed light into an electrical voltage at extremely high speeds.

The new device is capable of converting light into electricity in less than 50 femtoseconds (a twentieth of a millionth of a millionth of a second). To demonstrate this, researchers used a combination of ultrafast pulse-shaped laser excitation and highly sensitive electrical readout. Read more about the research on http://www.icfo.eu/newsroom/ 20 • April 2015

Pinpoint Targeting on Benzene can Create Bioactive Molecules Nagaya, Japan: Tuning the para position of benzene moieties is significant for creating biologically active compounds and optoelectronic materials. Yet, attaching a functional handle specifically at the para position of benzene has been challenging due to multiple reactive sites on the ring.

Chemists at ITbM, Nagoya University have ‘Para-shooting’ boron onto the para-position of developed a novel iridium catalyst that a benzene ring by a bulky enables highly para-selective borylation on iridium catalyst. benzene, leading to the rapid synthesis of drug derivatives for treating Parkinson’s disease.

Yutaro Saito, Yasutomo Segawa and Professor Kenichiro Itami at the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University and the JST-ERATO Itami Molecular Nanocarbon Project have developed a bulky iridium catalyst that selectively directs a boron moiety to the opposite side of mono-substituted benzene derivatives. The opposite side of the benzene ring, known as the para position is important for tuning the electronic and steric properties of various organic molecules, including biologically active compounds such as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, as well as optoelectronic materials. Read more on http://www. itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp/

New technology Allows Rapid Detection of Volatile Organic Compunds Virginia, USA: Over the past several decades, the progress in micro fabrication technology has revolutionised the world in such fields as computing, signal processing, and automotive manufacturing. Making various types of instruments smaller is another example of how the use of this technology has produced significant advancements.

One such instrument is the gas chromatography system used in a number of scientific, medical, and industrial settings to separate and analyse dangerous, volatile organic compounds in gases, liquids, and solids. For the past several years, Masoud Agah, an associate professor in Virginia Tech’s Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has used a National Science Foundation award to develop a credit-card-sized gas chromatography platform that can analyse volatile compounds within seconds.

“The advantages that such miniaturised instruments can provide include the portability for analysis in remote locations with high throughput and low cost,” Agah said. A war zone might be considered a remote location. In conducting his research, Agah identified a problem that allowed him to develop his new technology. He explained that the research community has more actively pursued ‘the hybrid integrated approach’ for the development of micro gas chromatography system and this method is relatively ‘less vibrant in the monolithic integrated approach.’ Read more about the research on https://www.eng.vt.edu/news/ Chemical Engineering World

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CEW News Features

A First Generation Entrepreneur with a Noble Heart Dr Keki Gharda, Chairman and Managing Director, Gharda Chemicals Ltd, is one of the prolific personalities in the Indian chemical industry. He completed his Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan followed by a PhD. He taught Chemical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma and established Gharda Chemicals in 1967. Dr Gharda has a success story to inspire the world. He spoke to CEW about the critical issues such as zero waste generation, energy efficient processes and how the market scenario has evolved since he established Gharda Chemicals.

D

r Keki Gharda is a man who can be described by many words, a philosopher, an exceptional entrepreneur, a charitable individual to name a few. Dr Gharda’s career journey has been awe-inspiring to engineers. He began his career as an Assistant Professor, Process Design and Chemical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. He returned to India and was a visiting faculty at his alma mater before he established Gharda Chemicals.

What began in a rented shed has turned into a successful venture with annual sales coming up to ` 17,500 million. The company has four l factories that meet world standards and has been a pioneer in the field of agrochemicals in India.

started off around the same time about 30 years back but with determination China has reached greater heights.

Green Chemistry and Waste Management Gharda says that the concept of green chemistry did exist in the industry and the company had imbibed these practices in its manufacturing approach but earlier there was no specific focus on green chemistry or waste management as is the case today.

In his opinion, zero waste management is a chimera. The process of waste management is a complicated one and involves a number of intricacies which have to be tackled for it to be a success. Commenting on the government’s role, he says that the government wants to state how determined it is to improve the status of the country. He says that clean technologies and energy efficient processes are the buzz words now.

He points out further that government is there to facilitate the industry to strengthen and flourish but the industry must put in more effort as it would not be wise to only depend on the government. After all, the government or the ministers that consist of the government are chosen from among the people, from the same stock as that of the masses. Therefore, Gharda discourages total dependence on government bodies for improving the industry scenario.

When asked about his thoughts on India’s manufacturing potential, Gharda elucidates that the world opinion about India is rather shaky although it has been improving over the years. Today, India is considered as one of the leading economies. China and India 22 • April 2015

Single Window Clearance Gharda opines that approvals do not have any real value as they are not administered well. He adds that this issue can be tackled by having in place a single window clearance.

This will not only benefit the manufacturing sector but the rest of the economy as it would increase the efficiency, timeliness of projects which would in turn make the venture a profitable one. Strict regulations and policies can be put in place on par with the international standards to ensure all aspects related to HSE, etc, are covered.

R&D – The Source of Growth Gharda explains that R&D and innovation has taken the company from small scale to the large establishment that it is today. Gharda Chemicals spends about 4 to 5 per cent of its total sales on R&D activities. The company undertakes research which leads to process intensification and cost efficient processes to make the business more profitable. It has won over 20 awards for its R&D efforts including one from the American Institute of Chemists. The company’s mission clearly

Dr Keki Gharda states ‘our strength of innovation combined with ethical work practices is bound to bring the company accolades from time to time.’ A motto the company swears by is ’Generation of Wealth through research based chemical manufacturing for social needs.’

Improving the Neighbourhood through Deeds Gharda is of the opinion that it is vital that a company should do its bit for its neighbourhood. He affirms that the company is not being generous and being paupers; on the contrary it is being generous and still thriving as a successful company. A small hospital has been set-up with about 10 beds inside every factory the company owns for its workers and their family members. Moreover, in every village or town where the factory is located, the company has built a 25 bed hospital. He has aided schools and colleges at the factory locations as well, and started an engineering college which has produced rank holders.

Dr Keki Gharda has not just established a successful business but has left a legacy that would continue to inspire generations to come.

- Girija Dalvi Chemical Engineering World

CEW News Features

India: A Dynamic Market with Attractive Growth Rates Having begun in 1857, Vertellus Specialties Inc, has had a remarkable 160 year long journey. Over a period, the company has established its presence in about 17 locations across US, Europe and Asia and employs over 800 people. Having revenue of USD 570 million, it offers over 500 products. In February this year, the company completed the acquisition of the Sodium Borohydride business of the Dow Chemical Company. Prior to that, it also acquired Pentagon Chemical (Holdings) in UK. Dr James Keay, Business Director, Specialty Chemicals and Mark Lewis, Global Sales Director of Vertellus, speak to CEW about the company’s plans in India

V

ertellus was established with Baker Castor Oil in 1857. The company serves various markets including agriculture and nutrition, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers, industrial specialties, pharmaceuticals, personal and consumer care, plastics and polymers. It is the world’s largest producer of DEET. India offers Vertellus access to a good feed stock mix, be it oil based or natural gas based petrochemicals, renewable resources based materials.

Foray into India Vertellus has started doing business in India before 1980. Towards the end of 2010, the company invested in a joint venture in the Vapi area and later made it a wholly-owned manufacturing facility. After taking over the plant, the company wished to widen its presence in India and decided to hire a Country Manager. Mark Lewis elaborates, “That helped us get better sense of the market and getting connected with some of the industry players and potential clients.” With further investments, the company set up a commercial office and built a team for executing its growth strategy and improve its position in the country.

Commenting on the challenges faced in the Indian market Jim Keay adds, “I have been coming to India for the last 20 years. Over the

past 5-10 years, it (government) has certainly improved the infrastructure. The spending on building roads and basic connectivity for business and consumers has made life easier.” Stronger interface with the customers and shorter turnaround times are critical for the success of any business in the current times and it made sense to be closer to the customers.

Mark Lewis Growing Business Verticals According to Lewis, “life sciences and fine chemicals are the two areas which will witness a humongous growth in the coming years.” Keay adds that agriculture, nutrition and pharmaceuticals are the most attractive avenues in life science. The global trends are shifting towards creation of true value contribution in the food chain.

Earth’s population is estimated to reach 9 billion by 2020 which will further create opportunities for sustainable production of food through various applications in life sciences. Vertellus has been following these trends for enhancing the quality of life through wellness.

India’s Role in Global Growth Strategy Talking about how much of a part India plays in Vertellus’ global growth strategy Lewis states, “The Indian market is growing faster

Recent Acquisitions • In November 2014, Vertellus acquired Pentagon Chemicals (Holdings) UK Ltd, which is a leading manufacturer of fine and specialty chemicals in the life sciences industry.

This acquisition will boost the earnings of the Vertellus Specialty Materials Divison by 20 per cent.

• In February 2015, Vertellus also acquired the Sodium Borohydride Business of the Dow Chemical Company to further expand the life sciences business which added process aids and synthesis to the company’s asset structure.

26 • April 2015

than the more traditional US, Europe or other more mature markets. So, the company is looking to make additional investments where it sees better returns and lot of opportunities.” He reveals further, “After having a commercial team in place, we now have a better appreciation of the market and connectivity with the players.”

Keay affirms, “Having a commercial team in place will help the company unearth which are the right products being sold or the right platforms with which to produce those products which are to be sold in the market. Also, if the market place is large enough it could lead to co-operative ventures, viz, partnerships, joint-ventures and acquisitions.”

Vertellus manufactures in India not just for domestic consumption but majorly for exports. Keay concludes that the country has the best technology coupled with the most economical environment versus other emerged countries. It has a robust and sophisticated supply chain which can offer a real advantage and differentiation point for Vertellus.

- Girija Dalvi Chemical Engineering World

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CEW Features Guest Column

Bringing Manufacturers to the Tech Table Information Technology (IT) is playing a pivotal role in the manufacturing sector. In this article, Ramesh Subramanian, Global Delivery Head, Blue Star Infotech, highlights some of the IT trends in the manufacturing sector. The article further talks about the relevance of digital technology and the role of IT in chemical industry.

A

s the manufacturing sector witnesses a paradigm shift from implementing traditional techniques to using contemporary mechanisms for improving operational capabilities, one can’t help but credit the technology or IT industry for playing crucial role in enhancing the manufacturing process. International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that by FY16, the business opportunity in the manufacturing domain will be valued at USD 68 billion in IT Services. The reach of IT has been boundless and industries across verticals have benefitted in terms of revenue as well as quality with the integration and incorporation of IT or IT services in their systems.

The adoption of technology in Indian manufacturing sector has been slow for years, barring a few like automotive, chemical manufacturing which are at par with their global peers. The manufacturing sector was stagnant for years with a declining contribution to national GDP, and plethora of complicated challenges like unskilled worker, poor infrastructure, lack of vocational training, use of traditional tools and technologies making it incapable to compete in the global market.

However, the launch of the ‘Make in India’ campaign has given a boost to manufacturing sector and is luring even the smallest of the small manufacturer to go big, there is only one industry they are pinning their hopes on to realise their vision of increasing output – IT/Technology!

28 • April 2015

Today’s manufacturing enterprise, is juggling a range of conflicting demands.

From reducing lot sizes to increasing product flexibility and from improving product quality to reducing delivery time, manufacturers are left with no choice to optimise resources, improve efficiency and to satisfy customer demand. To achieve this objective, producers must have access to correct, reliable and timely information. IT tools such as Database Management Systems (DBMS), Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP), CRM and computer-aided design tools support the manufacturers to finetune its processes as needed.

IT trends in the Manufacturing Sector • Metamorphosis of the Manufacturing Model: Large scaled centralised manufacturing plants are now passé.

Current units comprise of a network of plants located closer to centers of demand. This emphasises on the optimum collaboration between logistics and supply chain divisions since manufacturers seek to reap maximum benefits of lean processes in a widely dispersed setup. Visualisation and tracking technology play an important role in this process.

• Hybrid Solutions: Producers have begun to rely on technology to solve manufacturing-specific problems.

The application of mobility platforms to enhance supply chain systems is a shining illustration of emerging business processes.

Another indicator of this evolving aspect of the manufacturing is the reliance on

big data and business intelligence to draw and analyse market trends which forms the foundation of determining output levels and Design: • Sustenance Sustainability is one of the vital elements that manufacturers focus on in order to stay ahead of the curve. Sustainable manufacturing requires a total makeover in design which will enable production of environmentally sustainable end products. Integration of IT enables organisations to create significantly differentiated products • Agility and Simplicity: Today, manufacturers are looking to do away with complex processes and swap them for smooth, swift and seamless internal business operations. By eliminating outdated techniques and by focussing on facilities that enable faster ‘lift and shift’ operations is allowing firms to move their centers of production closer to the point of demand and Digitisation: • Virtualisation With the application of Big Data and predictive analytics, mobility, social media to day-to-day activities, more and more manufacturers are using simulation and virtualisation tools to understand the aspects such as demand parameters, customer behaviour and products approximate performance levels under virtual conditions. This reduces testing time required as well as the time-to-market for the product Chemical Engineering World

CEW Features Role of Information Technology in the Chemical Manufacturing Industry Peter Drucker famously said that “Innovation is the fuel of corporate longevity. It endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” Technology has and will play a very crucial role in chemical manufacturing sector due to its complex nature of operations. Chemical manufacturers need a very holistic view of their operations keeping in mind the profound challenges they have – rising input costs of feedstock and energy, competition from emerging countries, complexity in accessing customer demand, constant product innovation and stringent environmental regulations.

The digital technologies will bring in major impact on the chemical sector.

Digital technology innovations such as visualisation, artificial intelligence, analytics and BI are playing a crucial role in creating a vast, in-depth repository of valuable data. The chemical industry is using IT tools to churn out wealth of information from this data that is helping them to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs.

Relevance of Digital Technology By embracing digital technology chemical manufacturing companies are well positioned to grow, collaborate and have a competitive advantage in the industry.

Some areas where technology will play a crucial role in chemical manufacturing sector is given below: • Improved Communication and Collaboration and Understanding Changing Market Demand: Digital technology works as an enabler for improved communication and collaboration within supply chains.

This is an important factor that differentiates a small time chemical manufacturer from a market leader.

• Favourably Contributes to the Environment: Often perceived as environmental hazards, chemical industries are now turning to IT in order to reduce carbon foot print of its waste materials. Technology tools are providing them with reports on measuring output capacities of their 30 • April 2015

plants and their corresponding waste products. Manufacturers are able to regulate production capacities in a way that the output does not adversely affect the environment.

According to a research study conducted

by IDC on a sample of 192 manufacturing companies from the Fortune 500 companies, it is determined that chemical industry approximately earns USD 800 billion in revenue and is growing at a rate of 4.4 per cent. In its endeavour to improve its customer reach and increase revenue, the chemical industry is now updating its traditional processes with the help of technology to work closely with its distributors and develop its supply chain orientation. Some of the key areas where IT is supporting the chemical industry are given below.

• Improving Customer service: Previously, this industry may not have given as much importance to customer service as it does now. Today, chemical manufacturers realise the importance of repeat business and the cost savings it renders vis-a-vis finding new clients.

Many manufacturers are relying on IT to develop a robust customer service technology roadmap that will help them to resolve the shortcomings in their approach in fostering strong customer relations.

• Social Media Applications: For the chemical manufacturers, social

media tools goes far beyond getting ‘likes’ or posting fancy pictures of its equipments. Social media serves a far greater purpose in terms of garnering customer insight, researching on markets trends and improving marketing capabilities. Also, trend tracking and adjusting supply chain are additional benefits that social media offers to this sector.

• Big Data and Analytics: The chemical manufacturing process is not only complex but also requires collaboration among different divisions of a plant. In order to ensure a smooth trajectory, IT provides support in ensuring that production processes are regulated and optimum production levels are identified. This reduces unscheduled downtime and maintenance costs thus earning higher returns on investment.

Technology is relevant to all manufacturers today regardless of their size, revenue or area of expertise. However, it is necessary that manufacturers employ those tools that best suit their business in order to reap maximum benefits.

With the amalgamation of IT with production processes, the industry is no longer operating in isolation but rather in collaboration. By employing IT tools correctly and focusing on digital transformation India can definitely realise the vision of making the nation a manufacturing hub.

Chemical Engineering World

CEW Features Technical Article

Process Optimisation Drying Technology

by

Applying

Modern

The whole branch of industrial production is permanently subjected to process optimisation, which serves to increase the quantity and quality of the manufactured goods while saving valuable resources. The combination of several process operations within one unit is an elemental approach to reach this sophisticated aim.

D

rying and mixing of solids are fundamental process steps for a wide range of production processes.

Frequently a thermal separation is carried out after a mechanical liquid solid division (eg, by centrifuge, filtration or via decanter). Since the thermal separation is usually performed at the end of the production chain, it has a massive impact on the quality of the final product.

Besides compartment heaters, mostly applied for low quantities, three systems are established for gentle vacuum contact heating of moist solids â&#x20AC;&#x201C; horizontal, tumbling and vertical driers.

Traditionally, horizontal driers are the most commonly used units. In order to raise the heat transfer, the product is mixed via agitator that is mounted between two abutting faces. Due to the double-sided bearing the system is especially suitable for pasty and sticky material, which usually undergoes a distinctive transition phase during the drying process. This transition phase is characterised by high torque values around the shaft. The application of horizontal drying systems regularly presents problems during the processing of fine chemicals, pharmaceutical products or food. Those problems mainly occur at the bearings that are in contact with the product. This causes additional maintenance and quality control for the operator. Also the additional bearing and sealing require higher investment costs.

Due to the unfavourable geometry of the horizontal apparatus the complete discharging often causes trouble

32 â&#x20AC;˘ April 2015

Figure 1: Pilot plant drier VPT50 / VST100 with the Ekato solids PARAVISC in the Ekato Systems laboratory

resulting from high amounts of residues.

Especially for valuable products like active pharmaceutical ingredients or fine chemicals every gram of discharged product counts.

Still widely used is the tumbling drier also called double cone drier. In those systems the circulation of the product is realised by gravity. As this system has no agitator installed, the product side heat transfer coefficients are normally much lower than those compared to drying systems equipped with an agitator. This disadvantage is due to the fact that the tumbling drier needs a longer time to renew the product on the heated surfaces.

Therefore, tumbling driers require a longer time to reach the desired moisture level, in comparison to competitive systems, fitted with an agitator.

Those agitated systems commonly have small wall clearances of only a few millimetres in order to avoid a further resistance for the heat transfer by generated product layers. Pasty products in particular cannot be manufactured efficiently in tumbling driers, as the product layers generated at the wall during the beginning of the process, would limit the heat transfer to the product core.

Systems with vertical design reveal clear advantages compared to the presented conventional drying units. Vertical drying systems enable far lower residues due to the conical bottom whereby the discharge yield is pretty much dependent on product properties. Beyond that, vertical systems operate with only one bearing, which is not in contact with the product. These units are especially suitable for high-value Chemical Engineering World

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CEW Features products homogeneously also facilitates the system to dry slurries efficiently.

Figure 2: Flow pattern in the Ekato Systems VPT apparatus with ISOPAS agitator

products where high discharge yields, avoidance of product contamination (eg, by contact with leaking liquids or residues from former batches) and flawless quality of the finally dry product are essential.

Despite all the mentioned advantages of vertical systems, the use of horizontal drying units is still widespread, due to their ability of providing an adequate mixing performance during the transition phase. Vertically designed systems often reveal problems during this stage of the drying process where the product tends to rotate at the same speed as the agitator (generating a vortex). Due to the lacking axial flow pattern at this stage, an effective heat transfer is not achieved.

To eliminate this problem Ekato Systems developed the Solidmix VPT technology.

The ISOPAS agitator in combination with the baffle is capable of handling the moist product during the difficult transition phase, ensuring an efficient heat transfer during the whole length of the drying process. The baffle, which additionally allows the implementation of a temperature measurement directly in the product, avoids a vortex being generated.

As a result the pasty product is transported from the wall to the shaft, whereby a flow profile is created that includes the whole vessel volume (see figure 2). The capability of mixing pasty

Although the mechanical separation is usually preferred, from an energy point of view, it is sometimes necessary to pass a complete thermal separation eg, due to the solubility of some components contained in the solvent.

Many times the solvent which contains the solved components is sprayed on the particle surface.

In the next process operation the solvent is separated thermally. Examples therefore concern the manufacturing of catalysts or additives for synthetic material where special product properties are generated by specific components that are adsorbed on the particle surface.

Those processes can be achieved efficiently by applying the Ekato Systems VPT technology and therefore in one single process unit. In this system the solvent is sprayed upon the particle surface while the ISOPAS agitator permanently renews the product surface in order to ensure a homogeneous distribution of the solved component. After completion of the spraying step, the solvent is evaporated via vacuum contact heating.

During the drying process the product continuously changes from one consistency to another. As a rule, the moist product is pasty at the beginning, before it starts to become friable after the transition phase. Finally, the product more and more becomes free flowing.

A lot of products tend to generate unwanted agglomerates in the transition from the friable to the free flowing consistency. Therefore, sieving may be required after completion of the drying process. To eliminate the need for sieving, it is possible to supply the Ekato Solidmix VPT unit with a chopper. Bigger

Systems with vertical design reveal clear advantages compared to the presented conventional drying units. Vertical drying systems enable far lower residues due to the conical bottom whereby the discharge yield is pretty much dependent on product properties.

34 â&#x20AC;˘ April 2015

agglomerates, however, tend to rise to the height of the filling level because of their higher porosity. The chopper is located exactly at this position, so as to break up those agglomerates. A reduction in the drying time is very often associated with the comminution of the particles (more surface for heat and mass transfer) and the additional power input of the chopper.

Thus the Ekato Solidmix VPT technology enables the operator to realise various process steps in one multifunctional system in order to save valuable resources and ensuring high process efficiency at the same time.

For such process optimisation Ekato Systems provides the opportunity to perform drying and mixing trials with the original product in the pilot plant scale. Not only laboratory trials with the Ekato Systems VPT technology can be performed, but trials with the solids PARAVISC are also possible. These units are part of the Ekato Solidmix VST technology and are primarily being used to dry and blend moderate till good free flowing products.

Both types of units have a GMP proven design in common and offer the facility for taking samples without process interruption. Long-term proven routines enable the scale up of the obtained results to the production size. A concept, in coordination with the customer, is developed and set to achieve the target, which provides optimum process technology, production quality, ecology and cost efficiency.

The article was carried in June 2012 issue of CEW)

Authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Details Andreas Weber R&D Manager Ekato Systems india@ekato.com Chemical Engineering World

CEW Features Case Study

Optimising Production with Ariane Ariane is a optimisation software for the energy production plants (steam, hot water, electricity). It aims to reduce the energy bill by seeking the ideal production configuration, by taking into account the demand (steam and hot water) and by considering all of the production constraints.

I

n order to comply with the new consumption standards, Total is committed to improving its French refineries’ efficiency and competitiveness.

In this context, the Normandy refinery asked ProSim to implement Ariane in its production system. Originally, to significantly improve the production and reduce the consumption of utilities, ProSim, together with Total, developed Ariane software.

The main goal was to meet the requirements in terms of optimisation and to provide guidance and practical suggestions for other industries where in-house management of energy requirements (steam, electricity or hot water) is a key parameter of the production process.

The Objective To optimise the production of the Normandy refinery plant to reduce the production costs.

The Solution To implement Ariance in order to: • Optimise the on-site production and real-time consumption system • Highlight the potential benefits to propose relevant practices.

The Results • A minimum savings of EUR 930,000 for 2011 • The total gains amount to more than 2.5 per cent of the plant budget (steam purchase and electricity) • A global energy efficiency improvement - thanks to a real-time follow-up of the refinery’s electricity and steam production system

38 • April 2015

The Total Normandy refinery

The Normandy refinery project succeeded because these important three goals were achieved: • To implement Ariane to improve the steam and electricity production efficiency on the Normandy refinery site • To map out carefully energy consumption and production in real-time • To use the model to foresee the impact on the plant production of the addition of a unit, of a device, of a turbine disruption on the plant production equilibrium Solution Implementation 1. Gathering Information and Integration of the Normandy Refinery Model into the Software: As a first step, the ProSim engineers, together with the operators, gathered all the necessary information to map out the site’s industrial processes and to identify the degrees of freedom for the plant optimisation.

2. Software Implementation: The applications implemented to work seamlessly online together are detailed below: A. On-line Optimisation: The project aimed at inserting the Ariane model into a larger application that automates the inputs/

outputs and the ‘user’ parameters and options management. Overall, the application accounts for the recovery of upstream raw measurements and their automated processing, the detection of equipment failure and the calculation options (selection of the optimisation degrees of freedom).

Model data that are not measured (parameters such as purchase and resale prices for instance) are provided by the user in the application. After the calculations, the application archives its results and provides editable reports for the operators.

B. The Consumption or Production Consolidation: The consumption/ production consolidation application of the site does not use Ariane to carry out its calculations. This application, launched upstream of the online optimisation, prepares the data necessary for the optimisation of: • Consolidated steam consumptions • Controlled unit operations such as the turbines Chemical Engineering World

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CEW Features

A screenshot of a part of the results file expoted for users

• Operation of the CONV3 unit • Important valves located in the unit operations, and also integrated into the whole optimisation model C. Planning: The planning application uses the refinery’s current state (results of the online consolidation calculations and of the predictive data that are provided by the operators in the unit operations) to plan, in advance, the next day’s production and to anticipate potential problems.

In the unit operations, the operators fill their production programme into data files that are analysed by the planning application in order to transform the unit operations’ loads (expressed in process throughput) into steam demand in the different refinery net-works. By compiling these results, and starting from the current operating point, the planning application is able to predict the plant production patterns over periods of time up to 72 hours.

D. Reporting: The application is an exe file that can be automatically launched at a selected frequency or manually

started upon demand. This executable file fills out a report with the current results (the last calculated results) of the previous three applications (consolidation of the balances, online optimisation and planning).

The executable file uses a Microsoft Excel file model containing the tables’ structures, the graphs and other information given with the last results of the online applications. The above figure shows part of the results file exported for the users. This results file is a summary of the calculations done and of the recommendations proposed by the online calculator.

Conclusion The Ariane implementation project has been successful.

The convergence rates are excellent.

The operator is then advised in realtime to adjust the production plant, to manage the turbines settings and to order the opening or closing of certain valves located in the unit operations. The daily

The energy efficiency of our site is a major challenge, and the collaboration with ProSim meets this challenge. The successful integration of Ariane on our site has already enabled us to make substantial savings. - Fabien Joly, Project Manager, Total 40 • April 2015

report can be edited on demand to import optimal operating instructions of the plant.

In addition, implementing Ariane on-site allows a better knowledge of the refinery steam networks and of the associated economic issues. In practice, this tool: • Improves the real-time management of the internal networks by integrating them to the refinery optimisation process (estimated gain of EUR 300k/ year).

• Help identify new energy optimisation projects - thanks to a better network balancing (estimated gain of EUR 1.2 M/ project being implemented on the site). As a minimum, and on a quantitative basis validated by the operators, the total gains amount to at least 2.5 per cent of the plant budget (steam purchase and electricity).

Since its implementation, Ariane has earned the confidence of the site operators by making efficient and realistic recommendations; those recommendations have convinced the operators of the interest in using such an optimisation solution.

Courtesy: ProSim (The article was carried in December 2012 issue of CEW) Chemical Engineering World

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CEW Features Case Study

Saving Energy Cost Peroxide Manufacturer

for

a

Leading

Hydrogen

The following case study explains how Nalco’s PermaCare Programme improved reverse osmosis process and saved significant costs for a leading hydrogen peroxide manufacturer. The programme helped the company achieve power reduction of 43,800 kWh due to the optimised feed pressure and save power cost by USD 5,568 per year.

The company offers hydrogen peroxide, which is used in various industries for bleaching, chemical synthesis, environmental control/ effluent treatment and sterilisation.

The production of hydrogen peroxide requires demineralised water and this is produced from the permeate water using Reverse Osmosis (RO). The RO solution was not performing up to par, registering a low water flow rate of 45m 3 /hour, which was 20-25 per cent lower than planned.

Feed pressure had to be increased during Stage 1. Due to increased feed pressure and reduced permeate flow, they cleaned membranes every week.

This also led to peripheral complications in fouling as a result of contaminants accumulating on the membrane surface.

It was evident to the customer that increasing the feed pressure was not a sustainable, long- term solution.

Solutions The customer recognised the challenge and called on the expertise of Nalco in India.

To ascertain the areas of concerns, it was important to have the right data.

Nalco India conducted a thorough 42 • April 2015

mechanical, operational and chemical survey. Leveraging Nalco’s extensive expertise and industry know-how, the specialist team was able to ascertain the plant’s condition and pinpoint areas of improvement in the pre-treatment regime. This included a detailed analysis of chemical dose control, residuals monitoring and optimisation to bring the customer’s pre-treatment programme to a new level of performance.

silica traces in the feed water and apply the corrective measures to optimise the RO process, levelling off fouling. Nalco applied the antiscalant to prevent scaling and recommended cleaning of the RO membrane under Nalco’s supervision.

A monitoring regimen was implemented to provide a benchmark of feed pressure and permeate flow, as well as to document improvement post Nalco implementation.

Leveraging global best practices, Nalco was able to provide proven solutions and customised a tailored approach to address shortcomings in the RO process and introduce operational efficiency in the membrane maintenance.

Result Since implementation in early 2013, the customer has achieved tangible benefits in operational efficiency, risk reduction and capital expenditure avoidance. RO feed pressure and permeate flow recovered to its design value. Feed pressure decreased from 8kg/cm 2 to 6kg/cm 2 in average.

Nalco PermaCare was introduced to address specific issues in aluminum and

Feed Pressure (kg/cm2)

Reject Press (kg/cm2)

Permeta Flow (m3/hr)

Reject Flow (m3/hr)

(kg/cm2) & (m3/hr.)

E

stablished in 1954, this listed company is a pioneer in India for peroxygen chemicals and the largest manufacturer of hydrogen peroxide in India, with an installed capacity of 84,000 MTPA.

Figure 1 - RO performance trend and comparison between before and after Nalco treatment

Chemical Engineering World

Features CEW Permeate flow increased from 27m 3 /hour to 31m 3 /hour in average, and the recovery ratio raised from 68 per cent to 75 per cent. Cleaning frequency reduced from once every week to once every month. Specifically, throughput was increased, and the membrane replacement was reduced. The total cost of operation decreased by more than USD 26,000 per year.

Reduced Chemical Usage: The EDTA was reduced by 20 kgs per cleaning, total 1,040 kgs per year (52 times of cleaning for each year). The citric acid/caustic was reduced by 15 kgs per cleaning, total 780 kgs per year. The overall chemical usage reduction cost was USD 2,000.

Saved Water: As the cleaning frequency was decreased from once every week to once every month, the demineralised water used for flushing was reduced by 2,200 m 3 , annually saving USD 1,860.

Protected Membrane: The membrane life was prolonged from 2 years to 5 years due to less cleaning frequency, saving the equivalent membrane replace cost by USD 14,240.

Reduced Maintenance: The man hours were reduced from 576 hours to 180 hours per year due to less maintenance work, achieving the manpower cost reduction of USD 3,050.

Saved Energy: The power consumption was reduced by 43,800 kWh due to the optimised feed pressure, saving USD 5,570 per year.

Conclusion With the implementation of the Nalco PermaCare program and best global practices introduced by the Nalco team, the client was able to achieve a significant increase in RO permeate output, reduction in feed pressure thus saving power cost, prolonged membrane life and asset maintenance cost reduction to meet the company’s sustainability goal.

Author’s Details Jiaur Mallick Application Engineer II WPS Heavy-West & South Division Chemical Engineering World

April 2015 • 43

CEW Features Guest Column

Tenets of Operational Excellence: Do It Safely or Don’t Do It At All Unpleasent incidents in chemical and petrochemical industry that lead to “massive financial loss and property damage and cause multiple fatalities” can be avoided if an organisation looks into the matter seriously. Ram K Goyal, Adviser - Risk Management and Leader - Central Reliability Engineering, Bahrain Petroleum Company, Kingdom of Bahrain, shares his perceptions on how can industry learn from past incidents and ensure industrial safety.

D

o we really learn from past incidents? Well, the general public’s perception is that we in the chemical, petrochemical, oil and gas industries mostly do not learn well from loss incidents of the past and that is why we keep having repeat incidents. In our region alone in the past decade we have had several major incidents that have resulted in massive financial loss and property damage and/or multiple fatalities in the oil and gas industries in Algeria, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

We want to assure our readers that there definitely are some organisations and individuals who take this learning from incidents very seriously. We can draw useful lessons from not only major incidents that have caught the public and media eye, but also from smaller incidents that occur in one’s industry. When an incident is reported in the media, everyone is naturally curious as to what has happened. But if we want to learn from the incident, we have to go beyond simple curiosity. There are some known hurdles in our ability to learn from other people’s incidents. In order to learn lessons, we need to review the incident in depth. In analysing these incidents for the purpose of learning lessons for the future, there is no point in trying to blame a specific person or persons. ‘Culpability’ is applicable in cases of sabotage or other deliberate actions with malice aforethought. In accidents and incidents, it is better to concentrate on systemic or procedural failures or design deficiencies 44 • April 2015

so that viable, effective, and long-term remedial measures can be proposed and implemented. The learning process is not easy. You need to have the will and ability to pay attention to detail. Bapco has recently adopted a unique tool called ‘Tenets of Operational Excellence’ which lists two over-riding principles: Do it safely or not at all, and There is always time to do it right.

All recorded incidents related to process plant, equipment, instrumentation, and environmental consequences are analysed at Bapco to identify which of the above ten tenets was most likely violated so as to cause the loss incident. This viewing

of the historical records through the lens of tenets of operational excellence yields some very interesting results. On the basis of the results, the company is then able to direct resources that remedy the specific shortcomings identified through this analysis. The system provides a ready and usable means of assessing cost-effectiveness of remedial measures.

Looking at Company’s Historical Data for Trends Learning lessons from specific in-company incidents is no different from learning lessons from external incidents.

However, in the case of our internal incidents, we can also look at historical trends since we have access to data

300 250 200 150 100 50 0

Figure 1: Bapco Incidents Overview

Chemical Engineering World

Features CEW pertaining to all incidents that occur in the company. An example set of data is shown in Figure 1.

If no other information was taken into consideration, then it can be surmised that there has been an increase in the total number of incidents recorded in the company. In fact, a trend analysis will show that the total number has more than doubled over the past nine years. Recording of personnel injury incidents, motor vehicle collision incidents, and fires had been carried out from very early days. Like most other companies in the region, Bapco had also adopted the recording guidelines issued by various ANSI standards (American National Standards Institute) in recording incidents.

In 1994, Bapco formally adopted the Process Safety Management (PSM) system following the 1992 legislation and guidelines issued by the US OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) as Code of Federal Register 1910.119. Under PSM, we began to centrally record many other types of incidents as well; for example: process-related incidents, equipment failure incidents, damage incidents, and so on. Initially, the notification and recording process was manual, and not all stakeholders had been fully trained in the notification system. In 2001, we adopted a commercially available database system to capture all information related to incidents; the software package was primarily used as an integrated reliability management tool, and recording of all loss incidents in that system made good sense from a

Figure 2: Enivronmental Incidents and Trend Line

Chemical Engineering World

Figure 3: Process related Incidents and Trend Line

data analysis standpoint. Equipment or property-damage-related incidents could be linked to the plant and asset register already maintained in the system as a part of the reliability trend analysis module. As with all other systems, initially there was some reluctance on the part of incident notifiers to record all incidents. However, a major campaign was launched in 2004 highlighting the benefits of learning from past incidents, and gradually reporting improved. Also, in 2007, incident notifications from other parts of the company (namely Marketing and Oil and Gas Production) were added to the system. These are the reasons for the increase in the total number of incidents on record.

Recording of incidents in a computer database afforded easy access and the ability to conduct data analysis and identify trends.

An example is shown in Figure 2 where a trend in the data related to ‘Environmental’

incidents has been identified. Under the ISO14001 certification process, a major campaign was launched in 2006 in enhancing environmental awareness in the company. This effort has continued.

The fruits of that awareness campaign are reflected in the downward trend in the number of environmental incidents occurring in the company. The number of leak/ spill incidents has reduced drastically; the number of other environmental excursions has also gone down significantly. Similar types of trend analyses can be performed on data recorded in other categories such as electrical incidents, fires, personnel injury, occupational illness cases, and others.

There has been a very significant increase in the number of records categorised as ‘process-related’ incidents. This rising trend is depicted in Figure 3. It was a cause for serious concern, and a detailed review was performed of all incidents recorded in this category.

There were several clearly identifiable reasons for this increase. The two most prominent were: (1) Due to some unclear guidelines in the PSM standard the number of ESD-related trips (instrumented emergency shutdown systems) were not being reported during the earlier years; this situation was remedied in 2006, and (2) In 2007, several new process plants came on line (eg, the Low Sulfur Diesel Production Complex in the refinery) and as these were going through their initial April 2015 • 45

CEW Features phases of production, the expected number of process-related incidents was high. This is expected to come down to normal rates after the first turnaround cycle.

Nonetheless, the company recognised the need to actively arrest and reverse the increment in the number of incidents, especially those related to equipment or property and process-related incidents. It was decided to spearhead this effort as a part of the company’s adoption of a formal Operational Excellence Management System (OEMS). One of the key elements of OEMS is a set of Tenets of Operational Excellence (as listed in the Abstract) which is seen as the primary driver to achieve an incident-free environment in the company.

Looking at company’s incidents through OE Tenets All incidents recorded since 2005 were reviewed by a group of reliability specialists from Bapco’s Risk and Reliability Management group and each incident was assigned a single OE Tenet violation deemed to be the most significant causal factor. The raw results are summarised in Table 1.

With the above analysis, it became quite clear that violations of Tenets 2, 4, 8, 6, and 1 were dominating the incident causes during this period (2005-2009). This is illustrated in Figure 4.

Once it was established which tenets were being more frequently violated, it was possible to recommend corrective action that could specifically address the identified shortcoming.

Lessons from some historical incidents We can learn valuable lessons from incidents that have happened in the process industry (including oil & gas, petrochemicals, chemicals – onshore and offshore installations). These incidents created a great deal of public interest at the time of their occurrence; some are etched forever in the memories of people affected by them, and all of them have gone into the history books of safety, loss prevention, or allied subjects. In examining these, one should not delve unnecessarily 46 • April 2015

Figure 4: OE Tenets Voilated 2005-2009

in any controversial issues of culpability or partisan agenda. The purpose must be to merely extract pertinent lessons so as to prevent or minimise chances of occurrence in your own organisation.

The Feyzin LPG BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) incident resulting in 18 fatalities occurred back in 1966 in a French refinery where the operator was unable to close a drain valve due to the valve freezing open. This OE Tenet

incident triggered our pursuit for a greater understanding of the risks associated with bulk storage of LPG. The phenomenon called ‘BLEVE’ had not really been well understood prior to Feyzin. There was a fundamental error in thinking that a relief valve on an LPG sphere, designed and sized for the ‘external fire’ contingency, was sufficient to provide protection regardless of the overall fire exposure duration. It was not 2005

2006

2007

2008

or

41

13

37

11

23

125

2. Always operate in a safe and controlled condition

44

49

55

50

40

238

3. Always ensure safety devices are in place and functioning

7

7

6

14

21

55

4. Always follow safe work practices and procedures

33

39

31

58

59

220

5. Always meet or exceed customers’ requirements

8

2

10

5

9

34

6. Always maintain integrity of dedicated systems

4

70

34

35

29

172

7. Always comply with all applicable rules and regulations

6

2

19

7

12

46

8. Always address abnormal conditions

56

8

45

31

57

197

9. Always follow written procedures for high-risk or unusual situations

3

2

9

9

13

36

10. Always involve the right people in decisions that affect procedures and equipment

6

22

24

9

9

70

1. Always operate environmental limits

within

design

2009 Total

Table 1: Tenets of Operational Excellence Violated in Bapco Incidents

Chemical Engineering World

Features CEW clearly recognised at the time that LPG would generate a ground-hugging pancake-shaped vapor cloud that could drift over larger distances and find a source of ignition. The significant hazards associated with the sphere dewatering procedure were not recognised. It is a pity that even with the lessons drawn from Feyzin, vessel BLEVEs caused the heavy losses suffered in November 1984 at the LPG terminal belonging to PEMEX (the national oil company of Mexico) – over 500 people were killed in that accident!

The Flixborough incident forced the researchers into recognising the reality of the ‘unconfined’ vapor cloud explosion.

Prior to this incident, an UVCE was considered somewhat of a theoretical possibility – Flixborough changed that overnight. The UK Government had promulgated ‘The Health and Safety at Work Act’ in that year (1974), and this incident brought home in a shocking way the need for employers to be proactive when dealing with the health and safety of their work forces. Another major lesson from this incident was that changes and modifications to plant and equipment, whether temporary or permanent, must be ‘managed’ in a thorough and systematic manner.

The Seveso incident was the primary motivator in the EEC’s adoption of the Seveso Directive that enshrines into law the public’s right to know about the hazards posed by the plants and industrial installations in their midst.

Bhopal, and its aftermath, will remain a black mark in the history of our industry.

Management that was so single-mindedly driven by short-term profit maximisation and cost-cutting with no regard to safety – how else could one justify the switching off of the refrigeration unit of the tank to save a few rupees – has no business running our industry.

Piper Alpha taught us that adherence to the work permit system must be ensured at all times and every time. The UK Government Chemical Engineering World

passed extensive legislation related to safety at offshore installations following the Piper Alpha disaster. The incident was very thoroughly investigated by a royal commission headed by Lord Cullen.

His report provides excellent details and a careful analysis of the root causes of this incident.

The Houston Phillips explosion (1989) acted as the wake-up call for the American Petroleum Institute (API) which, soon after the incident, issued its recommended practice RP-750 (1990) detailing the process safety management system that had been originally conceived and popularised by the Center for Chemical Process Safety of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (c. 1985, immediately post-Bhopal). Not only the API, but the US government bodies had to respond, which they did in the form of Federal Register OSHA 1910.119 (Process Safety Management) in February 1992.

The BP Texas City incident highlights the need to eliminate all on-plot relieving vents in favor of properly designed flare systems.

We must make sure that when we permit ‘oil-in’ during the start-up of a unit after a turnaround and inspection phase, there are no personnel present on site who are not directly involved in the unit startup. Furthermore, we must make sure our senior management clearly understands the difference between ‘personnel safety’ and ‘process safety.’

Risks to process plants, especially pipelines, from vandals and saboteurs have become a serious cause for concern over the past decade. Transportation of crude and products via pipelines in many parts of the world was seen as the most cost-effective option – for example: lines from the Russian Federation to Europe, Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, and neighboring countries, and Southern Iraq; and routing from Oman to India, and Iran to India; and a host of other proposals.

In general, the history of incidents teaches us that in the field of loss prevention in

the process industry, there are a few key features related to layout and design which tend to enhance the intrinsic safety of a plant. For example: • Proper spacing (between equipment/ units) • Proper size (pipe/vessel size/wall thickness, etc.)

• Proper steel (correct metallurgy) These features, when incorporated into the layout and design of a refinery or process plant, provide a significant degree of safety by mitigating the consequences of process deviations and other incidents. Furthermore, they are, by and large, immune from the adverse effects of human error or other uncalled-for human intervention.

In well laid-out refineries, risk exposures will be limited because of the generous inter-unit distances. The EML (Estimated Maximum Loss) calculations carried out by the insurers in such cases reflect this lower risk, which, in turn, translates into lower premiums.

The intrinsic safety principle aimed at avoiding incidents needs to be fully supported by efficiently working management systems and robust leadership accountability philosophy in a company. Even though the number of incidents in modern times might be decreasing slightly, the cost per incident keeps on escalating. Likewise, a greater awareness and sharing of information with the public is a must. It makes it far more important for company leadership to promote the concept of ‘Zero Accidents and Zero Incidents’ as viable corporate targets.

Proactive leadership does not wait for an incident to occur or the public to complain before striving for excellence in all its operations and business practices. Bapco intends to march towards operational excellence by creating a work culture and ethos based on our ‘value’ system that consists of the following elements: Businesslike approach, Respect for everyone, Teamwork, Integrity, Innovation, and Personal accountability.

April 2015 • 47

CEW Features Forward Focus

Evaluating India’s Energy Fueling Options In this article, Prabhakar Bhandarkar, Director - Business Development, Simon India Ltd, evaluates the energy options for the country and discuss the ever-increasing requirement for the energy. He further highlights the significance of energy management and emphasis on the need to reuse and recylce the waste to ensure sustainable development.

I

ndia’s energy fueling options need realistic assessment in terms of availability, logistics, cost of production, evacuation strategies, integrated approach, pooling into the energy basket, balanced tax structure or incentives, political inertisation in approvals or regulatory framework, socio economic modeling to ensure optimal inclusivity and avoid PPP concept turning into political private partnership so that we can soon achieve adequate energy security while guarding the economic growth. The basic fueling options to be evaluated are Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Power, Hydro Generation and Renewable Feedstocks. Presently the power generation mix in India is 57 per cent Coal, 19 per cent Hydro, 10 per cent Gas and Diesel, 3 per cent Nuclear and 1 per cent Renewable feed stocks.

Global fossil fuel deposits are estimated at 870 trillion tons with Coal 60 per cent,

Oil 16 per cent, Gas 13 per cent and Bitumin 11 per cent.

Fossil Fuels Coal & Lignite: India has estimated coal reserves of 253 billion tons and lignite around 28 billion tons. Majority of coal deposits are in Jharkhand (29%), Orissa (24%), Chhattisgarh (17%), West Bengal (11%), Madhya Pradesh (8%), Andhra Pradesh (7%), and rest distributed in Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Bihar etc. Lignite reserves are mainly in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Sixty per cent of coal is said to be mineable and within 300 to 600 m.depth.

Indian coal is mainly non coking anthracite and bituminous in nature with ash content of over 35 per cent. Typically a 8000 MW power plant using Indian coal needs 1.5 million kl per year of oil as secondary fuel, 200 million tons per year of coal

Shale Oils 2800 bn. barrels Technology & cost Levels

Gas Hydrates 3 bn. TCF

•

Heavy Oil 107 bn barrels

•

CBM 960 TCF

•

Extra Heavy Oil 457 bn

•

Gas Sands / shales 1500

barrels

Conventional OIL

Defficulty of exploration

TCF

Conventional

Small Volumes

GAS

Global fossil fuel deposits are estimated at 870 trillion tons with coal 60 %, Oil 16%, Gas 13% and Bitumin 11%

48 • April 2015

and generates 65 million tons per year of ash. With increasing cost of transportation optimal modelling is required for deciding on location of plant from pit head and right blend or mix of coal with adequate heat value. Coal imports from Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, etc, provide low ash or high CV coal but does create sulfur problem in flue gases. Many power plants thus do select a suitable blending option for imported and local coal to be used as fuel feed stock.

But importation gets adversely affected by country specific regulatory or taxation changes thereby impacting economics of power generation.

Nationalisation in seventies creating monopoly of CIL had closed the coal industry to private sector for sometime and inspite of growth in demand the availability continued to be a major bottleneck for running the plants. Government of India threw open many coal blocks (+90 or so) to private sector during the last decade but the production continued to stagnate. Policies, regulatory controls, local mafia politics and lack of central push forced large number of announced projects to cancel or go slow due to mainly the uncertainty of returns on investments. Some cases the coal block license holder’s interest was more in resale of his quota at a premium value. Perhaps, auction route for allocation of coal mines to genuine private players could be a better long term option for the government.

Many countries allowing Indian companies the mining rights have imposed pricing restrictions on export thereby adversely affecting the economics of energy production

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Features CEW in India based on coal imports. Coal India is trying to increase indigenous production and plans to reach 450 million tons in 2012-13. It also plans to put up coal washeries near pit head to reduce the ash content but faces water problems. It implies that due to specific coal qualities the reduction achievable in ash content after washing is also marginal where as dry beneficiation of coal is still far away from reality.

remains on cost of CBM as delivered to plant and its sustainability for years of production. Investments made in downstream facilities assuming long term availability of CBM may have to also look for ‘fall back’ feed stock options in order to ensure long term returns on the investments. However, CBM/ CSG quantum will not have significant contribution in the energy basket.

Rationalisation of coal pricing (blending and pooling) and mining policies taking into consideration the logistics, heat values, use of efficient technologies (gasification, CTL, IGCC), ash disposal, tax structure, imbalances due to cross subsidisation etc is urgently required as coal will continue to be main fuel for many more decades to address the energy needs of our country.

Underground Coal Gasification (UCG): Five lignite (Rajasthan/Gujarat) and two coal blocks (Godavari/Singarauli) have been identified by the government which could be offered for UCG projects.

Coal Bed Methane: Methane gas naturally trapped in coal / lignite bed seams is Coal Bed Methane (CBM /CSG).

Survey of CBM done indicates reserves as follows: This is offered by government for exploration and production comprising of seven blocks. The ONGC – Indian Oil Corporation combine has secured

PLACE

B.C.M. OF CBM

MP (Sohogpur)

84.82

MP (Satpura)

18.44

Rajasthan (Barmer)

9.00

WB (Raniganj)

42.48

Jharkhand (Bokaro / 106.76 Karanpura) two blocks in Jharkhand – Bokaro and North Karampura – where it is investing almost ` 100 crores in exploration of CBM over the next five years. The ONGC – Coal India consortium has secured exploration rights in Raniganj (West Bengal) and Jharia (Jharkhand). Matix group is setting up a fertiliser (ammonia / urea) based on CBM in West Bengal. However, the main question

Chemical Engineering World

However, various techno-commercial and ecological aspects needs to be satisfactorily addressed in terms of site specific operative parameters for UCG plants to be really effective. UCG also is unlikely to add much value into the energy pool.

Oil & Gas: World took almost 125 years to consume the first trillion barrels of oil but next trillion now is getting consumed in couple of decades. Global crude processing capacity will soon be over 15 million tons per day.

The increase in demand for lighter products is forcing the refiners to adopt severe secondary process technologies to handle heavier crudes and may have to reach 85 per cent conversion levels by the year 2025 which was at 70 per cent in 1990 and expected to be around 79 per cent by the year 2015 or so. Middle East (OPEC) or Gulf countries continue to dominate the oil production and in turn control the market through their cartel operations. Crude oil availability is also governed by political tensions in the Gulf region where political mobilisation is occurring in various countries like Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, etc, thereby starting the process of historical changes and may lead to imbalanced supply status for longer periods. Many national oil companies in places like Iran, Mexico, Indonesia, etc, are not

adequately reinvesting and upgrading their production fields as cash flow from their crude exports in diverted to social expenditure, subsidies and in turn affecting the sustainability of their real production assets. This certainly will add to the volatility in the future markets. North America having discovered economical exploration of tight oil and shale gas is likely to contribute substantial volume in the international oil and gas trade and may even forge ahead of Middle East/ Gulf within next decade or so impacting the international fuel dynamics.

India being a major developing country needs increasing supply of petroleum products. India is likely to become a refinery hub from logistic point of view as many overseas refineries having small capacities are facing closures for various reasons. In the next five years refinering capacity in India with major ongoing expansions will cross over 300 million tons per annum and will contribute to the international petrochemical product trade. Bottom of the barrel concept and increasing integration is also likely to result into contribution to the energy mix as Petcoke gasification syngas leading to multigen products like hydrogen, power, steam, etc, will release other presently consumed feedstocks into the market pool of fuel products from such refineries.

Inspite of substantive exploration efforts by government and private players the crude oil production indigenously has been stagnating for decades. Indian basins are not perceived to be prospective so also the existing oil fields have matured and the production from the wells are steadily declining. Clearing the NELP block allocation for exploration and its impact on indigenous availability of crude oil remains a long term question mark. India thus continues to rely on oil imports of over 75 per cent of its requirements which is steadily increasing. Indian majors like ONGC, Reliance, Essar, etc, have also targeted overseas oil fields in Russia, Africa, Middle East, etc, by suitable investments to help bridging the crude oil availability gap for operating refineries in India.

April 2015 • 49

CEW Features The share of natural gas in the total energy mix is expected to reach 20 per cent by the year 2025. The demand is likely to rise by 6 to 7 per cent per year.

The gas consumption is mainly by the fertiliser and power sectors almost in equal proportion. Inspite of the increase in indigenous production through gas fields in KG Basin as well as Cambay off-shore.

The gap between demand and supply is continuously increasing, Gas being considered as clean fuel is also expected to be increasingly used by the automotive (CNG) sector and domestic (city gas) demands. ONGC, GAIL, Reliance and Petronet are presently the major players in the network of gas supply field.

The availability gap for natural gas will be increasingly met by importing LNG. Imports are expected to increase three times within the next five years to a capacity of over 45 million ton per year needing setting up of number of LNG terminals for storage and regassing facilities so also putting in place corresponding evacuation network. Exploring possibilities of imports through piped gas which being a ‘cross border’ pipeline involvement has inherent problems of security in the Indian context and still remains a dream project.

A number of LNG projects have been announced but only a few like Petronet LNG, Dabhol, Dahej, etc, have commenced operations. LNG imports being the bilateral arrangements between India and the producing countries like Qatar, Oman, Iran, etc, is highly related to international payment security mechanism. The pricing strategy in terms of pooling in the gas basket remains key to balanced approach ensuring availability of gas to fertiliser and power sectors in India. The cross subsidy and tax structure needs to be rationalised without excessive politicisation so as to avoid wasteful usage of the commodities which will continue to ‘exert economic burden’ on the country in the future. Government certainly is trying to rationalise the policies in terms of bidding / approval conditions, changing to revenue sharing from profit

50 • April 2015

sharing model, looking at open acreage licensing policy (OALP), tax holidays, etc.

This is expected to improve the bankability of projects in oil and gas sector and add increasing value to the energy basket Gas Hydrates: Combination of gas and water beneath the sea-bed trapped under high pressure and low temperature along the coast could be exploited. It is reported that around 20,000 trillions cu.met of gas could exist in the global and around 1900 trillion cu.met in Indian marine and permafrost gas hydrate accumulation which ranges upto 2 km in depth. Only Russia has been using this fuel from Siberia in some measure. Gas hydrates could be at a depth of 850 – 2,000 m.

National gas hydrate programme, which began a few years ago involving DGH (Directorate General of Hydrocarbon), alongwith GAIL, ONGC and CSIR, is meant for exploration of GH. Krishna, Godavari, Goa, Andaman Islands, etc, has the exploratory potential for this work.

However, converting gas hydrates into fuel gas economically is yet to be ascertained.

Well engineering, reservoir engineering, etc, need to be addressed before any commercial activity really begins. May be Russia, Japan, Canada or America will come into the picture for support at some stage.

Nuclear Energy Atomic Energy Commission was set up in 1957 at Trombay which subsequently became Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) for nuclear power was planned in 1964 and a prototype unit with Canadian support was put up in Rajasthan. It started operation in 1972. Subsequent PHWR units installed were mainly repetition of the prototype and India now has over 400 reactor years of operational experience, about 19 operating units with 4200 MW total capacity covering Tarapur (4), Kaiga (3), Kalpakkam (2), Narora (2), Kakrapar (2), Rajasthan (6). Six new units with total 4000 MW capacity are under construction controlled by NPCIL.

Even though the Five Year Plan 2012 – 17 targets 100 GWe total new power generation capacity only 3.4 per cent is expected to be from nuclear power route.

Large numbers of nuclear power projects are planned and are under commercial discussions with international players who normally supply the proprietary reactor as well as tie up the atomic fuel source. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa as well as other states are listed to get new nuclear power stations in the next two decades. Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWR), PHWR and LWR technologies as well as their modified versions are likely to be adopted for new nuclear power generation units.

The international players supporting this nuclear power programme are from France, Russia, Canada, UK, USA, South Korea, etc.

India expects addition of 20,000 MW nuclear power capacity by the year 2025 and around 60,000 MW by the year 2035.

Contribution target of about 25 per cent of total generation to be nuclear based is being talked about and to be achieved by the year 2050 or so.

India’s nuclear self sufficiency programme commenced few decades ago included uranium exploration and mining, fuel fabrication, heavy water production, reactor design and engineering as well as reprocessing and waste management.

However, lack of indigenous uranium source and global reluctance to supply by the nuclear supplier group (NSG) had impacted India’s ambitious growth plans to develop nuclear energy. NPT issue internationally affected many bilateral agreements with the NSG members for sourcing the uranium supply. However, during the last few years, based on India’s excellent track record on non proliferation inspite of being a nuclear power, helped easing the world opinion and many of the countries involved in the NSG have started re-negotiating

Chemical Engineering World

Features CEW bilateral trade agreements for India sourcing the nuclear fuels, incorporating at times their own safe guards and reprocessing restrictions.

India is endowed with an abundance of thorium deposits and during the last five decades or so we have been hearing about development of thorium based nuclear reactors. Though internationally few countries have claimed development of Thorium based nuclear reactors, India is still in the planning stage for developing indigenous designs. BARC recently announced that basic design and engineering of thorium fueled reactor is ready and 300 MW capacity unit is under government’s consideration for installation at a suitable site within the next few years.

It is expected to be operational by end of this decade. Hopefully, India’s dream of thorium based nuclear power reactors will be realised in the near future and the international “uranium lobby” do not create the political hurdles and resistance to our exploitable alternative.

Inspite of substantial focus and push by the government in developing nuclear power, it is still badly affected by socio environmental issues specially related to radioactive waste management, regulatory and safety aspects (in the light of number of mishaps reported in Russia, Japan, etc,), non-availability of adequate trained man power to run and maintain the nuclear power plants as well as regional tensions around India so also the political considerations. The debate about large capacity v/s small capacity staggered units is also round the corner gaining momentum and may lead to develop the optimum operating model for nuclear energy generation in India.

Hydro Power Presently it contributes around 11 per cent of the installed generation capacity in India. The potential for + 25 MW Power Plant has been adequately assessed by reliable exploratory agencies which indicate that only 23.74 per cent of the hydro capacity is developed which is

Chemical Engineering World

equivalent to 34, 505 MW where as under construction is around 8.5 per cent only.

This leaves substantial untapped hydro potential of 67.76 per cent which is yet to be developed for various local as well as techno-economic reasons. Major hydro power potential is in the North and North Eastern regions.

Renewables Solar Energy: Survey indicates USA and India are most attractive countries in this sector. Many international players are focusing on Indian solar market and bringing in latest state of the art technologies as well as financial assistance in this sector.

National Solar Mission targets 20,000 MW power generation within the next 10 years or so. Number of international manufacturers of solar panels have established their presence in India.

Number of technologies for concentrated solar power plants are available such as: Tower Technology: Heliostats are used to capture the solar radiation and heat in turn is transferred to molten salt in the primary circuit. The heat from molten salt is used for steam generation to drive the steam turbines in the secondary powergen circuit.

Parabolic Trough Design: 150 to 200 meters long troughs capture the solar heat and transfers it to oil carrying tube in the centre. The collector tube with special coating and enclosed in vacuum tight evacuated glass tube are in the market increasing the solar heat absorption from panels. The super heated oil (+400ºC) is pumped to the conventional power block for steam generation and running of the steam turbine.

There are also hybrid solar technologies available. However, the requirement of huge collector area (100 MW unit needs atleast 900 acres of land) and heavy investments per MW makes the

power generated through solar panels extremely expensive. The solar power plants also suffer from its non-availability for generation during nights and needs an alternate fuel source / heat sink to enable continuous operations.

Polycrystalline silicon material used in solar panels for photovoltic cells is also costly. The price of polycrystalline silicon is increasing at 20 to 30 per cent rate due to its requirements or usage by the electronic industries and so also its limited global production.

Indian government has tried to make it mandatory for new power plants to ensure 5 per cent of its generation dedicated to solar source but its impact on the marketable tariff of overall power has been a major set back in its implementation.

Existing coal fired thermal plants could install solar collectors on top of the substantial area covered under coal storage or handling, water storage, etc, and solar heat thus gathered can be integrated in the existing ‘thermal circuit’ reducing corresponding coal consumption. Typically 4000 MW coal fired thermal power plant needs over 500 acres of land dedicated to coal yard or water reservoir or chemicals storage, etc, which basically involves ground level operations. This area could also be used by suitably engineered solar collector system functioning at a proper higher level to collect solar heat, as 9 acres of land provides one MW equivalent thermal solar heat. Thus 50 MW equivalent thermal energy from solar thermal collectors can be integrated into the circuit accordingly for 4000 MW existing power plant. However, government has been working out suitable incentives and cross subsidies to enable investors in solar power projects to get assured returns on their investments.

Please read the complete article on our website - www.cewindia.com. The article was carried in April 2013 issue of CEW.

April 2015 • 51

CEW Market Insights

Partnership Model Can Improve the Logistics Standards According to the government, the Indian chemical industry will witness 15 per cent growth over the next few years. The industry is currently contributing 2.51 per cent in India’s overall GDP and 15.95 per cent of its manufacturing. The growth of the chemical industry is certainly a good piece of news for the logistic service providers; however, it will not only bring new opportunities but also present several challenges to the logistics companies. Harshal Y Desai seeks views of Vivek Arya, Managing Director, Rhenus Logistics India Pvt Ltd on how the company is planning to move ahead with its plans and offer impeccable services to its customers.

P

eople, IT (Information Technology) and HSSEQ (Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Quality) are the three things that differentiate Rhenus from its competitors, claims Arya. “We boast of well-trained personnel - who understand the chemicals, IT tools - that enable us to operate with efficacy and utmost emphasis on following global practices of safety and sustainability – which have been imbibed in our culture,” he adds.

Rhenus, presently, operates at 50 locations in India with the help of a workforce of 1000 people. What started as a domestic freight business has today expanded into a combination of services that includes International freight, custom clearance, distribution and warehousing and other host of value added services. The company has successfully created each business unit as a separate profit centre. In recent few years, the overall business in India has seen a remarkable growth, with the warehousing and domestic freight businesses increasing dramatically. Overall, the company has witnessed a remarkable growth in the last 10-15 years, both in India and globally. Being a niche player in the industry has helped the company maintain profits even in a bad economic period.

Integrated Approach An integrated approach has helped the company earn accolades among its customers. “Typically, a number of chemical manufacturers and other process industry players do business with more than two and sometimes, three vendors in the entire supply chain, which not only has an impact on the cost, but also on optimum resource utilisation. Rhenus with its vision to be an integrated logistics service provider offers a one stop logistics solution for all the customer requirements. Our services cover the entire process chain; from procurement of raw materials to the last mile delivery of finished products. We also provide in-plant services by helping our customers outsource some of their internal processes. This allows us to optimise cost for our 52 • April 2015

clients and also facilitates them to concentrate on their core competence.” Arya states. According to him, this model proved to be highly beneficial for the company.

Can this approach help the entire logistics industry as well?

“Yes, of course,” Arya agrees. “Having an integrated logistics approach which allows chemical manufacturers and logistics service providers to work as partners and a long-term relationship between them can certainly improve the industry standards within the country,” he notes. Arya believes that there are thousands of logistics service providers who are happy to invest heavily to serve the customers, provided they are engaged with them on long-term basis. Today, not many customers are happy to make long term commitment. Arya says that the partnership model is missing in the country. The onus is not only on the chemical companies, but also on the service providers who need to make the commitments.

Logistics business in India is highly fragmented. 93 per cent of the trucking businesses in India are owned by people who have just one or two trucks, Arya reveals.

HSE in Logistics Rhenus Logistics place a lot of emphasises and importance on HSSEQ. “Rhenus is committed to provide compliant logistics to their customers. Rhenus has spent a lot of time in understanding the needs and requirements of their customers on HSSEQ and has created infrastructure and services to meet the highest standards. The company also boasts of its warehouses which are completely equipped to store hazardous chemicals in bulk quantity. We have dedicated Safety Officers

Logistics business in India is highly fragmented.

93 per cent of the trucking businesses in India are owned by people who have just one or two trucks, Arya reveals.

Chemical Engineering World

Market Insights CEW in the organisation and we ensure 100 per cent compliance on all HSSEQ norms,” Arya comments. “I believe, more and more chemical manufacturers and logistics service providers are paying attention to HSE and they will continue to do so to ensure a sustainable business environment around them.

Customers are happy to shell out more than what they have been paying so far, for value added services and world class facilities. The trend is moving towards qualitative services,” he further elucidates.

Arya also reveals that there is a big difference in logistics practices followed in India and across the European region.

The standards that are missing in India are the minimum requirement in European countries. The regulations are much stricter there. India will still need some years to reach to the level of European countries. “Value of the life is unfortunately lowest in our country. Safety standards are compromised and are poor. Concern for environment is also low. I believe it is a matter of culture. It is in the culture of European or western world to give utmost importance to safety. I have seen employees being reluctant to wear safety shoes or boiler suits in India just because they are not comfortable wearing them. It may sound strange but it is true, “he continues.

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Arya also comments on the infrastructure and sounds positive.

He says that infrastructure is continuously being developed by the government. We have moved miles ahead in the last three to four decades. However, the development could have been better organised.

Plans for Future “As far as our existing business is concerned, we would like to increase our clientele in the country and work towards increasing the overall revenue from our business. We have recently launched the Hi Tech Division in India. The services include an integrated offering to manage transportation of sophisticated Hi Tech machines like ATM’s, computer servers, medical diagnostic machines such as CT Scanners, MR Scanners, X Ray Machines, etc. We will continue to introduce some new verticals in the time to come,” reveals Arya. He also states that the company is planning to incorporate advanced automation technologies within its facilities to increase the efficiency of its services. “We believe, advances in IT and automation solutions will allow us to optimise the cost and we will be able to pass the benefits to our customers as well,” he concludes.

Chemical Engineering World

April 2015 • 53

Marketing Initiative

Chilling facts about the Joule-Thompson Effect

H

ave you ever seen a regulator that was encased in a ball of ice on a hot summer day? It seems strange to think that a regulator would be buried under that frozen mass of water, when the ambient temperature is high, and the rest of the piping is not frozen, too.

Chances are better than good that you are seeing the results of the JouleThompson Effect in action. Just what is the Joule-Thompson, or J-T Effect, anyway? And why should it be important to you? First described by the noted scientists James Joule and William Thompson in 1852, the JT Effect, or J-T for short, is simply described as the cooling effect of a high pressure gas as it expands into a lower-pressure area.

We have all come to heavily depend on the practical benefits of the J-T Effect; think Air Conditioning! Yep, the J-T Effect is what gives us that splendid cool air in our home, car, or office, on a hot summer day. Refrigerant is compressed to high pressure, which then flows

through an orifice, where it expands into the heat exchanger tubes of the air conditioner. A fan moves fresh air over the heat exchanger tubes, which cool the air as it moves into the ducts and flows through your home, car, or office. The gas warms as it absorbs the heat from the air, and is recirculated, compressed, and expanded over and over again to maintain the cool temperatures we crave on those hot summer days. If you use a spray can of air freshener, deodorant, or other product, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll feel the can cool in your hands as you spray the product. You are feeling the effect of the gas expanding as you spray it, cooling the can.

The J-T Effect is responsible for that large ball of ice around the regulator we observed earlier. High pressure gas is fed to the regulator, and expands as it flows past the main valve and through the seat into the P2 chamber, then on to the process. The gas is flowing at supersonic speed as it expands out of the seat, cooling the body of the regulator as it flows. If the gas has a high enthalpy, or stored energy, it will cool off a lot.

If the gas has a low enthalpy, then its cooling is minimal.

The ice builds up on the regulator because the body of the regulator is cooler than the surrounding air; the cooling effect of the expanding gas is greater than the ability of the regulator to absorb heat from the surrounding air to offset the cooling. This allows the moisture in the air to condense on the body of the regulator in much the same way we see condensation form on the glass of a cold drink on a hot, humid summer day. If the regulator body is colder than 32 0 F, the condensation freezes on the regulator body. Over time, the frozen condensate can grow into a substantial

54 â&#x20AC;˘ April 2015

ball of ice, making the problem worse, as the ice prevents the regulator body from absorbing heat from the surrounding air.

Certain specialty gases, such as Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) and Hydrogen Chloride (HCl) have a high enthalpy, and are very susceptible to J-T. Ammonia is another gas with a high enthalpy, and is often used in large, commercial and industrial refrigeration systems. The air conditioning system on the International Space Station employs ammonia as the refrigerant.

Though the sight of an ice-covered regulator may be surprising, there is no real harm occurring to the regulator itself. Rather, there more likely may be a problem with the controllability of the downstream pressure, and this is a problem to the customer. Controllability may be affected if the cooling of the gas is so great, that the gas actually liquefies briefly in the regulator after it passes through the main valve. This liquid then vaporises back to a gas as it moves through the warmer piping beyond the regulator. Vaporising the liquid produces pressure surges that are uncontrollable, resulting in unstable downstream pressures; not good.

There are several ways to deal with J-T, and minimise or prevent the gas from liquefying. Often, we use a two-stage pressure reduction scheme to minimise the J-T Effect. By taking the pressure drop in two stages, the total cooling effect is split between the two regulators, each of which may be able to absorb enough heat from the atmosphere to prevent the gas from liquefying.

For some gases, such as HCl, the enthalpy is so high that two stageChemical Engineering World

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April 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 55

56 â&#x20AC;˘ April 2015

Chemical Engineering World

Marketing Initiative dissociate, or separate, into fluorine and nitrogen. Fluorine is an extremely aggressive oxidiser, and could cause premature corrosion and subsequent failure of the gas distribution system. To say nothing of what will happen to the process that requires NF 3 , rather than fluorine and nitrogen.

reduction alone will not prevent the liquefaction of the gas as its pressure drops. In this case, heat is applied to the piping before the first and second stage regulators, raising the gas temperature enough to prevent the gas from liquefying as it passes through the main valves of the regulators. For high flow HCl systems, heaters rated for several hundred watts may be required to do the job. Consider how hot a 100 watt light bulb gets, and you can better imagine the amount of heat required to prevent HCl from liquefying at high flows.

In a high flow NF 3 application, the gas systems engineer must strike a delicate balance between the desired flow capacity of the system, and the amount of heat that can be applied to the gas between regulators. Too high a flow, and the gas will liquefy; too much heat, and the gas will dissociate. It is critical to prevent the gas temperature from exceeding 135 0 F, as the gas will Chemical Engineering World

For lower flow applications, simply separating the two regulators with a long length of tubing will usually allow the gas to recover enough temperature between stages to prevent liquefaction after the second stage reduction.

Another approach is to use a vaporising regulator such as the 44-4800, which employs heat exchanger tubes to warm the gas with integral electrical heaters, or steam. The 44-4800 is an excellent choice for minimising the J-T Effect in low flow applications. Sometimes, using regulators with larger bodies, such as the 44- and 64-3200, will help offset some of the J-T Effect, as the larger mass of the body can absorb more heat from the surrounding atmosphere, and requires more cooling from the gas to reach liquefaction temperatures.

the offending condition. Cryosurgery is also used in a prostate cancer surgery procedure known as cryoablation. In this procedure, cryoprobes are inserted into the prostate gland. Argon and helium are circulated through the probes; the gases expand in the probes, producing the desired cooling effect. The cryoablation process freezes the tumor, and kills the diseased tissue. Tescom makes a changeover panel, the NA-48, for cryosurgical gas applications. J-T is one of those practical applications of physics that we see every day, but do not fully appreciate. Yet, without the beneficial effects J-T, our lives would be much less comfortable. For more information about J-T abatement schemes, please consult a Tescom applications engineer; you will be glad you did, and so will your customer!

Most gases exhibit a cooling effect when they expand; two notable exceptions are hydrogen and helium. These noble gases actually generate heat when they expand, though the heat generated is negligible.

While it may seem the J-T Effect is undesirable, we have already seen a positive use for it in air conditioning.

Another very important benefit of the J-T Effect is cryosurgery. Cryosurgery is used in removing warts and other unwanted skin conditions by flowing two gases at low flow, but under high pressure, through a surgical instrument that allows the gases to expand at the tip of the device.

The expanding gases cool the skin and freeze it locally; the pressure of the gas then cuts through the skin to remove

Rushil Shaha Managing Director Shavo Technologies Pvt Ltd Shavo House; Survey No.21A / 10 B Plot No. 394; South Main Road Koregaon Park; PUNE: 411 001 T: +91 20 26159641 - 26159642 F: +91 20 26159644 W: www.shavogroup.com E: shavogroup@vsnl.com April 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 57

CEW Products Thermal Mass Flow Meter Magnetrol offers Thermatel TA2 thermal mass flow meter with Foundation fieldbus digital output communications.

The TA2 with Foundation fieldbus offers all of the advantages of the standard TA2, such as: dual gas calibration with two unique curves (EX: propane and natural gas); field adjustability to install in different gas types or adjust for different gas mixes; calibration verification procedure provides cost savings due to decreased process downtime and unnecessary recalibrations; internal resettable and non-resettable totalizers; strong signal at low flows and low pressures with high turndown; and ISO 17025 and NIST traceable calibrations.

For details contact: Magnetrol International NV Worldwide Level & Flow Solutions Heikensstraat 6 - 9240 Zele - Belgium Tel: +32 (0)52 45 11 11 Fax: +32 (0)52 45 09 93 E-mail: kgeerinckx@magnetrol.be

LiquiSonic Analyzer for Liquid Concentration Measurement The LiquiSonic inline analyzer of SensoTech measures continuously and precisely the concentration in liquids directly in vessels and pipes without needing a bypass.

Applications include, for example, the production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, the chlor-alkali electrolysis, gas scrubbers, phase separations, crystallizations or polymerizations. The sensors can be integrated into any plant system and various sizes of pipes and vessels. The LiquiSonic technology is based on sonic velocity measurement providing high measuring accuracy and the advantage of robust and maintenance-free sensors. The measuring results will be updated every second and can be sent online to PCs and process control system.

For details contact: SensoTech GmbH Steinfeldstr. 1, D-39179 Magdeburg-Barleben, Germany Tel: +49 (0) 39203 514 100 | Fax: +49 (0) 39203 514 109 E-mail: info@sensotech.com

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Smart Distributed Control System Siemens offers a new distributed control system (DCS) product line SIMATIC PCS 7 SMART specifically designed for small to mid-sized process automation markets across applications and industries. PCS 7 SMART ensures lower initial acquisition cost than a larger DCS, thus reducing the total-cost-of-ownership (TCO). It offers a fixed, compact configuration, which ensures ease of repeatability, meaning once a standard solution is designed, the same can be used for several similar applications as well.

This feature not only reduces engineering efforts but also ensures lesser time-to-market. This compact automation controller is an extension of the powerful and proven SIMATIC AS 410 Series controllers and ensures the same robustness and highest SIMATIC quality.

SIMATIC PCS 7 SMART can withstand harsh temperature, vibration, shock, EMC requirements and is designed for round-the-clock industry use. It has a proven ruggedness of SIMATIC controllers and is equipped with conformal coating (G3). SIMATIC PCS 7 SMART is the future-oriented process control system with modern system architecture. It is based on robust, industrial standard SIMATIC hardware, software and peripheral components. It allows flexible and simple integration of field devices and drives based on PROFINET, PROFIBUS or Foundation Fieldbus. It also supports open source interfaces based on international standards such as OPC. For details contact: Siemens Ltd 130 Pandurang Budhkar Marg Worli Mumbai 400 018 Tel: 022-39677000, 39677537 E-mail: bijesh.kamath@siemens.com or Circle Readers’ Service Card 3

58 • April 2015

Chemical Engineering World

Products CEW Benchtop Nutsche Filter-Dryer with Agitator To minimize contamination and exposure, high purity chemicals, pharma intermediates, specialty solids, etc, are efficiently filtered, washed, reslurried and dried in this portable lab scale Nutsche filter device with special manually turned agitator. Design allows withdrawal of filter cake utilising removable bottom head and filter support assembly. The unit can be pressurised to aid solvent removal. Drying can be enhanced by adding vacuum and heating capability. Unit size as shown is 6” in dia with 4 litre capacity – alternate sizes are available. ASME certification is optional. They are offered in SS, Hastelloy or alternate metals, pharma grade mechanical and electropolished finishes; Teflon or alternate coatings. Custom design features include temperature control options, jacketing, valving, special porting, sprayers, sight glasses, instrumentation, pumps, alternate mixer types, etc, plus a wide variety of filter media.

For details contact: Hemraj India 2/227 New Sonal Link Indl Estate Link Road, Malad (W) Mumbai 400 064 Tel: 022-66995104, 28898942 E-mail: sales@hemrajindia.com or Circle Readers’ Service Card 4

Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger In the field of brazed plate heat exchangers HRS Process Systems Ltd offer a large range of standard and special series for application in process plant as well as for low-cost water/water applications. The brazed FUNKE plate heat exchangers consists of embossed SS plates, fit into one another and vacuum brazed with copper or nickel to form a compact and pressure-proof unit. During assembly every second plate is staggered by 180o creating two-separate flow gaps. Heat exchanging media (normally in counter-flow) are passing the gaps. Embossing of plates and the inserted turbulators respectively (in case of TPL) create a highly turbulent flow, which enables most effective heat transfer even in case of low volumetric flow rates and reduce the risk of fouling to a minimum.

The TPL unit has special turbulators placed between the flow of gaps and by diagonal media flow together with large diameter connections very high heat exchanger rates are reached.

GPL Series has thermally optimised plate corrugation which produces highly turbulent flow even in case of low mass flow. GPLS Series with double plates as safety heat exchanger is also available.

For details contact: HRS Process Systems Ltd 201/202 Karan Selene, 851 Bhandarkar Institute Road Pune, Maharashtra 411 004 Tel: 020-25663581, 66047894 Fax: 91-020-25663583 E-mail: phe@hrsasia.co.in or Circle Readers’ Service Card 5

Chemical Engineering World

April 2015 • 59

CEW Products High-pressure Stop and Check Valves

Jacketed Plunger & Diaphragm Pumps

VKIN and VCI range of stop and lift check valves combine unflagging resistance to extreme operating conditions with utmost ease of maintainance.

Unique Dosing Systems offers steam jacketed/cooling jacketed metering dosing pumps for molten liquids. The jacketed pump encloses the nonreturn valves and dosing chamber.

The valves are cartridge type and can be removed for servicing without dismantling the suction and discharge connections.

The valve body is a two-piece design with a welded bonnet, designed for nominal pressures up to 500 bar. A unique completely non-rotating spindle-plug design prevents grinding between the seat and plug, guaranteeing perfect sealing and a long seat life.

Minimal friction in the stuffing box and needle roller thrust bearing allow for easy operation. Their material selection and design allow for a zero leakage gland.

For details contact: Forbes Marshall Mumbai-Pune Road Kasarwadi Pune, Maharashtra 411 034 Tel: 020-27145595 Fax: 91-020-27147413 E-mail: corpcomm@forbesmarshall.com or Circle Readers’ Service Card 6

Their pumps are useful for accurate dosing and mixing of chemicals, slurries, viscose liquids where heating and cooling jacket is required.

They are used in sugar factories, chemical plant, fertiliser plant, water treatment plant, soap plant, paper industries, pharma industries, thermal power projects and plastic industries.

For details contact: Unique Dosing Systems F-1/3 MIDC, Ambad Nashik, Maharashtra 422 010 Tel: 0253-6695621, 6695341 | Fax: 91-0253-6695341 E-mail: info@uniquedosing.com / sales@uniquedosing.com or Circle Readers’ Service Card 7

Right-Angle Precision Planetary Gearboxes Bonfiglioli offers TQK Series right-angle precision gearbox version. This is complementary to the TQ Series and boasts maximum power density, allows for top performance, and offers a space-saving installation solution.

TQK is particularly suitable for dynamic positioning applications for packaging and machine tooling as well for flat-bed machinery for wood working. In addition, it can carry out continuous running applications necessary for printing and paper converting.TQK provides a maximum power density. It features a versatile design in 5 sizes (060, 070, 090, 130 and 160), ratios from 6 up to 200 thanks to its design based on one and two reduction sizes, all this with a nominal torque from 30-800 Nm. The optimized planetary full-needle roller bearings allow for a higher torque output due to the maximizing of the contact points and increased stiffness, reduced wear and backlash. The TQK Series is equipped with higher-rating bearings that can handle higher radial and axial loads, and the reinforced bearing options extend higher performance. Its design is also suited for S1 and S5 operation with a reliable catalog rating and selection procedure. The TQK Series also comes equipped with a standard and reduced backlash lower than 4 arcmin and a smooth/keyed shaft. The combination of the reduced backlash and the high stiffness allows the TQK Series to offer the highest level of precision.

For details contact: Bonfiglioli Riduttori SpA Via Giovanni XXIII 7/a 40012 Lippo di Calderara di Reno Bologna, Italy Tel: +39 051 647 3932 E-mail: ameet.rele@bonfiglioli.com / deborah.brandoli@bonfiglioli.com or Circle Readers’ Service Card 8

60 • April 2015

Chemical Engineering World

Products CEW Isothermal Titration Calorimeters Malvern MicroCal PEAQ-ITC manual systems are widely used in basic life science research, structure function analysis, protein research and drug target characterization. Incorporated in the new systems are user-friendly guided workflows with embedded help videos that give any level of user the ability to generate high quality data. In addition, high signal to noise gives confidence in data quality and in the relevance of the affinity and thermodynamic parameters generated.

An all new data analysis software package can simulate experiment design, provide batch evaluation of large data sets and automated assessment of data quality, while its streamlined interface improves workflow by guiding the user to final figures and presentation quality graphs quickly and easily. In terms of hardware, a new automated washing system uses detergent to clean the sample cell and titration syringe, minimizing day-to-day maintenance and assisting the production of high quality reproducible data. Furthermore, this manual system is upgradeable to an automated ITC. For details contact: Malvern Aimil Instruments Pvt Ltd Naimex House, BSEL Tech Park, B Wing – 906 Sector 30A Opp: Vashi Railway Station, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400 705 Tel: 022-39183596 | Fax: 91-022-39183562 E-mail: Stuart.Wakefield@malvern.com or Circle Readers’ Service Card 9

Inverters R STAHL’s comprehensive application solutions for hazardous area equipment also include explosion-protected motor switches and frequency inverters for installation close to Ex d or Ex e motors in ATEX zones 1 and 2. As a rule, R STAHL can add Ex d / Ex de ignition protection to any choice of power electronics for distributed drive units.

These fan-less inverters ensure efficient heat dissipation, which allows for operation even at ambient temperatures up to 550C. Due to their special aluminium flameproof enclosures, they can be used in onshore as well as offshore applications. The inverters feature a wide functional range including optional PLC functions for intelligent and efficient drive control in installations such as conveyor systems, pumps, heating and cooling equipment, centrifuges, textile machines, and various others. Communication modules enable flexible configurations and enhancements.

The drives ensure PTC motor monitoring compliant with ATEX regulations, provide class C2 electromagnetic compatibility, and support safe solutions as per SIL categories 1 through 3.

Throttles and mains filters are available as optional features. Moreover, R STAHL also offers SS versions, special paints and versions with a window or wiring space.

For details contact: R STAHL (P) Ltd Plot No: 5, Malrosapuram Main Road, Sengundram Indl Area, Malrosapuram Post Singaperumal Koil, Kanchipuram Dist Tamil Nadu 603 204 Tel: 0 44-30600600 | Fax: 91-044-30600700 E-mail: sales@rstahl.net or Circle Readers’ Service Card 10

Chemical Engineering World

April 2015 • 61

POWTEX OSAKA 2015

ChemTECH Chennai 2015 Dates: 10-12 December, 2015

Dates: 14-16 October, 2015

Venue: TNTPO, Exhibition Ground, Chennai

Venue: International Exhibition Centre, Osaka (INTEX)

Details: World meet of chemicals, petrochemicals, pharma and process industry in India encompassing exhibition and conferences.

Contact: +91 22 40373636

Details: The 11th Poweder Technology Exhibition Osaka Organiser: The Association of Powder Process Industry & Engineering Contact: +86-10-6422 2898

Email: sales@jasubhai.com

Email: info2015@powtex.com

Website: www.chemtech-online.com

Website: www.intex-osaka.com

ChemTECH Gujarat 2016

Process Intensification Congress

Dates: 10-12 February, 2016

Dates: 27 Sept - 1 Oct, 2015

Venue: Ahmedabad, India

Venue: Nice, France

Details: World meet of chemicals, petrochemicals, pharma and process industry in India encompassing exhibition and conferences.

Contact: +91 22 40373636

Details: 5 th Conference in the series of European Process Intensification Conferences Organiser: EFCE, ESBES, SFGP Contact: ++33 4 78 176 176

Email: sales@jasubhai.com

Email: clementine.nicollet@gl-events.com

Website: www.chemtech-online.com

Website: www.ecce2015.euk

GRPC

Biorefinery I

Dates: 1-3 July, 2015

Dates: 27 Sept - 2 Oct, 2015

Venue: India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi (NCR)

Venue: Chania (Crete), Greece

Details: Global Refining & Petrochemicals Congress Organiser: ITEN Media Contact: +91 11 43013474

Details: An event on chemicals production from renewable resources Organiser: Engineering Conferences International Contact: 1 212 514 6760

Email: manoj@itenmedia.in, ravi@itenmedia.in

Email: info@engconfintl.org

Website: www.refpet.com

Website: www.engconf.org

MainTech 2015, 6th Edition

Plastics Recycling Show 2015

Dates: 17 July, 2015

Dates: 25-26 November, 2015

Venue: Hotel Surya Palace, Vadodara

Venue: Belgium

Details: Forum for Maintenance Technology & Practices” Focus

Details: European exhibition & conference for plastics recycling

Area for 2015: “Lubrication Organiser: Confederation of Indian Industry Contact: +91 265 2340751

Organiser: Engineering Conferences International Contact: +32 2 742 96 82

Email: abhaya.singh@cii.in

Email: info@plasticsrecyclers.eu

Website: www.cii.in

Website: www.plasticsrecyclers.eu

62 • April 2015

Chemical Engineering World

Project Update CEW New Contracts/Expansions/Revamps The following list is a brief insight into the latest new projects by various companies in India. â&#x20AC;˘ CHEMICALS Astrica Laboratories is implementing a 240-TPA synthetic organic chemicals manufacturing project at a cpst pf ` 78.8-million in village: Ananthsagar, district: Medak, Telangana Team Labs & Consultants are the Environmental Consultants to this project. The project will come up on 6.97-acre of land. According to MoEF sources, it is proposed to treat all HTDS effluent in stripper followed by MEE and ATFD. All LTDS effluent including domestic effluent shall be treated in biological treatment followed by RO system. RO rejects sent to MEE and permeate is used for cooling towers as make up. Solid wastes are generated from the process, solvent distillation, collection/neutralization tank, waste oil from DG sets, used batteries from DG sets. The ash from boiler is sold to brick manufacturers. The solid wastes; evaporation salts, wastes from the process in inorganic form, ie, process salts and filtration aids shall be disposed to the TSDF, while the hazardous wastes of organic nature, ie, distillation residues shall be disposed to authorized cement units and other wastes like used oil and used batteries shall be sent to authorized recyclers. The sludge from treatment plant shall be sent to TSDF. The basic technology involved in the manufacturing of bulk drugs is the process kettles, heat exchangers, centrifuges and storage tanks. To support the process, equipment boilers, chilling plants, cooling towers, etc, are required.

All the above equipment can be sourced indigenously. 80 per cent of civil work has been completed. Remaining 20 per cent civil work is in progress. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2015.

Adi Finechem is planning a 40-TPA specialty product manufacturing project on a 2-acre land at a cost of ` 400-million in village: Chekhala, district: Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The project is waiting for environmental clearance.

Lakhani Dyestuffs is implementing a 100-TPM reactive dyes manufacturing project in MIDC Ambernath (W), district: Thane, Maharashtra. Environmental clearance has been received for the project. Land has been acquired, civil work is in progress and the project is scheduled for completion in H2 2015.

RSPL is planning a 1,500-TPD of soda ash plant and 50-MW of captive power project in village: Kuranga, district: Jamnagar, Gujarat. Land acquisition is in progress. 85 per cent of land has been acquired. The project is waiting for environmental clearance. The entire project is planned for completion in 5 years from zero date.

Superhouse is planning an expansion of its chemical mix-manufacturing project in UPSIDC Industrial Area, district: Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. The capacity is augmented from 200-kg/ day to 500-kg/day. The products will be used in leather tanneries. The project will involve installation of containers. The project is in planning stage.

Stellar Chemical Laboratories is planning an expansion of its organic chemical manufacturing project from 7.1-TPM to 84.1-TPM in village: Derol, district: Panchmahals, Gujarat. Machinery is yet to be ordered. Work on the project is expected to commence after receipt of environmental clearance and the completion date is yet to be finalized.

Shimoga Life Sciences is planning a 300 to 400-TPA synthetic organic chemicals and herbal products manufacturing project at a cost of Rs 50-million in village: Attivaram, district: Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. Work on the project will start after receipt of environmental clearance.

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April 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 63

CEW Project Update DCM Shriram is planning an expansion of its chloroalkali manufacturing project from 450-TPD to 915-TPD in Jhagadia, district: Bharuch, Gujarat. The project will come up along with an expansion of its power project at a total cost of ` 5,340-million.

The Board of Directors of the company at its special meeting held in October 2014 had approved the project.

India GCI Resitop, a subsidiary of Gun Ei Chemical Industry Company, is planning a resin-coated sand and phenolic resin manufacturing project in Oragadam, district: Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Land acquisition is in progress. The project is planned for completion in 3 years from zero date.

Bhuruka Gases, belonging to the Bhuruka Group, is planning compressed oxygen project in district: Pune, Maharashtra. The project is in initial stage. Land is yet to be acquired.

Vasudha Pharma Chem is planning a chemical manufacturing project on a 26-acre land in village: Atchutapuram, district: Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Work on the project commenced in August 2014 and is planned for completion in 2016.

Sayona Colors, belonging to the Sayona Group, is planning capacity expansion of its synthetic organic dyes, and food and cosmetic colours manufacturing unit in Navrangpura, district: Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The project is waiting for international collaboration.

Punjab Chemicals & Crop Protection is planning a thiamethoxam manufacturing project in villages: Kolimajra and Samalheri, district: Mohali, Punjab. The project will come up at the company’s existing plant premises. The project is in planning stage.

S K Solvochem Private Limited is planning a 1,500-TPA synthetic organic chemicals manufacturing project at a cost of ` 20-million which includes dye and dye intermediates, bulk drug and intermediates excluding drug formulations, synthetic rubbers, basic organic chemicals, and other synthetic organic chemicals and chemical intermediates in village: Nimbua, district: Mohali, Punjab. The Public hearing was held in January 2014. The project is waiting for environmental clearance.

• MINING Barmer Lignite Mining Company, a JV between Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals and Raj West Power, a subsidiary of JSW Energy, is planning an expansion of the Kapurdi open cast lignite mining project from 3.75-MTPA to 7-MTPA at an estimated cost of `18,000-million inclusive of a new lignite mining project at Jalipa mines in Kapurdi, district: Barmer, Rajasthan. The project is waiting for environmental clearance.

• NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY Shri Shivsagar Sugar & Agro Products is planning a 18-MW bagasse-based co-generation power project in village: Udpudi, 64 • April 2015

district: Belgaum, Karnataka. The project will come up in the existing 150-acre sugar plant premises. Documentation work for preparation of tender is under progress. The project is planned for completion in 12 months from zero date.

Siddheshwari Paper Udyog is implementing a 6-MW rice huskbased captive power project in Kashipur, district: Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. The project is coming up with an expansion of its kraft paper-manufacturing unit. Civil work is nearing completion and machinery has been ordered.

• THERMAL POWER Seven Star Steels is planning an expansion of its coal-based captive power project from initial 8-MW to 12-MW capacity at an estimated cost of Rs 600-million in village: Kalendamal, district: Jharsuguda, Odisha The project will come up along with an expansion of its sponge iron plant from 60,000-TPA to 180,000TPA and ingot plant from 39,200-TPA to 80,000-TPA. Machinery will be partially procured locally and partially imported; orders are yet to be placed. The project is waiting for industrial clearance.

Work on the project will commence in H1 2015.

Raichur Power Corporation, a JV between Karnataka Power Corporation and Bharat Heavy Electricals, is planning a 800-MW coal-based power project at a cost of ` 88,062.3-million in village: Edlapur, district: Raichur, Karnataka. This is an expansion of the Raichur TPP by addition of 800-MW and would generate 5,957-MU of energy annually. According to MoEF sources, 382 million tonnes of coal to KPCL has been allocated in Deocha-Pachami Coal Block in West Bengal, which has a total reserve of 2,012-million tonnes.

The blended coal 2.92-MTPA (indigenous coal of 2.044-MTPA (70%) and imported coal is 0.876-MTPA (30%)) will be used for the proposed TPP. Edlapur TPS is proposed to be commissioned in 51 months from zero date. Imported coal would be utilized.

Coal would be transported by rail for the entire route from mines to power plant site. Clearances for the project are received from Airports Authority of India and Archaeological Survey of India, Health & Family Welfare Department and Fisheries Department, GoK. Work will commence after receipt of clearances from MoEF. Birla Corporation is planning a 50-MW coal-based captive power project in district: Nagaur, Rajasthan. The project will come up as a part of its integrated cement project. Land acquisition is in progress. Further details of the project are yet to be finalized.

ARS Metals is planning an 8-MW waste heat recovery/based captive power project in Naidupet, district: Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. The project will come up as a part of its 4-phase greenfield integrated steel project in the same location, which is also in planning stage. The power generated will be used for the upcoming greenfield integrated steel plant. The project is waiting for environmental clearance. 58-acre of land has been allotted by APIIC for the project. The entire project is planned for completion in 30 months from zero date.

Chemical Engineering World

Ad Index CEW Sr.

No.

Client’s Name

Page No

1

Atomic Vacuum Company (Exports)

2

Avians Innovations Technology Pvt Ltd

15

3

BHS-Sonthofen (India) Pvt Ltd

43

4

Busch Vacuum India Pvt Ltd

17

5

Chemtech Events

31

6

Emjay Engineers

41

7

Flexim Gmbh

39

8

Forbes Marshall

9

9

GEA Process Systems

3

10

Goodie International Pvt Ltd

11

Gopani Product Systems

12 GRPC

Inside Cover I

21 Back Cover 29

13

Hi-tech Applicator

7

14

HRS Process Systems Ltd

5

15

ImageGrafix Engineering Services Pvt Ltd

16

Integral Process Controls India (P) Ltd

23

17

Kesari Tours Pvt Ltd

11

18

Kirloskar Brothers Ltd

19

Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd

35

20

Suraj Ltd

41

21

Transflow Asia

27

22

Uni Klinger Ltd

19

Chemical Engineering World

59, 61, 63, 65

Inside Cover II

April 2015 • 65

CEW Book Shelf Energy Management in Plastics Processing: Strategies, Targets, Techniques and Tools Author : Robin John Kent Price : USD 205 Pages : 356 (Paperback) Publisher : Plastics Information Direct About the Book: This is a practical workbook providing a structured approach to reducing energy consumption in all the major plastics shaping processes (moulding, extrusion, forming) as well as elsewhere in the plant (eg, in factory services and non-manufacturing areas). The approach throughout the book is to reduce the kWh/kg of materials processed, resulting in permanent reductions in consumption and costs. The book also addresses essential issues such as energy benchmarking and site surveys, understanding energy supplies and bills and measuring and managing energy usage. Every topic is covered in a single 2-page spread, providing the reader with a manageable explanation, clear actions and key tips for success. The second edition has been considerably expanded as this subject has risen up the management agenda for plastics companies around the globe, and the new final chapter provides a useful introduction to carbon footprinting.

Energy and Process Optimization for the Process Industries Author : Frank Zhu Price : USD 108.19 Pages : 536 (Hardcover) Publisher : Wiley-AIChE About the Book: Exploring methods and techniques to optimise processing energy efficiency in process plants, Energy and Process Optimisation for the Process Industries provides a holistic approach that considers optimising process conditions, changing process flowschemes, modifying equipment internals, and upgrading process technology that has already been used in a process plant with success. Field tested by numerous operating plants, the book describes technical solutions to reduce energy consumption leading to significant returns on capital and includes an 8-point Guidelines for Success. The book provides managers, chemical and mechanical engineers, and plant operators with methods and tools for continuous energy and process improvements.

Energy Management Handbook, Eighth Edition Authors : Steve Doty and Wayne C. Turner Price : USD 203.23 Pages : 950 (Hardcover) Publisher : Fairmont Press About the Book: This comprehensive handbook has become recognised as the definitive stand-alone energy managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desk reference, used by thousands of energy management professionals throughout the industry. Newly revised and edited, this eighth edition includes significant updates to energy management controls systems, commissioning, measurement and verification, and high performance green buildings. Revised chapters cover motors and drives, HVAC systems, lighting, alternative energy systems, building envelope, performance contracting, and natural gas purchasing.

Detailed illustrations, tables, graphs, and other helpful working aids are provided throughout. and tools for continuous energy and process improvements graphs, and other helpful working aids are provided throughout.

66 â&#x20AC;˘ April 2015

Energy Management and Efficiency for the Process Industries Authors : Alan P. Rossiter and Beth P. Jones Price : USD 84.57 Pages : 400 (Hardcover) Publisher : Wiley-AIChE About the Book: The book provides a unique overview of energy management for the process industries. Provides an overall approach to energy management and places the technical issues that drive energy efficiency in context. Combines the perspectives of freewheeling consultants and corporate insiders.

In two sections, the book provides the organisational framework (Section 1) within which the technical aspects of energy management, described in Section 2, can be most effectively executed. Includes success stories from three very different companies that have achieved excellence in their energy management efforts.

Covers energy management, including the role of the energy manager, designing and implementing energy management programs, energy benchmarking, reporting, and energy management systems.

Technical topics cover efficiency improvement opportunities in a wide range of utility systems and process equipment types, as well as techniques to improve process design and operation.

Chemical Engineering World

Interview CEW

Taking Pride in ‘Make in India’

With a stable government in place, India seems to be on a high growth trajectory. Infrastructure spend of USD 1 trillion will see an addition of another USD 600 million which has created a positive sentiment in the process industry. Mittravinda Ranjan interacted with Lars Dithmer, Managing Director, Alfa Laval (India) Limited about his thoughts on the present Indian market, industries that have propelled the country’s growth, challenges he foresees among other aspects.

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April 2015 • 67

CEW Interview You have come at the time when Indian manufacturing industry is accelerating into the next phase of growth with the current stable government and at the same time the markets like China are entering a slow phase of growth. How do you see the role of Alfa Laval in India change with the launch of Make in India campaign and changing market dynamics?

Alfa Laval has been present in India for more than 75 years, offering our product portfolio for heat transfer, separation and fluid handling, reaching the market through 15 sales and service offices across the country.

Since many years back we have been ‘making in India’, both for the Indian market and for global supply from our 5 factories located in Pune, Satara and Sarole. We welcome initiatives which simplify business transactions within India as well as for export.

Which industry/ies in India have propelled the growth of Alfa Laval in the Indian and international markets?

We serve a wide range of the process industries with products for heating, cooling, separation and transport duties, hence single industries or markets are rarely the sole driver of growth for us.

Driven by growing energy needs, stricter

environmental regulations and an improving standard of living, the energy, food and environmental sectors are key for us and drives demand, both in India and globally.

What are the market challenges that you foresee in the years to come and how do you intend to address them and drive the growth of Alfa Laval India in the given circumstances?

The markets are influenced by a number of factors, both locally and globally. In Alfa Laval India we see it as our prime objective to stay agile and work closely with our customers. We have a keen focus on their needs for optimal and efficient processing within their field of business.

This in line with our company mission; to continuously optimise the performance of our customers’ processes, time and time again!

How do you see the growth in each of the domains of Heat transfer, Separation and Fluid handling in the years to come?

Which industries in your view would drive the growth?

All of the domains, or technologies as we call them, are integral parts of processing.

We work closely with our customers in developing new solutions, optimising their processes. We find the pockets for growth within our key sectors and focus on staying close to our customers, developing our products and services to fit their need.

As the new markets open up in other regions like Africa and South East Asia what role will Alfa Laval’s India operations play in the group’s global growth strategy and global supply chains?

Today, we already take pride in ‘Making in India’. Our facilities here forms an integral part of the supply chain we have in place to serve our customers both regionally and on a global scale. As and when new markets offer opportunities having our interest, such are being explored.

Please share some of the latest technologies offered by your organisation. What are your plans for increasing the product basket?

To take the last question first; R&D delivering new and optimised products is a key area of attention for Alfa Laval, we consistently work with our product portfolio, increasing our ‘product basket’ available to our customers. In the last couple of years we have, to mention some examples, launched large-scale plate high efficient heat exchangers, new separation technology (PureDry) capturing valuable oil from waste oil and reducing waste, new and more efficient decanters for dewatering of sludge from waste water and a new high pressure anti fouling spiral heat exchanger for the refinery sector.

What are the investment plans of Alfa Laval in the Indian market? How do you plan to leverage your strengths in the years to come to be among the frontrunners in the field of chemicals processing?

We, in Alfa Laval India, are working closely with our customers and will, as we have done for the past many years, continue to build our services for the process sectors within the technologies of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling. The presence provided by our sales and service office network across India is a vital part of securing our close customer interaction.

Alfa Laval India snapshot 15 Sales and Service Offices 5 Manufacturing Units 3 Service Centres 1 Distribution Centre

1,200+ Employees

www.alfalaval.com

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Chemical Engineering World

R.N.I. No. 11403/1966 Date of Publication: 29 th of every month. Postal Registration No: MCS/095/2015-17 Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai 400001, on 29th & 30th of every month. Total Page No.:70