Chemical Industry Digest - July 2018

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY DIGEST Vol.31.7. July 2018

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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What’s In?

Articles

Interview

industry in India. He also emphasises on the challenges and the future prospects of the sector.

The interview highlights, how the global spotlight on environment, safety and sustainability, safety of chemical supply chain logistics has become crucial for chemicals transportation.

Deepwater Oil and Gas Prospects in India ...50 All stakeholders should involve in safety of chemical supply chain logistics – Rajkiran Kanagala, Sr Vice Pres Shrikant Kanitkar, Senior Engineering Manager, Aker Solutions. and Group Head, Business Development, TCI ...44 The author describes the scenario of deepwater oil and gas

Safety in the Transportation of Hydrocarbons by Cross Country Pipelines ...53 Prof (DR) G Madhu, Professor of Safety Engineering in the School of Engineering, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala Details about the importance of pipeline transportation of oil and gas in a modern economy and the hazards associated with cross country pipelines are discussed in the article. It also emphasizes on the need for developing a suitable emergency plan to deal with hydrocarbon releases.

Compressors’ Suction Knockout Drum

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S Raghava Chari, Consultant Compressors, depending on the type are used by almost all industries. Inadequate suction Knockout Drum (KOD) is a common cause of compressor failure. Ways to prevent compressor wrecks, associated production loss, failed deliveries, etc are discussed in this article.

Environmental Impact of Acid Mine Drainage and overview of the Treatment Techniques ...66 Dr A Gangagni Rao, Chief Scientist, CSIR – IICT; Dr Sandeep Panda, SERB National Post Doc Fellow, CSIR – IICT; Sameena Begum, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia This article focuses on the origin, causes, environmental impact of acidic wastewater generated from the mining industry, also known as the Acid Mine Drainage. The article also gives an overview of the treatment techniques of such wastewater.

Features

Elements Matter ...32 Nitrogen – The life-essential element Veena Patwardhan - Special Correspondent Nitrogen is a crucial, life-supporting substance. It is a part of DNA – our genetic code, and is found in many biologically significant molecules. Read on to know more about this colourless, odourless gas, that makes up 78% of the atmospheric air.

Yester Year Nobel Laureates - Paul Karrer ...46 Veena Patwardhan - Special Correspondent Paul Karrer was the first to unravel the chemical structure of several vitamins and plant dyes, and also the first to synthesise many vitamins in the laboratory. In 1937, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research into the constitution of carotenoids, flavins, and vitamins A and B. An interesting profile on him.

Regular Features Chemingineering

News & Views

New Developments

Science Pages

Renewables

Products

Events

.. 6 ... 8 ... 36 ... 38 ... 41 ... 70 ... 73

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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CHEMINGINEERING

This month, our columnist takes a peep into the intriguing world of Mechanochemistry, where chemical reactions are initiated by mechanical forces. Mechanochemical reactions are almost solventfree and yield novel materials and microstructures. Their exact mechanisms need to be thoroughly understood before they come into the mainstream in a big way.

K Sahasranaman

Independent Consultant - Process Engineering, Energy, Utilities and Safety

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Compelling Chemistry

o initiate a chemical reaction, reactants usually need heat; sometimes light. But there are chemical reactions that can be triggered by mechanical energy. Welcome to the fascinating world of Mechanochemistry.

Mechanochemistry is that branch of chemistry which is concerned with chemical and physicochemical changes of substances due to the influence of mechanical energy.

Mechanochemistry holds out much promise and has been gaining considerable traction in recent years.

are also the clearest examples of the uniqueness of mechanochemical reactions. In the 1960s, mechanochemistry was widely used to make metal alloys. Now there is a renewed interest in mechanochemistry as a sustainable “green� route to synthesis of chemical compounds.

Advantages

Mechanochemistry has two notable advantages. First one is environmental. Unlike conventional chemistry, mechanochemical reactions do not require the reactants to be dissolved in a solvent. Thus, mechanochemistry offers a green alternative to conventional chemical processes, and in fact this was one of the main triggers for its revival.

The second, more exciting benefit of mechanochemistry is that it achieves reactions previously considered impossible, and in the pro-

cess, yields unique molecules and compounds. There are many reports of mechanochemical transformations that either do not happen or happen only with great difficulty in conventional solution-based chemistry. Mechanochemical reactions produce compounds and microstructures that are essentially different from conventional chemical reactions. This has huge implications for pharmaceutical and solar energy industries.

Equipment

Forces used in mechano-chemistry are compression, shear and Greek philosopher Theoprastus friction. Mechanochemical reac(circa 4th C.B.C.) crushing mercutions are carried out in ball mills. ry sulfide and vinegar in a copper Shaker and Planetary mills are mortar and pestle to produce elthe most preferred designs. In the emental mercury is probably the shaker design, the jars swing back first chronicled account of a mechand forth with a frequency that deanochemical reaction. However, termines the milling intensity. In Carey Lea is widely regarded as the planetary design, the jar rotates the Father of mechanochemistry around a central axis while spinbased on his work in the late 19th ning around its own axis. Jars and Century. Lea was the first to milling balls are made of stainMechanochemistry offers a green alternative demonstrate that reactions iniless steel, zirconia, tungsten to conventional chemical processes, and in tiated by mechanical energy are carbide or even PTFE. Different fact this was one of the main triggers for its revival. distinctly different from those types of mechanical motions The second, more exciting, benefit of mechanoinitiated by heat. Lea’s work on have been found to yield difthe decomposition of silver and chemistry is that it achieves reactions previously ferent types of products with considered impossible, and in the process yields varying kinetics. Energy input mercury halides are frequentunique molecules and compounds. ly cited as historic milestones is adjusted by varying milling of mechanochemistry. They time and frequency and also

History

>>

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

CHEMINGINEERING through choice of the milling media. Milling balls made from denser materials impart greater kinetic energy during the milling process. An alternative approach to controlling the mechanochemical reactions is through the use of small controlled amounts of liquid or solid additives. Called Liquid Assisted Grinding (LAG), this offers advantages like shorter reaction time and better product selectivity.

Mechanochemical reactions are not limited to solids. Vigorous mixing or sonication of liquids can result in molecular forces that strain and break the bonds.

Applications

Mechanochemistry is no longer a laboratory curiosity. It is used to produce useful products with unique properties.

Photovoltaic cells using Perovskites produced by mechanochemical reaction have shown significant improvements in efficiency. Named in honour of Leo Perovski, the Russian geologist, Perovskites are a large group of materials like Calcium Titanate, finding application in photovoltaic cells. Solvent-based process for production of Perovskites leave behind residues affecting its crystalline structure. Mechanochemically synthesised Perovskites eliminate these structural defects leading to the higher efficiency of photovoltaic cells.

Production of noble metal salts, often used as catalysts and in electronics, require aggressive conditions. Their chloride salts, for example, are made by reacting the metals with aqua regia.

Mechanochemistry offers a convenient and benign alternative.

Vigorous shaking of the noble metal powders in a zirconia jar with simple halides like potassium chlo-

ride or ammonium chloride results in the production of noble metal halides. By adding ligands to the mill, various gold and palladium complexes can also be produced.

Mechanochemistry holds out good promise in waste management. Difficult to recycle wastes like plastics and rubber have been successfully treated by mechanochemical processes. Lead from spent Cathode Ray Tubes has been recovered by co-grinding the glass with elemental sulphur to yield lead sulphide. Similarly, mechanochemical methods have been successful in immobilising heavy metals from fly ash.

Mechanochemistry is used for synthesis of pharmaceutical cocrystals, which are emerging as an alternative solid drug form with tailored physicochemical properties. Some cocrystals, in fact, are possible only through the mechanochemical route and not through the solvent process.

Solvent-free Chemistry

Many conventional chemical reactions are carried out in solvents, which are often hazardous or toxic. But solvents can sometimes suppress or slow down the reactions. Also, solvent-based chemistry presupposes good solubility of the reactants, which can sometimes act as a deterrent in the choice of raw materials. A case in point is the synthesis of nanographenes. Assembling large organic aromatic structures require either harsh conditions or modification of the starting materials to make them more soluble in solvents. Mechanochemistry offers a solvent-free reaction environment which makes hitherto challenging reactions simpler and more accessible. Scientists in Germany have recently synthesized nanographenes and large polycyclic arChemical Industry Digest. July 2018

omatic hydrocarbons in ball mills.

Mechanochemistry thus overcomes the hindrance of solvents in chemical synthesis.

Energy Efficiency

Mechanochemical reactions are also energy efficient. Ball mills are energy intensive when used for comminution because the high lattice energies have to be overcome.

But mechanochemical reaction do not require particle size reduction to nanometer scale as the reaction depends on particle mixing and surface activation. Energy considerations of mechanochemical processes are yet to be fully understood. The current understanding is that mechanochemical reactions consume less energy than equivalent solvent chemistry.

Current Status

Mechanochemistry is rapidly emerging not only as a cleaner alternative to conventional chemical transformations, but also a novel tool to make unique molecules and materials. The main drawback of mechanochemistry is that we know very little about it currently. Even as the library of mechanochemical reactions is rapidly expanding, the knowledge base of this chemistry is still in its infancy. The atomic and molecular-level mechanisms underlying mechanochemical reactions are yet to be fully understood. In comparison, conventional chemistry has a head start of 200 years. The qualitative benefits of Mechanochemistry have been fully demonstrated. Systematic studies and precise theoretical models are required to advance this science to the next level.

Readers’ responses may be sent to k.sahasranaman@gmail.com or chemindigest@gmail.com

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News & Views

NEWS & VIEWS

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Chemical industry needs to embrace digital transformation: ABB

bility of technology to improve decision-making and drive profitability in global chemical manufacturing will be critical, as per ABB, one of the leaders in the field of automation.

Chemical industry is likely to face more challenging conditions over the next decade as uncertainty and disparity of performance are evident throughout the industry, reports ABB, in its white paper on ‘Transforming Chemical Operations Through Technology’.

The report states that the chemical industry is at an important stage of transformation and explores the external and internal challenges which can be addressed through digitalisation.

In an uncertain macroeconomic environment and an industry with significant production and geography-related complexity, chemical manufacturers should invest in digital technologies and advanced analytics to help them harness their data for maximum performance.

Dr. Zied M. Ouertani, Digital Lead, Chemicals and Refining for ABB’s Industrial Automation Oil Gas and Chemicals Business Unit, says, “The complex nature

of chemical production renders optimal decision-making particularly difficult. The number of variables to process for maximum performance are enormous. In addition to volatile costs and prices, chemicals can be made in many ways to achieve the same output. Challenges also vary by region.”

ABB suggests that leaders must move quickly or risk being surpassed by competitors, who embrace the full potential of digitisation to transform operations at the device, process, plant and enterprise level.

Dr. Ouertani adds, “Digitalisation, done well, allows chemical companies to get a highly granular view of their assets which, when viewed in conjunction with data from more traditional business systems, can generate quicker and better insights to drive competitive advantage.

“But companies will need to embrace digitalisation on a bigger, much more holistic scale encompassing end-to-end processes throughout plants and across the supply chain – not just in isolated pockets of change.”

Mongolia to build first oil refinery with help from India

One Birla Carbon entity across global operations

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ongolia launched construction of its first oil refinery. This long-awaited project is funded by India and is designed to end the country’s dependence on imported fuels. The 30mbpd refinery will be capable of processing 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year.

The refinery, planned for completion in late 2022 will meet all of the nation’s demand for gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

By establishing this strategically important oil refinery, the national economy will become self sufficient in its energy needs, and fuel and commodity prices will be stabilized. The project is expected to boost Mongolia’s gross domestic product by 10 percent.

The cost of the refinery is estimated at $1.35 billion, and it will include a pipeline and its own power plant.

The refinery will process Mongolia’s own crude oil, which is now sold to China.

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irla Carbon, an Aditya Birla Group Company, announced the renaming of all of its entities worldwide to “Birla Carbon”. The name change leverages Birla Carbon’s leadership position around the globe.

Dr Santrupt Misra, Chief Executive Officer, Birla Carbon said, “This is a big moment in our long history, indeed a milestone. As a single global brand Birla Carbon will be even better recognized for its value offering around sustainability, innovation and global supply security. Adds Dr Misra, “We recently launched the Birla Carbon Purpose – ‘Share the Strength’, across the organization. Bringing all the legal entities under Birla Carbon reinforces our Purpose.

One Birla Carbon symbolizes global leadership as part of the Aditya Birla Group.

Birla Carbon is the manufacturer and supplier of high quality carbon black and a flagship business of the US$ 44.3 billion Aditya Birla Group. The Company’s footprint extends across 12 countries with 16 manu-

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

News & Views facturing facilities. Birla Carbon provides a complete portfolio of products across ASTM grades and specialty blacks to meet the specific end requirements across

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Tires, Rubber, Plastics, Coatings, Inks and other niche industries.

Reliance Industries to diversify hydrocarbon business as renewable energy gains ground

eliance Industries Ltd. is seeking to “future-proof” its hydrocarbon portfolio as renewable energy finds currency in the country and abroad, its Chairman Mukesh Ambani told shareholders at the company’s 41st annual general meeting, in Mumbai.

“We have a complete plan to further increase the level of integration by adding new chemical chains and capacity to produce new materials and composites of high value,” he said. “This will minimise the impact of renewables and electricity on transportation fuels,” he added.

RIL said it was nearing the end of its largest-ever investment at its Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat. The investment helped Jamnagar emerge as the world’s largest manufacturing facility for paraxylene — a key raw material to make other industrial chemicals. With a 4.2-million tonne capacity, Reliance is now at the second spot globally among paraxylene producers.

The opening of the world’s largest off-gas cracker complex positions Reliance as one of the most efficient producers of polymers. Further, the petcoke gasification project will eliminate the dependence of the refinery on imported natural gas and add value to its profitability, particularly in a high oil price scenario, Ambani said.

These new projects have redefined the oil-to-chemicals integration, which Reliance began in the late 1990s. “As the world migrates from fossil fuels to renewable energy, we will further maximise oil-to-chemicals conversion and upgrade all of our fuels to highvalue petrochemicals. This upgradation will be implemented in a phased manner over the next decade to meet the rapidly increasing demand for petrochemicals in India and the region. The hydrocarbon business is thus poised for robust value creation. It will play a catalytic role in determining profitability of hydrocarbons businesses of the future,” Ambani stated.

The company will commission the butyl rubber project later this year, besides adding composites and carbon-fibre to its portfolio, Ambani said. “These high-value materials will cater to the growing needs of India’s transportation and alternate energy sectors,”

Ambani informed, adding that the value-chain integration will allow Reliance to create “an annuity-like cash flow with lower risk of cyclical markets”.

Reliance and its joint venture partner BP plc intends to start gas production from the KG-D6 Block in 2020 and reach full production of 30-35 million metric standard cubic metres per day by 2022, he said. Reliance is also weighing a cross-border merger of Reliance Holding USA (RHUSA) with RIL to integrate the gas resources in America with the Indian market, Ambani said, adding that BP plc was pursuing opportunities to source and distribute gas to Indian consumers.

The company is doing well in its E-commerce businesses as well and has doubled its subscriber base to 215 million in 22 months and is all set to launch newer developments in the same.

Ceat inks pact with Tamil Nadu for greenfield tyre unit

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eat has signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government for establishing a tyre manufacturing facility near Chennai at an investment of `4,000 crore.

The proposed facility is expected to come up at Madhuramangalam Village near Sriperumbudur, a popular manufacturing corridor.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami and Anand Goenka, Managing Director of Ceat. The investment

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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News & Views will be made over a period of 10 years with the project generating over 1,000 jobs.

The company has acquired 163 acres for the greenfield unit, which is expected to begin production in the next 12 months making passenger car radial tyres, with an initial capacity of around 250 tonnes per day or 0.7 million tyres per month. The company also plans to utilise the proposed plant for exports.

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Oil India’s second find in KG Basin

il India Ltd has made its second hydrocarbon discovery in the on land KG Basin NELP VI block. The discovery in the KG-ONN-2004/1 block was made in May at well Thanelanka-1 in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, it discovered gas at well Dangeru-1 in Andhra Pradesh in the same block. The well Thanelanka-1 is the first high pressure - high temperature well drilled by Oil India and has encountered multiple sands in Gollapalli Formation of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous and one zone in Raghavapuram Formation of Intra Cretaceous. Presently, the well is under further testing.

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China to reduce tariffs on Indian medicines

hina has said that it will reduce tariffs and increase imports of Indian medicines, a great news that could lead to the possible opening up of the massive Chinese market to cheaper generic medicines from India.

The Chinese foreign ministry said India and China had agreed on reducing duties on Indian medicines, especially cancer drugs, which are in huge demand in China because they are much cheaper than Western alternatives. China will reduce tariffs on 8,549 items, including chemical and agricultural products, while India will do the same for 3,142 products, reports Hindustan Times.

“We believe expansion of imports and slashing of tariffs on anti-cancer medicines will also ush-

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er in great opportunities for India and other countries in the region,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunyin said.

According to India’s Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (PHARMEXCIL), the country’s export of drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals to China in 2014-15 was worth $138 million.

The decision to cut tariffs on Indian drugs comes at a time when the Chinese movie ‘Dying To Survive’,

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inspired by the real life story of a cancer-afflicted manwho smuggled Indian drugs into China, is doing incredible business at box office.

In a related development, spokesperson Hua said that India and China had also slashed import tariffs of a range of products from July 1, following the fourth round of negotiations under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), which includes Bangladesh, Laos, South Korea and Sri Lanka.

Cipla, Unitaid ink pact to reduce price of HIV drug

rug major Cipla and Switzerland-based Unitaid have inked a pact under which the Indian drug major would reduce price of a combination therapy which prevents infections in people living with HIV. Under the agreement, Cipla will reduce the ceiling price of the medicine (Q-TIB) by more than 30 percent from USD 3 to USD 1.99 per person, per month, for all public-sector procurers in lowand middle-income countries.

The agreement would lead to reduction in price of Q-TIB, as governments and international funding bodies procure large quantities for their HIV treatment programmes.

The combination therapy is a once-daily pill that protects in three ways against TB, the leading cause of death among people with HIV, and against other life-threatening bacterial, and protozoan infections.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

News & Views

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Aspen Tech’s software selected for BPCL refinery

spen Technology, Inc. announced that Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has selected aspenONE® Engineering and Manufacturing & Supply Chain software to drive business sustainability and increase profitability by maximizing asset performance.

BPCL plans to standardize on AspenTech software products across BPCL Group Refineries, starting with four refineries in Mumbai, Kochi, Bina and Numaligarh. The solutions include Aspen HYSYS® Petroleum Refining; Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating; Aspen Economic Evaluation; Aspen Energy Analyzer; Aspen DMC3; Aspen InfoPlus.21®; aspenONE Process Explorer; Aspen PIMS-AO; Aspen Supply Chain Planner; Aspen Tank and Operations Manager and Aspen Operations Reconciliation and Accounting.

With aspenONE software, organizations can run

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New biofuel policy approved recently

he National Biofuel Policy 2018 approved by the government has the potential to bring in multicrore private investment in second generation ethanol production.

Second generation ethanol refers to alcohol generated from uncon-

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to the limits of performance and achieve optimal financial return over the entire asset lifecycle without compromising safety, reliability or regulatory compliance. In partnering with AspenTech, BPCL can capitalize on digital transformation to reduce costs, maximize growth and achieve sustainable operations via operational excellence. With this deployment, BPCL is well positioned to support energy needs and emissions standards in India.

“Leading energy companies have a relentless focus on operational excellence and are constantly seeking new ways to gain a competitive advantage. AspenTech’s integrated solutions across design and operations will help BPCL maximize profitability, increase return on capital and improve complex manufacturing and operating scenarios,” said Dr. Filipe Soares-Pinto, Senior Vice President of Sales, Asia Pacific, AspenTech.

ventional raw material such as agro waste.

As an indication of the potential, the government hopes to bring in 20 percent ethanol-blended automobile fuel by 2020. At the targeted 5 percent blending now, about 50 plants of one crore litre a day will be needed. This will involve investment of over `35,000 crore.

In India, traditionally, ethanol is produced by distilleries linked to sugar mills. They use molasses generated as a byproduct of sugar production as a raw material. A major benefit of using agro waste for eth-

anol production is that it will address the problem of air pollution caused by burning of agriculture waste. The dozen units planned by Oil Marketing Company’s (OMC) alone will use about 18-20 lakh tonnes of agro waste annually.

Praj Industries, which has developed technology in-house, is executing two projects, one in Odisha for BPCL and another at Panipat for IOC. These will use rice straw as raw material. Discussions are on with HPCL, for a unit in Uttar Pradesh.

Sterlite’s closure adversely affects downstream units

ertilizer manufacturers and other downstream industries that source their raw materials including sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid from Vedanta Ltd’s copper smelter – Sterlite Copper in Thoothukudi are badly affected following the closure of the unit.

Representatives of companies who are dependent on Sterlite Copper for acids, fly ash and copper slag said that this would soon impact battery manufacturers, detergent makers, cement plants and the abrasive industry, among others. A few firms have already

halted their production even as they scout for a new sources of raw material.

For instance, Coimbatore Pioneer Fertilizers Ltd, which manufactures single superphosphate (SSP), has seen its production go down post the closure of the Sterlite plant. SSP is widely used in the cultivation of pulses, oilseeds, vegetables and cotton, and in coconut and banana plantations.

R. Harihara Gopalan, Executive Director of Annam Chemicals Private Ltd, pointed out that the price of sul-

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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News & Views

phuric acid has increased 3.5 times after Sterlite was forced to down its shutters. Analysts who track the chemical industry said the price of sulphuric acid, which was around `4,000/mt in March 2018, touched ` 14,000/mt in June this year.

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Three manufacturers (dependent on sulphuric acid from Sterlite) said that they have stopped production.

One of them, headquartered in Tamil Nadu, said that many firms had only limited capacity at their premises to store sulphuric acid. “We generally join hands with other firms who need the same raw material and get one shipment. Now, we are facing challenges when we want to go to a new supplier.”

Fertilizer manufacturers are also operating below their normal capacity due to restricted availability of phosphoric acid both in the domestic and international markets.

ADNOC, Saudi Aramco to invest in mega refinery and petrochemicals complex in Maharashtra

framework agreement was signed between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Saudi Aramco (Aramco) and a consortium of three Indian oil companies, to explore a strategic partnership and co-investment in the development of a new US $44 billion mega refinery and petrochemicals complex at Ratnagiri in Maharshtra.

The agreement defines the principles of the joint strategic cooperation between Saudi Top officials of the signatory companies during the signing of Framework Agreement Aramco and ADNOC to jointly build, own and operate the complex in collaboration Saudi Aramco marks a significant step in regional enwith a consortium of Indian national oil companies cur- ergy partnership and cooperation, bringing together rently consisting of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Bharat two of the world’s leading national oil companies as Petroleum Corporation Ltd, and Hindustan Petroleum strategic partners with the Indian consortium. It will also combine their considerable expertise spanning Corporation Ltd. Saudi Aramco and ADNOC will jointcrude supply, resources and technologies, along with ly own 50% of the new joint venture company Ratnagiri an established commercial presence and global reach.

Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd, with the re- A pre-feasibility study to determine the project’s overmaining 50% owned by the Indian Consortium. all configuration will now be jointly executed by the The strategic partnership between ADNOC and parties.

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Modern Water sets up brine-treatment unit for Bodal Chem in Vadodara

fter successfully opening a first-of-its-kind effluent water treatment plant at Bodal Chemical’s site, Modern Water Plc, a UK-based advanced membrane technology provider, has announced the opening of the world’s first brine treatment plant in Vadodara.

The plant, based on Modern 12

Water’s all-membrane brine concentration process (AMBC) was opened by British Deputy High

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Commissioner in Gujarat, Geoff Wain. The plant treats technically challenging waste water for Indian chemicals giant Bodal Chemicals.

This is a crucial part of an energyefficient treatment process for a highly saline organic-laden effluent stream from the dye manufacturing operation that achieves zero liquid

News & Views discharge.

The project was undertaken by Modern Water with its partner in India. The Modern Water’s AMBC process is based on its proprietary forward osmosis and related processes. AMBC significantly reduces the

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cost of ZLD plants. In addition to licensing and designing the AMBC, Modern Water also provided specialist equipment, supervised commissioning of the plant and trained Bodal’s operations staff.

DMAI’s 68th Awards Function – Clariant Bags 5

he Dyestuff Manufacturers’ Association of India (DMAI) organized the award function on 6th July 2018 in Mumbai. Specialty chemicals company Clariant has bagged 5 awards.

Jitendra Patel, President of DMAI, welcomed and spoke about role of DMAI in industry. He thanked the members for their support in his completing a year’s tenure. Shri P. Raghavendra Rao, IAS, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India, was the Chief Guest at the event.

Virendra Widge, Vice President of DMAI, announced the winners who were honoured at the hands of the Chief Guest.

Here is the complete list of winners: l Development of indigenous technology/process for the manufacture of Dyestuffs, Pigments, Optical Brighteners and Intermediates: - SME Unit: Eskay Dyestuffs & Organic Chemicals Pvt

Ltd Excellent performance in Export of Dyestuffs Large scale unit - First : Huntsman International (India) Pvt Ltd - Second : Bodal Chemicals Ltd SME Unit - First : Saraf Dyechem Industries - Second : Vedant Dyestuffs Intermediates Pvt Ltd

Outstanding performance on Domestic Market Large Scale Unit : Bodal Chemicals Limited SME Unit - First : Saraf Dyechem Industries - Second : United Specialities Pvt Ltd l

Excellent performance in Pollution Control Large Scale Unit - First : Clariant Chemicals (India) Pvt Ltd - Second : Huntsman International (India) Pvt Ltd l

Excellent performance in Safety & Hazards Control Large Scale Unit - First : Archroma India Private Limited - Second: Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited l

Excellent performance in Energy Conservation Large Scale Unit - First : Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd - Second : Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd - SME Unit : Pasupati Industries l

Excellent performance in Water Conservation Large Scale Unit : Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd l

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Excellent performance in Export of Pigments - Large scale unit: Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd l

Excellent performance in Export of Dye Intermediates - Large scale unit : Zenith Dye Intermediates Ltd l

Excellent performance in export of Optical Whitening Agents - SME Unit : United Specialities Pvt Ltd l

Excellent performance by a Merchant Exporter in export of Dyestuffs/Pigments/Intermediates/Optical Brightening Agents - First : Archroma India Pvt Ltd - Second: Amar Impex - Certificate of Merit : Kevin (India) Ltd l

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ISO Accreditation for quality system development Company Certification

Pasupati Industries

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ISO 9001:2000

Kamaljit Colour Industries

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ISO 9001:2015

G.M. Exports

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ISO 9001:2015

Bodal Chemicals Ltd : ISO 14001:2015 l Dyestuff Technology Department ICT (2016-2017) Trophy & Rs.10,000 Cash Topper B.Tech Sponsor Nishant Sandeep Shah 1st Year United Specialities

Pvt Ltd nd Nikita Nikhil Gulgule 2 Year Astik Dyestuff Pvt

Ltd rd Akansha Sridhar 3 Year K.Patel Chemophar-

ma Pvt Ltd Shruti Biyani Final Ravi Dyeware Com-

Year pany Pvt. Ltd nd Pritesh Patel 2 Year Vedant Dyestuffs

M.Tech Intermediates Pvt Ltd.

- By Dr K S Murthy

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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News & Views

Dr. M.V. Nimkar Endowment Lecture

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epartment of Fibres and Textile Processing Technology, in association with Dr. M. V. Nimkar Foundation organized Dr. M. V. Nimkar Endowment lecture on 19th June, 2018 in the evening, at K. V. Auditorium, ICT, Mumbai.

To begin the event, Padmashri Prof. G. D. Yadav, Vice Chancellor of ICT, spoke about Dr. M.V. Nimkar Endowment 4th lecture. Then, he welcomed and introduced the speaker Padmashri Dr. S. Sivaram to the audience. D. Sivaram delivered the presentation on sustainable chemistry.

After Dr. S. Sivaram’s presentation, a launch of C.N. Sivaramakrishnan’s 3rd book “Textile Doctor: Comprehensive Solutions for Processing” was conducted.

‘Sustainable Chemistry – The only way forward’ – By Dr. S. Sivaram Padmashri Dr. S. Sivaram, Prof. at Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune has 225 peer reviewed papers and chapters in books, patents (50 US and 52 Indian) and has trained 36 PhDs, 20 Masters and 15 postdoctoral fellows. He presented the lecture on ‘Sustainable Chemistry – The only way forward’.

tragedy, Bhopal disaster, etc., not only changed public perception of chemistry as harmful and damaging but also led to introspection and the beginning of a sustainable journey. Chemistry is the key to sustainability and how materials are transferred from nature to mankind and back, decides the ecosystem balance.

Dr. Sivaram also spoke on sustainable chemicals/ chemistry guidelines such as determining concentration of chemicals, transportation from point of origin and accumulation in food chain.

C.N. Sivaramakrishnan’s Book Launch “Textile Doctor Comprehensive Solutions for Processing” C.N. Sivaramakrishnan, alumnus of Department of Fibre Science, ventured to collate articles in his 3 books with focus on shop floor problems related to textile processing with viable solutions that have been published in COLOURAGE in the past 10 years. He has shared his knowledge, expertise and acumen on pre-treatment, dyeing, printing and finishing through the book.

Sivaram said that sustainability in global context involves Energy, Ecology, Environment and Equity.

Besides responsibility, how we think and act, will decide the future of the planet earth. The challenges involved are population and earth carrying capacity, urban infrastructure, depletion of natural resources and access to affordable clean energy.

Negative impact of phthalimide, DDT, Love Canal C.N. Sivaramakrishnan

N. K. Parekh, Vice Chairman, Pidilite Industries Limited, released the book, attended by academia, students and shop floor personnel. Parekh congratulated Sivaramakrishnan for writing a book that is informative, practical and easy to follow.

Sivaramakrishnan expressed his gratitude to those who inspired and guided him during stressful times and provided unstinting cooperation in writing the book. He dedicated the book to his late parents.

- By Dr K S Murthy Dr. S. Sivaram

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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ARC’s Sixteenth India ForumEmphasizes on Digitization

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RC Advisory Group conducted its sixteenth India Forum for the process and discrete industries, titled Digitizing and Securing Industry, Infrastructure, and Cities from July 5-6, 2018 in Bangalore, India. The forum attracted over 250 delegates. ARC is a global Technology Market Research firm having digital expertise in advisory, consulting and market data analytics.

The theme for ARC’s India forum was how digitization can help industries, infrastructure and cities grow in a secure, collaborative environment. Although digitization is an imperative to succeed in a competitive world, the transition must be well strategized and charted. The transition aspect of digitization was discussed through extensive networking among delegates, end users, and solution providers.

The session topics in the event covered industry and infrastructure moving towards digitization, automation trends, cybersecurity, smart technologies and smart cities, and several end user experiences.

G. Ganapathiraman, Vice President and General Manager, ARC Advisory Group, India welcomed the delegates and afterwards, several industry experts presented their thoughts on digitization.

Some of the presentations from the forum were: • Digital Transformation of Industry by Sal Spada, ARC Advisory Group • How Digital Is Transforming Industries by K.S. Viswanathan, NASSCOM • Unlocking the Potential with Digitalization/IIoT by Sameer Prakash, Siemens

• Urban Infrastructure in the Government Sector and Digital Lifestyle by MuraleedharanManningal, Kerala • Unleashing the Potential of Industry 4.0 by AnkurGoyal, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions ARC’s forum drove home the point that in a connected world automation and keeping abreast of new technologies catalyzes industrial growth. The time has come to migrate from the old to the new - digital, collaborative enterprises mark the way ahead. Reactive analysis/maintenance is obsolete - the spotlight is on predictive and preventive analysis.

Chemical Industry Digest was the media partner for the event.

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Clariant Chemicals closes Nandesari Unit

lariant Chemicals India has permanently closed a manufacturing unit at Nandesari, Vadodra. The operations have been consolidated at the company’s existing unit at Rania, Panchmahal, Gujarat, and the closure does not have any adverse effect on the operations of the company.

Meanwhile, the company has entered into an agreement to assign the land and sheds of the Nandesari unit to Sud Chemie India Private Ltd. The company has received approvals from the authorities, including Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), for the deal.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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L&T wins `23.88 billion water & effluent treatment orders

arsen & Toubro’s (L&T) water & effluent treatment business has won orders worth `23.88 billion, according to a report in smartinvestor.in The orders have been secured from the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Maryadit for the execution of Satna, Kundatiya and Mohanpura multi village rural water supply schemes on turnkey basis. The projects are funded by the New Development Bank, L&T said in a press release. With such big projects, L&T is rapidly expanding its already

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Clariant and Tiangang start construction of stabilizer production

lariant and Tiangang conducted a groundbreaking ceremony in Cangzhou (China), just over 200 km south of Beijing for the start of the construction of a world-class production facility of stabilizers for plastics and textiles.

The joint venture between the two companies was established in September 2017 and combines the technology and production-knowledge of both companies to provide process and light stabilizers for various growing industries in China, including automotive and textiles. The plant is planned to come on-stream in the first half of 2019.

China is a key market for the speciality chemicals company’s high-end process and light stabilizers, which include the Nylostab S-EED chemistry, a multifunctional hindered amine light stabilizer, or ‘Hals’.

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Tiangang, which was founded in 1991, is already an important manufacturer of light stabilizers and UV absorbers, with two plants in China backward integrated with production of key intermediates.

LyondellBasell joint venture to expand its polypropylene capacity in South Korea

olyMirae Company Ltd. (a 50:50 joint venture of LynodellBasell and Daelim of S. Korea) announced that it would establish a joint venture with SK Advanced in South Korea. The joint venture intends to

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established dominance in the sector.

Another EPC order has been received from the Tirunelveli Municipal Corporation for providing Underground Sewerage Scheme (UGSS) to additional areas of Tirunelveli Corporation-Phase II. The scope of work for this project includes laying 225 km of sewer pipelines, construction of RCC manholes, pumping stations, lifting stations and providing sewer connections to 55,000 households, it added.

build a new 400,000 ton/year polypropylene plant to serve customers in Asia. The plant will be located in the southeastern port city of Ulsan and is dependent on regulatory filings and permitting reviews.

Construction on the project will begin in January 2019 and operations at the plant will begin in the first half of 2021.

The new polyproChemical Industry Digest. July 2018

pylene plant will be one of the largest of its kind in Asia and will utilize LyondellBasell’s Spheripol technology. Polypropylene manufactured at the joint venture will be sold to customers in South Korea and exported throughout Asia for use in automotive components, injection molding, blow molding and packaging film. Some of the polypropylene will also be sold to compounding companies in South Korea and the broader region.

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Lanxess India appoints new Managing Director Neelanjan Banerjee

pecialty chemicals company Lanxess India has appointed a new Managing Director Neelanjan Banerjee. Banerjee (45 years) will be the new Country Representative and Managing Director for India, effective September 1, 2018. He will assume these tasks in addition to his current function as Head of the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit (BU AII) in India.

Neelanjan Banerjee joined LANXESS in 2006 as Head

Covestro implements first plant based OxygenDepolarized Cathode Technology

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ovestro is investing around $ 231.7 million at Tarragona in Spain to increase the site’s competitiveness. The new chlorine production plant is a key component of that. About one third of the production costs for chlorine are usually spent on energy. Thus, the selected technology makes an important economic contribution.

Construction of the new plant in Tarragona is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2019.

Chlorine is mainly needed at Tarragona to make MDI. MDI is a precursor for rigid foam, which is an excellent insulation material and is used, for example, in buildings and refrigerators to reduce their power consumption. Compared with the conventional method, it cuts CO2 emissions by around 22,000 metric tons per year.

of the former Basic Chemicals business unit and the Saltigo business unit in India.

Banerjee follows Jacques Perez, age 56 years, who will take over new responsibilities as Managing Director of Lanxess Holding UK Unlimited and Country Representative of LANXESS in the United Kingdom. Born in France, he has also held the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Lanxess India Private Limited since 2013.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Management, I would like to thank both Jacques Perez and Neelanjan Banerjee for their excellent work and outstanding contributions to the company so far and wish them every success in their new roles,” said Rainier van Roessel, Member of the Board of Management at Lanxess AG, commenting on the development.

Shandong to use Honeywell’s propane dehydrogenation technology

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oneywell has recently announced that Shandong Wonfull Petrochemical will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex propane dehydrogenation technology to produce 250,000 metric tonnes per year of polymer-grade propylene at its facility in the Huantai Economic Development Zone in China’s Shandong Province. Shandong Wonfull Petrochemical Group manufactures and distributes gasoline, diesel, liquefied gas, petroleum coke, sulfur, propylene, and other petrochemicals.

Honeywell will provide licensing, the process design package, proprietary and non-proprietary equipment, on-site operator training, technical services for startup and continuing operation, and catalysts and adsorbents for the project.

Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment among competing technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system minimizes its impact on the environment. The independent reaction and regeneration sections enable steady-state operations, improved operating flexibility, and a high on-stream factor and reliability.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Clariant to deliver innovative hydrogen storage technology

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lariant’s Catalysts business has formed an alliance with Hydrogenious Technologies, to provide reliable, scalable and safe hydrogen supply solutions for a wide variety of applications.

The ground-breaking took place just one day after Clariant officially opened wholly-owned plants for Ceridust micronized waxes and Add Works synergistic additive solutions in Zhenjiang, 1,250 km further south.

Velocys collaborates with PQ for producing catalysts

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elocys, the renewable fuels company, has recently announced that it has partnered with PQ Corporation (PQ) for the supply of commercial quantities of Velocys’ proprietary catalyst. This catalyst will be used in multiple bio-refineries incorporating its technology. PQ is a leading global provider of specialty catalysts, services, materials and chemicals for the refinery, emissions control and petrochemical industries.

Catalyst produced by PQ has already been used to successfully produce renewable transportation fuel and other products at Envia, the world’s first commercial smaller scale gas-to-liquids plant. In addition, PQ will manufacture the catalyst to be used by Velocys’ licensees as well as by the bio-refinery projects that the company is developing with its industry partners.

Shell sells $1.3 billion of oil and gas assets in Norway, Malaysia

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oyal Dutch Shell announced the sale of oil and gas assets in Norway and Malaysia for over $1.3 billion, bringing it closer to a target of $30 billion in disposals by year-end. The company agreed to sell to OKEA, a Norwegian producer, its 45 percent interest in the Draugen Norwegian offshore field and a 12 percent in the Gjoa block for a total of $566 million.

Earlier, Shell announced the completion of the sale of a 15 percent stake in Malaysia LNG (MLNG) Tiga to the Sarawak State Financial Secretary for $750 million. Shell committed to the ambitious three-year sale plan following the decision to acquire BG Group in 2015, a deal which was completed in February 2016 for $54 billion.

Shell will remain present in oil-rich Norway through its stakes in several fields, including Ormen Lange and Knarr, which it operates. For OKEA, co-founded by the country’s former Oil Minister Ola Borten Moe in 2015, the deal provides the first sizeable stake in a producing field on the Norwegian continental shelf.

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John Crane completes acquisition of Seebach GmbH

ohn Crane, a global leader in rotating equipment solutions finalized its purchase of Seebach GmbH, a German-based provider of highly engineered filtration solutions for use in polymer, oil and gas, mining and other high-end applications.

Seebach GmbH, located in Vellmar, Germany and Pune, India, will complement John Crane’s existing filtration business, further enhancing its technology leadership in energy applications, and providing innovative solutions and capabilities to grow into mission-critical chemical and process industries.

“The acquisition of Seebach GmbH will provide numerous benefits for our customers,” said John Crane CEO and Division President Jean Vernet.

“A combined filtration organization will enhance our portfolio to develop more innovative filtration solutions, provide faster response times to customer inquiries, and improve planning allowing for quicker turnaround and shorter lead times. We look forward to welcoming the Seebach employees to the John Crane organization”

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems acquires NSB Gas Processing

wiss-based engineering company NSB Gas Processing is now part of the global Busch group. The NSB Gas Processing business has been renamed Busch NSB AG and brings a highly regarded team of engineers and a portfolio of liquid ring vacuum pumps, compressors and systems to the Busch group.

NSB provides liquid ring vacuum pumps, compressors, and vacuum and compressor systems for industry. With the acquisition of NSB, the company can now

analyticaAnacon India and India Lab Expo 2018

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nalyticaAnacon India and India Lab Expo 2018 will be held in Hyderabad from September 06 to 08 to offer a platform for all manufacturers of analysis, laboratory and biotechnology products. analyticaAnacon India and the India Lab Expo together provide the leading platform for analysis, laboratory and biotechnology in the Indian subcontinent, covering the entire value chain for industrial and research laboratories. Last year, 259 exhibitors from 11 countries presented the latest developments and market trends in the fields of laboratory instruments, analysis, diagnostics and biotechnology in Hyderabad.

The trade fair registered 7,714 visitors.

Turning all eyes on the Hyderabad-edition, visitors to analyticaAnacon India and India Lab Expo have the opportunity not only to find out about the latest products, technologies and innovations but also to exchange views with experts. Numerous national and international exhibitors provide compact and application-oriented presentations of solutions for the industry. Renowned scientists make their expertise available in workshops and discussion rounds.

Visitors will benefit from an additional supporting program at the analyticaAnacon India and India Lab Expo. The Live Lab “Food and Pharma Analysis� allows participants to experience current analyses and experiments first-hand.

offer reliable vacuum and overpressure solutions for heavy-duty conditions in the oil and gas industries and chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. One of the strengths of the Busch NSB product portfolio is in flare gas recovery, a sub-sector of the oil and gas industry. Flare gas recovery offers the advantages of the more-efficient use of scarce resources and a reduced environmental footprint.

Finland to build innovation platforms in industry using emerging digital technologies

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he ecosystem of the Finnish manufacturing industry is taking a digital leap. Finland will utilise the strong corporate and research sector of the IoT industry in this transformation. The aim is to convert factories into innovation platforms and have them share their successful solutions to improve efficiency and competitiveness in the manufacturing industry.

The testing of new technologies, such as AR/VR, AI, digital twin, IoT and comprehensive solutions, in production involves both business and technology risks.

The business potential of new technology must be assessed before the testing begins while, on the other hand, the customisation of technology into a product has many stages in which top research plays an important role. There are excellent opportunities to benefit from various experiments through cooperation and sharing of experiences in particular. The factories not only share their successful solutions but also their failures, to improve the efficiency of their production activities.

The businesses participating in the “Reboot Finland

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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News & Views IoT Factory” corporate and research ecosystem project funded by Business Finland are ABB, GE Healthcare, Nokia and Ponsse. The R&D activities of the businesses are supported by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the University of Oulu and Åbo Akademi.

SMEs have already been engaged in the project and new ones are being searched from among the SuperIoT, Analytics+, SMACC, FiiF, 5GTNF and AVR ecosys-

General Electric to spin off healthcare unit, divest Baker Hughes stake

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eneral Electric Co will spin off its healthcare business and divest its stake in oil-services company Baker Hughes, leaving the once-sprawling conglomerate focused on jet engines, power plants, and renewable energy.

The changes are designed to reward battered shareholders and to strengthen GE’s balance sheet by reducing debt, building up cash and further shrinking GE Capital.

The 126-year-old company will spin off the profitable healthcare unit over the next 12 to 18 months, and sell its Baker Hughes stake over two to three years.

GE said its plan to divest $20 billion in assets is substantially complete, leaving a simpler and stronger company with plans to boost its growth, operating profits and shareholder returns. “We are aggressively driving forward as aviation, power and renewable energy company — three highly complementary businesses poised for future growth,” CEO John Flannery, GE Capital said.

tems. For them, participation creates business and offers valuable references to support global sales.

The grand challenges to the strategic competitiveness of the Finnish manufacturing industry are related to the data-based management of the supply chain and production, improving the performance of robots, and the relationship between the employees and the digital work environment.

Linde and Evonik enter into strategic partnership for membrane technology

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he Linde Group and the specialty chemicals company Evonik Industries have concluded an exclusive cooperation agreement on the use of membranes for natural gas processing. The two companies will jointly promote membrane technology – Evonik on the membrane and polymer side and Linde’s Engineering Division as the system integrator for the complete membrane package units. Evonik’s established membrane technology will serve as the basis. The joint product will be marketed by Linde as the “HISELECT™ powered by Evonik” high-performance membrane package unit.

At the heart of the collaboration lies Evonik’s polymerbased membrane technology. The company has developed this technology further in the area of natural gas and has recently commercialized it. It is the key component in Linde’s new HISELECT™ membrane, which the technology group will market globally in complete membrane package units for onshore gas separation and upgrading plants.

The partnership resulted in the startup of a reference plant for helium upgrading in Mankota (Canada), which is the first ever plant of this kind to combine both separation methods, the membrane and pressure swing adsorption technologies. The plant processes more than 250,000 standard cubic meters of crude gas daily and produces industrial quality helium of 99.999% purity.

The SEPURAN® product family includes membranes for upgrading biogas, nitrogen extraction, and upgrading helium and hydrogen. These are produced at Evonik’s site in Schörfling (Austria). The neighboring Evonik site in Lenzing produces the high-performance polymer starting material.

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Lanxess’ new blocked, one component urethane systems for large or complex elastomeric parts

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anxess announced new blocked products for cast elastomers. Marketed under the brand name Adiprene K the blocked systems are based on LANXESS’s leading Low Free (LF) isocyanate technology.

They offer three key benefits: Improved industrial hygiene, controlled curing and excellent performance for broader range of applications.

Adiprene K blocked systems have inherently good industrial hygiene, due to the incorporation of low hazard ingredients and the blocking of already low levels of residual isocyanate. As a one-component system, workers do not have to handle a separate curative, improving productivity and worker safety.

Koch Membrane to provide Puron MBR technology for wastewater project in China

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och Membrane Systems Inc’s Puron® membrane bio-reactor (MBR) modules have been selected for the expansion of the Ji’nan Wastewater Treatment Plant I and Plant II in Shandong province, China. The wastewater treatment plants will be built and operated

by China Everbright Water Ltd, and the project is expected to be commissioned by the end of this year.

Koch’s Puron MBR already has a strong presence in various municipal and industrial wastewater treatment projects in China.

Wang Huailin, President of Jiangsu Kaimi Membrane Technology Co Ltd, who will design, build and supply the membrane system for these plants, said that they have had good experience with Koch’s Puron MBR technology in the 55 000 m3/day Beijing Daxing Tiantanghe Waste Water Treatment Project.

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Adiprene K blocked systems are available as fully-formulated reactive systems. Curing of these prepolymers is triggered at a precisely defined temperature resulting in a controlled cure. “With these systems, we are targeting large and complex parts and manual processing, which is used for very low volume production,” says Eckert.

Potential applications include the impregnation of fabric belts, the coating of industrial rollers, and extremely large parts for the industrial, mining and oil and gas industries. These blocked systems also extend the use of urethane prepolymers into rotational molding and liquid injection molding applications.

SIDPEC chooses Honeywell propylene technology for new complex in Egypt

oneywell announced that Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals Co. (SIDPEC) has chosen Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex™ technology to produce 500,000 metric tons per year of on-purpose propylene at SIDPEC’s refinery in Amerya, Egypt.

Honeywell will also provide the process design package, proprietary and non-proprietary equipment, on-site operator training, technical services for startup and continuing operation, and catalysts and adsorbents for the project. Including this project, Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex technology has been selected for 52 out of 64 propane and isobutane dehydrogenation projects globally since 2011. When completed, the SIDPEC unit will be the first Oleflex unit operating in Egypt.

According to IHS Markit, annual demand for polypropylene in Africa was 1.9 million metric tons in 2016. But due to rapid population growth and urbanization, this demand is expected to rise by an additional 1 million metric tons in the next decade. Egypt is the top consumer of polypropylene in Africa, consuming about 4.4 kg per capita, and demand there is projected to grow by more than 5 percent annually through 2022.

Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment among competing technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system minimizes its impact on the environment. The independent reaction and regeneration sections enable steady-state operations, improved operating flexibility, and a high on-stream factor and reliability.

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Simon India to provide EPC services for Phosphate JV

nder a memorandum of understanding (MOU), Simon India will provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for a 200,000 t/y dicalcium phosphate (DCP) plant to be built by Ecophos (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) in Gujarat, India.

The `550 crore ($82 million) project is a joint venture between Ecophos and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Co. Startup is scheduled for 2019.

Signing the MOU on behalf of Simon India (New Delhi, India) was CEO Rakesh Verma. Ecophos was represented by founder and CEO Mohamed Takhim.

Ecophos develops technology to recover Signing the MOU: Rakesh Verma, Mohamed Takhim, Maulik Jasubhai (L–R) phosphate from unconventional sources, including sewage sludge. According to Takhim, the for feed phosphates, including DCP, which is added to company will soon have 50% of the European market animal feed to improve yields.

Grace Licenses UNIPOL® PP Process Technology to Indonesia’s petrochemical plant

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. R. Grace & Co., the leading independent supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) process technology, has granted a license which allows PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk. (CAP) to expand its existing UNIPOL® PP plant. The world-scale capacity UNIPOL® PP facility, located in Indonesia, will be expanded to 590 KTA of polypropylene.

CAP is the largest integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia and operates the country’s only world-scale size naphtha cracker. The CAP plant is strategically located in Banten province, providing convenient access to key customers.

Grace’s all gas-phase UNIPOL® PP Process Technology provides the most advanced and broadest range of homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers in the industry. As the simplest of all PP process technologies, without any moving parts inside of the reactor and less equipment than any alternative, its reliable, safe, and stable operation leads to lower capital, operating, and maintenance costs.

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AkzoNobel breaks ground on organic peroxide site in China

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kzoNobel Specialty Chemicals has officially broken ground for construction of a state-of-the-art organic peroxide production facility in Tianjin, China. Organic peroxides are essential in the manufacture of a wide range of polymers including PVC and thermoset resins.

The €90-million facility, located in the Tianjin Nangang Industrial Zone, will replace the company’s existing organic peroxides plant in Tianjin, and supports efforts being made by Chinese authorities to optimize urban planning and produce an industrial upgrade in the country’s chemical industry.

Scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2020, it will also provide capacity expansions of between 30 and 70 percent depending on product line, allowing the company to support the growth of its customers.

AkzoNobel’s ground breaking ceremony in China

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Jacobs wins engineering services contract for Yasref Petroleum Refinery

acobs Engineering Group Inc. through its local subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, Jacobs ZATE, has been awarded a three-year, general engineering services (GES) contract from Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company Ltd. (YASREF) to help optimize the production at Yasref’s Yanbu Industrial City facilities in Saudi Arabia.

Jacobs will provide a range of services, from basic engineering to Front End Engineering Design (FEED), detailed design, procurement through to construction management, commissioning sup-

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port and handover for a portfolio of YASREF’s capital expenditure projects for the Yanbu refinery.

The YASREF full conversion refinery is the key facility in Yanbu Industrial City, covering about 5.2 million square meters. YASREF uses 400,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of Arabian heavy crude oil to produce premium transportation fuels, as well as high-value refined products. The facility became operational in 2014 to reliably supply domestic and international markets with high quality, clean refined products and fuels.

India approves setting up of additional strategic petroleum reserves

he Indian Government has approved the establishment of additional 6.5 million metric tonne (MMT) Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facilities at two locations, i.e.

Chandikhol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka, including construction of dedicated SPMs (Single Point Mooring) for the two SPRs. The SPR facilities at Chandikhol and Padur will be underground rock caverns and will have capacities of 4 MMT and 2.5 MMT respectively. The government had announced setting up of two additional SPRs during the budget announcement for 2017-18.

The in-principle approval is to take up the project under PPP model to reduce budgetary support of the Government of India. The terms and conditions of such participation would be determined by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in consultation with the Ministry of Finance after conducting road shows to elicit requirements of the market, including prospective investors.

The Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) has already constructed underground rock caverns for storage of 5.33 MMT of crude oil at three locations, viz.

Vishakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), Mangalore (1.5 MMT) and Padur (2.5 MMT). The total 5.33 MMT capacity under Phase-I of the SPR programme is currently estimated to supply approximately 10 days of India’s crude requirement according to the consumption data for FY2016-17.

The cabinet’s approval for establishing additional 6.5 MMT Strategic Petroleum Reserve facilities will provide an additional supply of about 12 days and is expected to augment India’s energy security. The construction phase of

the SPRs at Chandikhol and Padur is likely to generate significant direct & indirect employment opportunities in the states of Odisha and Karnataka.

KBR SCORE™ Technology selected for GS Caltex Grassroots olefins plant in South Korea

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BR, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a contract to supply its proprietary SCORE™ Ethylene Technology to GS Caltex Corporation for a grassroots mixed feed cracker (MFC) for its project in Yeosu, South Korea.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide its innovative Selective Cracking Optimum Recovery (SCORE™) technology license and basic engineering design services for a 700 KTA ethylene mixed feed cracker to be built by GS Caltex, a company owned by GS Energy and U.S. based Chevron Corp. The new plant will use naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and refinery off-gases as its main feedstocks. It will be constructed in the South Korean southern city of Yeosu where GS Caltex’s 790,000 barrels-per-day refinery is located. The project will use KBR’s highly selective SC-1 furnaces for the highest yield and flexibility.

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ASSOCHAM awards Dhanuka Agritech with ‘Water Management Excellence Award’ 2018

hanuka Agritech Ltd, a leading agrochemicals company, has won the ASSOCHAM Water Management Excellence Award 2018 in the ‘Excellence in the field of water education and awareness’ category. The company has been awarded for promoting water conservation for farmers/villages at various levels.

Recognizing the impending scarcity of water nearly a decade ago, the company has been educating and spreading awareness on water conservation. This year the company organized a nationallevel summit on water sustenance.

Expressing his thoughts on the win R.G. Agarwal, Chairman Dhanuka Agritech Ltd., said: “We are extremely happy and honoured to receive this award by ASSOCHAM. This award is a testimony to the work done by Dhaunka R. G Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech receiving award from over the last 10 years towards the betterASSOCHAM ment of farmers. Our company has taken multiple initiatives and provided innovative solutions efforts inspires us to continue serving farmers through to farmers for conserving water. A recognition of our our initiatives.”

Arkema develops its range of latest generation fluorogases

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rkema is expanding its range of sustainable high performance solutions to assist its customers in making the transition to fluorogases with a lower GWP (global warming potential).

Arkema is developing a low-GWP HFO product range for end-use applications in the refrigeration and insulation markets. These solutions in particular are designed to replace the HFC gases targeted by changes in the regulations.

For industrial and commercial refrigeration applications, Arkema markets Forane® 449A (XP40) in Europe, which offers a straightforward substitution solution compatible with equipment designed to run on the R-404A/507A gases and on lubricants in the refrigeration market.

With this latest generation fluorogas range offering excellent performance and a lower global warming potential (GWP), Arkema fully supports the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which aims at a gradual reduction of the use of HFCs. 24

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McDermott appoints Samik Mukherjee as Chief Operating Officer

cDermott International, Inc. appointed Samik Mukherjee as the company’s executive Vice President and COO.

As the COO, Samik will be responsible for globally leading McDermott’s operations covering the four geographic areas. He will also oversee McDermott’s key product lines and services to ensure internal strategy and decisions are based on a strong understanding of customer needs. Samik has more than 25 years of experience in operations as well as commercial and strategy roles, having served in leadership roles for the upstream and downstream oil and gas industry around the world. He also has extensive experience in process technologies.

Prior to his appointment as McDermott’s COO, Samik was the Executive Vice President of corporate development, strategy, mergers and acquisitions, digital and IT for TechnipFMC. He joined Technip in 1998 in The Netherlands, and during his career with the company, he led the business unit for Africa, served as managing director in India before moving to France to serve as the global head for subsea business and strategy, and later as the senior vice president of the Europe, Middle East, India and Africa region for onshore-offshore.

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BASF to build China’s first wholly foreign-owned chemicals complex

ASF managed to wrap up a preliminary deal to build China’s first wholly foreign-owned chemicals complex quite quickly, aided in part by trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The proposed complex, worth some $10 billion in investment to 2030, will be located in Guangdong, China’s most populous province which had been worried about the impact of a U.S. decision to heavily penalize telecom firm ZTE Corp.

Under the agreement, BASF will explore building an integrated

GHCL wins ‘Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards 2018’

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ujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd. (GHCL) has bagged the ‘Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Award 2018’ for the ‘Best Growth Performance – Chemicals’ category, reports Corporate Ethos.

GHCL is one of the leading companies in the chemicals, textiles and consumer products segment.

The Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards honours the Top 500 Companies in India, recognising their role as ‘Champions of Change’ in the transformation of the country.

R S Jalan, Managing Director, GHCL said, “GHCL is an important contributor to the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. With an installed production capacity of 9.75 lakh MTPA and an expansion of another 1.25 lakh tonnes in the offing by 2019, we make more than 25% of India’s Soda Ash production and aim to be the single largest producer in the next five years. The Dun & Bradstreet award is a testimony of our excellent manufacturing capabilities.”

chemicals complex with petrochemicals plants and a steam cracker producing 1-million tonnes of ethylene a year. It is a chance to greatly expand in a Chinese chemicals market worth an estimated $1.5-trillion a year, feeding plastics, coatings and adhesives to the southern province’s fast-growing consumer electronics and automotive sectors.

China has also approved a huge new wholly owned Shanghai factory for U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc, and a $2.3 billion joint venture organic light-emitting diode (OLED) plant to be built by South Korea’s LG Display Co Ltd.

India must focus on IP creation, commercialisation: ICRIER report

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o harness India’s potential as an innovation ecosystem there needs to be more focus on Intellectual Property creation and commercialisation. But, there is a huge gap in this space, according to a recent report.

A white paper ‘India as an Innovation Economy: Role of IP and ICT’ released by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) observed that to realise the potential, research funding from public and private domains should increase.

India is the second largest telecommunication market with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revenue expected to reach $225 billion in 2020. But, as a country we lack in terms of innovation and filing Intellectual Property (IP) due to lack of funds to create innovative solutions.

According to a report from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, patent filing in India has increased by 5.1 percent from 2016-17 to 2017-18. However, of the 45,057 patents filed in 2017, as reported in the World Intellectual Property Organisation, only 29 percent were filed by residents and the rest were from foreign innovators. The low level of patent filing in India needs to improve.

Currently, India invests less than 1 percent of the public fund in research compared to developed countries which invest 4 percent. To utilise its full potential, investment and support from the private sector in research is necessary. The report suggested that patent filing can be increased through collaboration between the Indian Patent Office and other leading IP offices of world such as the European Patent Office through sharing of data and information.

Commercialisation and dispute mechanism are other ma-

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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News & Views jor challenges. While many scientists work on creating IP, there is no much focus on commercialisation.

Alka Chawla, Associate Professor, Delhi University and National Expert Europe India IP Facilitation Forum, EBTC, and author of the paper, said, “Noncommercialisation of IP is not only a loss to the creator

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SRF to build BOPET production plant in Hungary

ndian conglomerate SRF Ltd. is planning to build its first European manufacturing site in Hungary. SRF is one of the largest manufacturers of specialty chemicals and packaging films.

The new facility will house an “ultra-modern” 10.4m wide bi-axially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) film line, capable of producing 40 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa), the company said.

SRF is investing €60m in the production plant, which is expected to start production “towards the end of 2019”, according to Plastic News Europe. Once pro-

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and the government but also a loss to the economy.”

Chawla suggested that IP could be monetised through market-driven approach rather than a regulatory approach. It will encourage local investment in developing new technologies

duction begins in Hungary, SRF’s plants will have a combined capacity of 220,000 tones/year of BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) and BOPET films. Currently, it has manufacturing sites in three countries - India, Thailand and South Africa.

“Our new facility, when complete, will serve as template for future packaging films manufacturing facilities around the world by setting a new benchmark in the industry in terms of automation and efficiency,” said Ashish Bharat Ram, SRF’s managing director.

CSIR lab’s innovative way to treat sugar waste

he 300-odd molasses-based distilleries in India are churning out 2.5-2.6 billion litres of alcohol annually. They also discharge 30-35 billion litres of molasses, which, if disposed untreated, can contaminate surface and ground water.

The Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Gujarat, has developed a process to separate the main source of pollution — potash and biodegradable organic matter — from distillery spent-wash. It is claimed that this technology will not only help distilleries comply with the Central Pollution Control Board’s mandated zero liquid discharge (ZLD) action plans, but also meet up to a tenth of India’s potassium-based fertiliser requirements, now entirely met through imports, reports Indian Express.

The technology separates complex organic compounds from spentwash through a coagulation process. The subsequent processes involve recovery of potash salts from the “lean” spent-wash, which then undergo evaporation to yield recycled water and residues. The residues are further mixed with the organics recovered in the first stage. This generates valuable organic matter, potassium nitrate (fertiliser) and reclaimed water (reusable in the molasses fermentation process).

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Henkel India wins Sustainability 4.0 Award

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enkel Adhesives Technologies India Private Ltd. (Henkel India) was honoured at Sustainability 4.0 Awards 2018 with the Leaders Award under the Large Business — Process Sector category. Henkel India is a solution provider in adhesives, beauty care and home care.

The award was presented to Shilip Kumar, President of Henkel India, and his team members during the 9th edition of Sustainability 4.0 2018 Awards, co-hosted by Frost & Sullivan and The Energy and Resources Institute in

News & Views Mumbai.

Speaking about the award, Shilip Kumar said, “Sustainability is a core value of Henkel, which motivates and inspires each of our employees. Henkel India is focused on creating sustainable value for its customers, employees, shareholders and society. This award is an ac-

knowledgement of our steadfast resolve to improve our sustainability performance year on year through continual focus on our business practices. We are pleased to note that our performance on all 13 parameters was above the industry average.”

The Sustainability 4.0 Awards

LanzaTech advancing renewable technologies using BASF investment

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ASF Venture Capital GmbH is to invest in LanzaTech, a biotech company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Using special microbes, LanzaTech has developed a technology for gas fermentation that first enables ethanol to be produced from residual gases containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen. By re-using waste streams instead of incinerating them, industrial companies can reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

LanzaTech’s patented technology is now being deployed at commercial scale in the steel industry where carbon monoxide from residual gases (off-gases) can be converted into ethanol. The company’s product portfolio includes additional biochemicals besides ethanol, such as chemical specialties and intermediates that can be used as raw materials in other chemical production processes.

“LanzaTech offers a promising technology that allows currently unused industrial residue and waste streams to be recycled,” says Markus Solibieda, Managing Director of BASF Venture Capital.

“Investment from BASF will help us realise our goal of a Carbon Smart Future,” says Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech.

BASF is the largest chemical producer in the world.

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assessment model comprises four major parameters and thirteen subparameters, recognising the efforts of companies via a thorough benchmarking process. This year’s Sustainability 4.0 Awards were presented to companies in three major categories: Leaders, Challengers and Believers.

AkzoNobel building demo plant for ethylene amines technology in Sweden

kzoNobel Specialty Chemicals has started construction of a prototype plant at its Stenungsund site in Sweden. The plant is set up to showcase more sustainable technology platform for producing ethylene amines and their derivatives from ethylene oxide. The facility marks the next step towards commercialisation of the patented technology.

The new technology will significantly reduce raw material consumption and substantially improve cost and environmental performance when compared with existing processes.

“The demonstration plant is an important step in further maturing the technology, aiming to prove that the technology meets performance expectations on an industrially relevant scale,” said Hendrik van Dam, Innovation Project Manager of AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals’ Ethylene Amines business.

The range of ethylene amines targeted by the new technology platform includes diethylenetriamine (DETA) and triethylenetetramine (TETA), which are key building blocks in a number of growth applications such as epoxy curing, lube oil additives, and oil field chemicals.

“We strongly believe the newly developed technology has the potential to become a game-changer in the industry. In fact, in parallel to the construction of this demonstration plant we have already started to explore options for a world-scale manufacturing facility,” said Werner Fuhrmann, CEO ofAkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals.

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News & Views

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Green Fashion from Reliance, launches ‘The Earth Tee’ made with recycled PET bottles

n the occasion of World Environment Day on 5 th June 2018, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) launched a special T-shirt called ‘The Earth Tee’. It is designed by fashion designer Anita Dongre.

The T-shirt has been made with processed and recycled PET bottles which were discarded by individuals at the IMG Reliance’s Lakme Fashion Week in January.

The ‘Fashion for Earth’ is our endeavour to make people participate in our efforts to conserve the environment and the planet,” a RIL

UPL to buy Arysta LifeScience for $4.2 billion

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PL, along with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and private equity firm TPG, announced the acquisition of Arysta LifeScience for about $4.2 billion in cash. This acquisition will make UPL one of the world’s largest crop protection companies.

ADIA and TPG Capital Asia will invest $1.2 billion ($600 million each) for a 22% combined shareholding in UPL Corp. to facilitate UPL Corp’s $4.2 billion acquisition of 100% of Arysta. The deal, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by early next year, as reported in The Economic Times.

Arysta LifeScience, a unit of William Ackman-backed Platform Specialty Products Corporation, makes agrochemicals to protect crops from weeds, insects and diseases.

The Arysta acquisition will help UPL enhance its solutions to fit local farming needs and bring in synergies that can benefit its operations in overseas markets.

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spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Earth Tee, designed by Anita Dongre, depicts the new paradigm of environmentally responsible fashion. The initiative is launched to celebrate the initiation of this long-term relationship, as we decided to jointly promote The Earth Tee with Anita Dongre and Lakmé Fashion Week as partners,” the spokesperson added.

The fabric is made from predyed fibres that don’t require much water. Whatever little water is required, 90 percent of it is recycled.

2 IITs, BITS Pilani among 6 to get ‘institute of eminence’ tag

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uman Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the names of six “institutes of eminence”, three each from the public and private sectors, as part of its plans to create world-class universities to enhance research and improve global rankings of Indian educational institutions, as reported in The Economic Times.

The HRD ministry granted the “institutes of eminence” status to India’s top three institutions, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Delhi and Mumbai, besides privately-held BITS Pilani, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, and a yet-to-be-launched greenfield university project of the Reliance Foundation.

Talking about the significance of this move, Prakash Javadekar tweeted, “Institutes of eminence are important for the country.

We have 800 universities, but not a single university is in the top 100. Today’s decision will help achieve this.”

Javadekar said this decision gives “virtually full autonomy” to these institutions but it “will also ensure that no student will be denied opportunity of education with various measures like scholarships, interest waiver, fee waiver and ensure all equity principles”.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Science Pages

Ideation News & Views Infocus

Ideation

Science Pages Infocus News & Views Hydrocarbons

Samay, the Poor only candidateinselected for 7.5 Saudi NH Plant Vacuum panded its refinery atIndian Ambalamugal Kochi from Cipla Subsidiary to buy Mirren for 3 ties to newchose product lines.

Depending on theproduce programme, to South work onAfrica’s life sciences, thecusmtpa to 13.5 BPCL plans arose to expand its Mumbai Similar lowmtpa. vacuum problem in a surface contomer needs, the reactors are also compatible the topic of ‘’Autophagy’’, which also happens towith be the Crore & Binainrefineries also`228 to 15 mmtpa plans denser a Saudi Arabian Plant after each. a yearItofalso start up. cGMP Good Manufacturing Practice) 2016(Current Nobel Prize-winning work. Fighting cancer, and pharma major, subsidiary hashot signed tondian expand capacity of itsCipla’s Numaligarh refinery from 3 The ‘expert troubleshooters’ ignored the high well Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s needn’t necessarily require the ATEX (the Dangerous Substances and Explosive agreement to fully acquire South Africa’s Mirren mtan to 9 mtpa. temp despite the author drawing their attention to it. aggressive medical treatment. Autophagy, the science Atmospheres) regulations.

(Pty) Ltd on for a cash of360 South The turbine extracts T/H of the T/HAfrican admitWork HPCL’s 9self-cleaning mtpaout Rajasthan Refinery and behind fasting and330 aconsideration mechanism, may Scaling up production with Advanced-Flow reacRand 450 million (approx. `228 crore). ted steam.

Hence, the condenser handling just 30 petrochemical Barmer inalso Rajasthan isT/H exnot only helpcomplex in stayingathealthy but in curing tors can steam be as easy as increasing the volume of ingreexhaust is quite small. pected to start soon.

This will mainly use the crude such neurological or biological diseases.

“The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary dients fed into them.

Advanced-Flow reactors offer a from the Barmer oil fields of(Pty) Vedanta which was earOperations shut down the plant for biological ejector inspecCiplaMedpro South Africa Ltd has signed an In his video, Samay explained this seamless scale up that can reduce, by as much as 50 lierprocess Cairn Energy. islooked also its refinery tion.

However, the HPCL into in theMirren condenser agreement to acquire 100 per centexpanding (Pty) through aauthor combination ofstake anipercent, the time required to 15 bring a humorous new product from capacity in Vizag in AP to mtpa from 8.3 mtpa.

Its first, through a hand hole using flashlight illumination.

Ltd, South Africa,” Cipla said in a regulatory filing. mated stories and informative scientific explanations. the laboratory to production andexpanded keep constant quality Mumbai refinery is also being from its presHe found an elastomer of approx x 400to mm – organellespiece and cells can be300 decayed atent all“Damaged themmtpa development stages.

Cipla said that the acquisi7.5 9.5 mmtpa. create energytowhich can help fight diseases,” said.to possibly construction debris blocking seawaterheflow tion of Mirren will strengthen Batch processing, by comparison, consists of passThe40% Breakthrough Challenge lookshooked for four it main areas about of the tubes.

The author out maRefinery Trends of ingredients its market position and help ing fixed quantities along a production that the videos should cover: engagement, creativity, neuvering 3 mm rod.growing Operations and Tech Services India isa the fastest consumer of petroleum it to accelerate growth within vessel according to adifficulty. fixed formula to yield a specific illumination and cancelled inspection – after a tedious task involvproducts;the it ejector is the third largest the US & China.

OTC space as it specialises in amount of finished product.

Modifying formulas or ing hot work permit, associated lengthy safety prepaSamay said, “A few of my relatives have been sufThe good news is that over Indian public sector refinerthe counter (OTC) pharrepeating production can diseases, cause quality to vary from ration andafrom extended plant shutdown.

The plant neurological I began researchiesfering have realized the2-days importance ofso integrating downmaceutical products. batch to batch. ing onand solutions to problems.

I was intrigued by was back in service inthese 60-mts.

Hotnewer well temp and vacstream upstream and the refineries (at Cipla has got the approval by the South African Additionally, batch production requires a lot of the topic and the capability of a simple fast to cure lifeuum reverted to original values.

The plant engineer Panipat, Paradip etc) set up and planned to be set are altering diseases.

I just want to spread my thoughts.

If Competition Commission and the transaction is exspace.

Once a chemistry passes a section of the producstenciled the desired hotmanufacturing. well temp at the TI location, all with petrochemicals Though many I win this challenge, I will be able to create something pected to be completed before September 30, 2018. tion line, that section is idle until the next batch comes asofathe future guide.

Indian public sector refineries are of vintage, seextraordinary for theproduction world. Getting this pose far is really through.

Also, batch higher rious efforts have been made andcould are being made to Mirren (Pty) Ltd, South Africa had clocked a turncool.

But I do hope I win”.

Conclusion safety risks than continuous flow production because modernize the old ones to the extent possible. over of South African Rand 152.1 million for the finanOnelarge mayamounts ask why atthe all you should sell your ideas ofcial the of reactive chemicals combined Samay willon reach finals based thepresence number of year ended February 28, are: 2018.

Iton has in Three major refinery trends facing stiff‘shares’, resistance, no appreciation and evenofcritiin a typical batch production process.

Advanced-Flow ‘likes’, ‘positive reactions’.

The videos all South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

1. 30 The ofisuse higher quality, lower cism.

Well, the instance reason thesmaller same that impelled the for insemi finalists have been published on Facebook reactors atproduction any amounts of sulphur chemiIndia too some of the public sector oil companies are transportation fuels the public to vote.

The final announcement of winners ventors and discoverers e.g.

Galileo who spent lifetime Form IV (See Rule 8) cals so can reduce the risk of accidents. also foraying into alternate sources like biofuels and 2. will An adversity, increase the of refinery and petrobe made in inpersecution Los integration Angeles on December 2. amidst and even exile to estabHuntsman Baroda plant bags Antyodaya CSR Award : Mumbai 1. Place of Publication In addition to the reactor technology, customers renewables.

Oil companies need to redefine their busichemical operations lish scientific and astronomical truths.

Some earth2.

Periodicity of its Publication : operate Monthly in,” said Nipun have access to Corning engineers who consult with untsman Textile Effects, the global provider of vital element incompanies the areas we ness as energy encampassing all sources of Investments to increase energyand efficiency and crude 3. Printer’s ly3.rewards accrue!

Recurring problems Name : Vinoo Mathews CHEMICAL INDUSTRY DIGEST them regarding the feasibility of continuous processdyes,also chemicals and digital inksother to the textiles Soni, Site Head –Baroda, Global Engineering Manager energy.

Citizen of India ? : Yes oil processing somehow occur atfacility midnight or holidays or also when you andWhether ing in their manufacturing operation.

They demrelated industries, was awarded the Antyodaya Award PSM Leader.

He also added, “We thank Maharaja If foreigner, state the devices: Does not apply Scientists transform heatforinto in nanoscale A cleartoemerging in addition to integration is motion Feedstocks for Chemical Industry are depart ontrend vacation!

By performance, solving these June 2018 the impact created onstrate consistent quality, reliable country University of origin by about Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda forand its Sayajirao for recognising for refineries to be flexibly configured tolike process a va- 4. Publisher’s Most of Name the basic petrochemicals production reever, you avert missing important events wedding : Vinoo Mathews scaled-up production to atindustrial-level volumes, team of scientists University of Glasgow, UK cept of athe gear known asCSR a ratchet, and magCorporate Social Responsibility initiative - Anandi as through Huntsman initiative - turning Anandi’s exemEnvironment, Safety riety of crudes including the- cheaper dirty crudes or volves around enthylene capacity based& on ethane Whether Citizen of India ? : Yes anniversary, son’s birthday, both earn high wrath have found a new way to transform ambient heat netic energy into the directed rotation of the magnetiwhich effective and seamless scale was up. plary contribution to the society. We will continue our part ofdemonstrate Sayaji Startup Summit 2018.

The award If foreigner, state the Does not apply Water Management heavy unlike our earlier are: onesabsence which could on- crackers, globally as well as: in India.

While globally from thecrudes family.

Other benefits ofLegislalaborinto motion in nanoscale devices – Gujarat a discovery that zation.

Corning alsoprovides automated feeding systems to commitment conferred

by RajendraTrivedi, Speaker, towards empowering children through country ofexcess origin ly process the sweeter crudes.

They should also be able there is an of ethylene capacity, in India it is defing on nights and off days restore equipment could open up new possibilities forfailed data storage, sen- meaningful m Sustainability Address : realized 41/102-A,aKanchenganga support the Advanced-Flow reactors. tive Assembly, amidst the to august presence of various education and creating brighter future The thermal ratchet was in asteam material to flexi manufacture and give changing product mix icit.

Propylene, the other major output of crackand systems repeatedly and absence of wasteful and sors, nanomotors and othApnaghar Unit No.12spin known as “artificial dignitaries of the university. for the children of tomorrow.”

Corning’s engineering and production Environmental Management st asBacked per theby changing requirements the market both ingmis finding greater uses and continues to be in short Cross Rd, Lokhandwala demoralizing repeat works due to ofwrong diagnosis. er applications. ice” 1made of an assemexperience, continuous flow can provide an economiAndheri(W),Mumbai-400053 based on market demand as well as on which products supply.

To mitigate the growing propylene gap TheFor company’s Corporate The Anandi program issupply in line with m Renewables/ Bio-based Technologies In addition, the life youpubsavedSocial by eliminating potenthe study bly: of tiny nanomagnets of 5.

Editor’s Name Vinoo Mathews cally and environmentally sound alternative to batch attract a higher premium in the market place.

All these many industries are investing in on purpose propylene Responsibility program helps local flashed electrical Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan which works tial accidents fatal from lished in- some the even journal Permalloy, a nickel–iron alm Water Management Whether Citizen of India ? such : Yes production.

With the potential for more ma- production lead to higher and higher complexities in efficient the manufactechnologies as propane dehydrogecommunities by focusing on educaon quality education for allnanowith a equipment maybe your own! Occasional appreciaNature -Materials, an inloy.: Does The not individual If foreigner, state the apply m (PDH) Manufacturing Operations turing plant and also with pressure to produce andspecial processes based on coalbased and methterial use, lower waste production and higher cleaner safety nation tion, health, water animal husfocus on activity learncountry of origin ternational teamand ofand re-promotion magnets are just 470 nanotion, monetary rewards are likely! andsearchers cleaner fuels – which is an important pre-requisite anol. margins, Corning’s Advanced-Flow reactor technolAddress : 41/102-A, Kanchenganga bandry.

The Joyful Learning initiative by Huntsman, ing in schools.

Through the program, the company described how long and 170 nano-has Plus Regular Featuresmetres & Interviews, Group author fervently hopes the tipsaswould encourApnaghar Unit No.12worked forThe success in exports.

Crude sourcing strategies have ogy offers fine and specialty chemical, well as pharThe oil & gas and refinery sectors continue known as ‘Anandi’ has directly benefited 2000 school built science laboratories in primary schools, they created a magnetic meters wide, with onlytoabe Rd, Lokhandwala 1st Cross age more persons to develop ideas and crudes sell them for Discussion, Mini Directories, etc. became important for low priced heavy as well maceutical manufacturers a cost-effective solution to mother industries for the entire petrochemicals & children, than 200 adolescents from rural com- on capacity building of teachers as well as domain. sponsored systemmore capable of extractsingle magnetic Andheri(W),Mumbai-400053 the benefit of all inone thefor industry.

A single success story downstream sectors due to the as to what extent should go for long term purchase meet current demand their products. range of starting maing thermal energy more on thethan 32 workers from 19 computers After magnetizing their munities in Gujarat, teachers in villages and hosted children 6. Name and to address of indi: Blockdale For Advertisement & Subscription contact: feedback would amply reward and delight the market. author. terials contracts or spot purchases international (feedstock &keep platform chemicals) they provide. sample, the researchers obnanoscale, using theprimary con-in the viduals who own news(Proprietor-Vinoo Anganwadis, several schools and over 1000 summer camps tothe them engaged.

Blockdale Media paper anditpartners andwelcome Mathews) To stay competitive, refiners must find ways to in- Therefore, is quite that LLP Indian refiners are families since its inception. holding more 41/102-A, Kanchenganga crease operational efficiencies, maximize productivity all share nowholders getting into manufacture of petrochemicals.

Email: chemindigest@gmail.com than one2017 per cent of the Apnaghar Unit No.12 41 Chemical Industry Digest. November “At Huntsman, we have a very strong vision for and produce refined products at lower costs.

Alltotal plans ofWeb: new www.chemindigest.com refineries and a few Rd,expansions Lokhandwalaincapital.

1st Cross community development and social stewardship is a clude integrating with petrochemicals manufacture.

Global oil majors are also into renewables and in Andheri(W),Mumbai-400053

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Annual - January 2018 Chemical Digest.

July 2018 Chemical Industry Digest.

March 2018 Chemical Industry Digest. May 2018

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MARKET REPORTS

Architectural Paint Demand in Asia/Pacific to Grow 5.2% Annually

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emand for architectural paint in the Asia/ Pacific region is forecast to increase 5.2% per year through 2022 to 16.4 million metric tons, valued at $36.2 billion. The Asia/Pacific architectural paint market is the largest and fastest growing architectural paint regional market.

Rising incomes and urbanization will support robust residential and nonresidential building construction activity.

Growth in the region through 2022 is expected to decelerate from the rapid gains of the last decade, due primarily to a significant slowdown in China, the largest market in the region and the world. India, the second largest market in the region (and third largest globally), will be the fastest growing major market in the world through 2022. These and other trends are presented in Global Architectural Paint, 13th Edition, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Clevelandbased industry research firm.

North America is expected to post healthy growth through 2022 as both residential and nonresidential construction activity continues to advance in the US. As of 2017, paint demand in the residential remodel and repaint market and the nonresidential market surpassed pre-recession peaks. Demand in the new residential market will continue to recover through 2022.

Western Europe, on the other hand, will post the slowest growth of any world region. Leading manufacturers based in Western Europe are seeking export opportunities and other expansion possibilities in the Africa/Mideast region.

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India’s Market for nitrogen is the world’s fastest-growing major industrial gas segment

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ndia’s market for nitrogen is growing at 11.2% a year, having recently accelerated from 7.5%. That places it ahead of the world’s second-fastest growing, Russia’s market, also for nitrogen, which was achieving 12.2% but has now slowed to 10.4%. China’s market for nitrogen is growing at a relatively leisurely 7.3% a year. In comparison with both China and the global average, in fact, all four of India’s major industrial gas segments – hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide as well as nitrogen – are ahead in terms of annual growth.

This finding comes from a report from The Business Research Company, The Global Industrial Gas Market 2018, which shows that the market grew from $66.08 billion in 2013 to $73.52 billion in 2017 at a compound annual growth rate of 2.7%, held back by negative growth for most gases in the huge North American market. Demand for industrial gases in the emerging economies generally is increasing rapidly mainly due to rising manufacturing activity. For instance, oxygen and nitrogen, produced by the industrial gas industry to meet the demand from the iron and steel smelting industries of China and India, have helped drive the Asia Pacific market for these gases at over 6% a year for oxygen and nearly 7% for nitrogen, well ahead of the global average.

By end user segments, India’s and China’s markets for industrial gases are distributed similarly, though China’s are

Source: The Business Research Company

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

News & Views much larger. Manufacturing, metallurgy and chemicals together absorb around 70% of industrial gases in both countries, in contrast to developed countries.

Even in those like Germany, which still has a large manufacturing base, fewer than 60% of all industrial gas sales are to heavy industry. Perhaps the most conspicuous contrast between the developed and developing economies, however, reflected in the chart, is in the proportion of industrial gas sales which go to healthcare – 5% and 4% in India and China, 15% and 20% in Germany and the UK. Government investments in infrastructure have also led to a rise in demand for industrial gases. For in-

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stance, the Indian government provides 50% of the cost for development of infrastructure in electronic manufacturing clusters. These companies use gases such as helium to manufacture hard drives and semiconductors. The infrastructure construction companies use carbon dioxide for welding iron and steel components in construction sites, thus increasing the demand for that gas.

Industrial gases are a segment of the larger chemicals market. The gas segment has been growing much faster than the wider market, a trend that is expected to continue despite acceleration of the chemicals market growth.

Global Oil Inventories & Liquid fuels Consumption to Rise in 2018-19

he global oil and liquid fuels industry is looking to balance the demand-supply framework in 2018-19, as the oil inventories as well the consumption of liquid fuels across the globe are projected to rise. Technological advances are significantly increasing the potential for production of oil and gas. Moreover, developing countries are rapidly becoming key players in global liquid fuels consumption.

Information Administration (EIA). The average projected growth shall be 1.7 MMBPD in 2018 and in 2019.

In 2017, the consumption growth was 1.6 MMBPD. China and India are forecasted to be the largest contributors to growth in non-OECD petroleum and other liquid fuels consumption in 2018 and in 2019, according to EIA.

Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), a strong growth in U.S. and other non-OPEC liquid fuels production will contribute to global oil inventories rising by 0.1 MMBPD (Million Barrels of Oil per Day) in the second half of 2018, and by 0.6 MMBPD in 2019.

EIA forecasts that the inventory builds will contribute to Brent crude oil prices declining from current levels to an average of $72 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2018. Prices are then expected to fall further to an average of $69 per barrel in 2019, as per the report in Kallanish Energy.

Although forecast global oil inventories builds in 2019 are expected to be higher than the forecast in the June STEO, these builds will help raise OECD oil inventories that have fallen below five-year average levels on a days-of-supply basis.

The total OECD inventories for most of 2018-19 are forecast to be lower than the five-year average on a days-of-supply basis, and OPEC spare crude oil production capacity is expected to be low compared with historical levels.

to the rise in gasoline and jet fuel consumption. STEO also expects increased consumption in China’s petrochemical sector to contribute to liquid fuels consumption growth. China is set to add a number of propaneconsuming petrochemical plants, with the consumption boost from the sector assumed to add 55,000 BPD in 2018, and an additional 75,000 BPD in 2019.

China: China’s liquid fuels consumption is expected Oil Inventories: According to the U.S. Energy to increase by almost 0.5 MMBPD in both years, due

Liquid Fuels Consumption: Non-OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries are expected to drive the increase in consumption of petroleum and other liquid fuels, as per Energy

India: India’s liquid fuels consumption is forecasted to grow by almost 0.3 MMBPD in 2018 and in 2019.

The growth is primarily due to the improved monetary and fiscal policy changes.

Middle East: With a projected increase by almost 0.2 MMBPD in 2018 and in 2019, Middle East is also looking to expand its market consumption.

Central and South America: EIA expects liquid fuels consumption in Central and South America will fall by 50,000 BPD in 2018 compared with 2017. However, the region’s consumption is expected to grow by 70,000 BPD in 2019. EIA expects Brazil to be the main driver of the region’s growth in 2019, with liquid fuels consumption forecast to rise by 80,000 BPD next year.

OECD petroleum and other liquid fuels consumption is forecast to grow by almost 0.5 MMBPD in 2018 and by 0.4 MMBPD in 2019, with the U.S. accounting for most of the OECD growth.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Elements Matter

Elements Matter

Behind every element are stories on how it was discovered, on the scientists behind the element and the stories on the path of the element’s amazing and in many instances serendipitous discovery, its onward journey and newer applications. This feature will bring you very interesting and not widely known nuggets behind every element.

Nitrogen – The life-essential element Veena Patwardhan, Special Correspondent

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uch like Oxygen and Carbon, the seventh element of the periodic table – Nitrogen – is also a crucial, lifesupporting substance. Nitrogen is a part of our DNA – our genetic code. It’s a constituent of several biologically significant molecules such as haem (in haemoglobin) and acetylcholine (the neurotransmitter in the nervous system of humans and other life forms). It is also the vital building block of amino acids that form proteins, and enzymes. It is present in our bones, blood, and tissues, constituting around 3% of the mass of the human body.

What’s in a scientific name?

By the eighteenth century, following investigations by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley, scientists believed that there were two kinds of ‘airs’ – ‘fire air’ or dephlogisticated air that supported combustion (and that we now know as oxygen), and a ‘foul air’ (mostly nitrogen mixed with a small quantity of carbon dioxide, though they didn’t know this then) that was left behind once the ‘fire air’ was consumed.

In 1772, a young Scottish chemist and botanist, Daniel Rutherford, carried out experiments to get rid of both But not just for humans, nitrogen is essential for the oxygen and carbon dioxide from the air, and found survival, growth, and sustenance of all living things. In that what remained contained what he called ‘noxious’ air or ‘phlogisticated’ air. He published his findshort, all life on earth needs nitrogen. ings in his doctoral thesis suggesting that air mostly A colourless, odourless, non-toxic, diatomic gas consisted of this noxious gas. We now know his conthat makes up around 78% of clusions about the gas he had the air around us, Nitrogen is The French scientist Chaptal came up with the name discovered were wrong, but also the most abundantly avail‘nitrogène’ (nitrogen) derived from the Greek words since he was the first to publish able pure element on earth. ‘nitron’ and ‘genes’ that together meant ‘nitre forming’, ni- his findings about nitrogen, he However, should its concentra- tre being the old name for Potassium Nitrate from which is credited with having discovtion in the atmosphere rise way Cavendish had successfully produced the gas. And that’s ered the gas. above its present levels, we how Nitrogen got its current English name.

The French scientist would all suffocate to death.

Lavoisier suggested the newly

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Elements Matter

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discovered gas be given the Liquid nitrogen is beneficial The other source of naturally occurring reactive niname ‘azote’ which he had trogen is due to lightning. The energy it generates because of its coldness and inderived from the Greek word converts oxygen and nitrogen to nitric oxide (NO). This ertness as well and is commonly ‘azotikos’ meaning ‘no life’. is oxidised to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and then to nitric used as a refrigerant. It is used He picked the name based on acid that is carried from the atmosphere to the ground for preserving sperm, eggs, and the fact that the gas was me- by rain, snow, or other forms of deposition. Lightning other cells for medical research phitic since animals placed in plays an important role in nitrogen fixation in areas and reproductive technology, an atmosphere that was pure- where there’s a scarcity of nitrogen-fixing plants. for performing cryogenic surly made up of this gas died of gery during which unwanted asphyxiation. English scientissue is cut off by freezing it to tists pointed out that with the very low temperatures, and for exception of oxygen, almost all gases were mephitic rapidly freezing foods so they can maintain their moisand so rejected Lavoisier’s suggestion. German scien- ture, taste, colour, and texture. tists proposed the name ‘stickstoff’ derived from the Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, glass and ceramics, German words ‘erstricken’ (meaning suffocating) and petroleum, pulp and paper, healthcare, steel, and met‘stoff’ (meaning substance). But, English scientists obal refining and fabrication are some of the many injected to this name as well. Then the French scientist dustries that use nitrogen in large quantities. Nitrogen Chaptal came up with the name ‘nitrogène’ (nitrogen) is also a key feedstock for the chemical industry, used derived from the Greek words ‘nitron’ and ‘genes’ for manufacturing hundreds of chemical compounds that together meant ‘nitre forming’, nitre being the old for diverse industries such as fertilisers, food, pharmaname for Potassium Nitrate from which Cavendish ceuticals, nylon, dyes and explosives, automobiles, etc. had successfully produced the gas. And that’s how But before it can be converted to different chemiNitrogen got its current English name. Interestingly however, the French decided they preferred the name cals, nitrogen must first be reacted with hydrogen to ‘azote’, while the Germans have stuck to ‘stickstoff’! produce ammonia. Today, the Haber-Bosch process is And in English, some nitrogen compounds are indeed the most economical artificial nitrogen fixation process based on Lavoisier’s name and called azides and azo used industrially, involving the synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. Around 210 million compounds. tonnes of ammonia is manufactured each year usAmmonia, one of the most abundant nitrogen-coning this process. It is first converted to nitric acid and taining compounds in the atmosphere, got its name thereafter to various other chemicals. But, ammonia is from Ammon – a powerful deity of ancient Egypt, near mainly used as a fertiliser, being applied directly to the whose temple large salt deposits containing ammonisoil or in the form of ammonium salts. um chloride used to be found. Ammonium chloride itself was called Sal ammoniac meaning salt of Ammon. The Nitrogen Cycle and Nitrogen Pollution Most of the atoms of nitrogen in the atmosphere exThe most abundantly used industrial gas ist as N2 – as a pair bound together by a powerful triNitrogen is produced by distilling liquid air. ple bond, too powerful for living organisms to break.

Around 45 million tonnes of nitrogen are produced this To get access to nitrogen for their sustenance, plants way each year to meet the demands of a wide range of and animals therefore need it to be in a reactive ‘fixed’ industries. Being inert, gaseous nitrogen is commonform, to be ‘fixed’ to elements like carbon, hydrogen, ly used for providing an unreactive atmosphere for or oxygen mostly as organic nitrogen compounds. The protecting reactive materials from coming in contact biological process of fixing atmospheric nitrogen by with oxygen, for preservconverting it into ammoing food items, and also nia is carried out by soil in the electronics indusbacteria. Other bacteria try during the production like the ones that live symof transistors and diodes. biotically inside nodules Annealing of stainless on the roots of plants such steel is also carried out in as beans and peas, convert an atmosphere of nitrogen the ammonia into complex gas. nitrogen compounds like Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Elements Matter amino acids and proteins.

The other source of naturally occurring reactive nitrogen is due to lightning. The energy it generates converts oxygen and nitrogen to nitric oxide (NO). This is oxidised to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and then to nitric acid that is carried from the atmosphere to the ground by rain, snow, or other forms of deposition. Lightning plays an important role in nitrogen fixation in areas where there’s a scarcity of nitrogen-fixing plants.

‘Nitrogen fixation’ is actually Nature’s way of preparing fertilisers in the soil for nurturing plants directly and all life on earth indirectly. Plants are the first to feed on the nitrogen compounds. Animals get their requirement of these by feeding on plants. And then humans get theirs from the plants and animals they eat. Nitrogen compounds return to the soil in the form of human and animal waste products. Bacteria in the soil then convert these nitrogen compounds back to nitrogen gas, which is released into the atmosphere.

Since long now, to feed a rapidly growing world population, crop yields are being boosted by adding fertilisers to the soil. However, excessive use of fertilisers in agriculture destroys soil health rather than making it more fertile, besides adversely affecting the environment, aquatic life, and human health as well.

The excess fertiliser is converted by soil bacteria into nitrates that then get leached into the ground water or get washed out of the soil into rivers and lakes. Algae in the water bodies feed on the nitrates and grow rapidly, reducing the oxygen available in the water for aquatic flora and fauna. The pollution of ground and surface water leads to domestic water supply too, having dangerously high nitrate levels. Consuming fertiliser-polluted water causes various types of cancer, reproductive problems, hypertension, and ‘blue baby disease’ in infants. Babies fed formula prepared with nitrate-rich water, develop a blue-grey colouration of the skin due to decreased oxygenation of their blood.

Overuse of fertilisers also results in increased nitrogen emissions such as ammonia, nitrogen oxide, and nitrous oxides. These nitrogenous gases lead to respiratory problems in humans, and also play a prominent role in global climate change, nitrous oxide being one of the more potent greenhouse gases.

nations are on the rise. In the rivers in the northeastern United States and many countries in Europe, nitrate concentrations have increased 10 to 15 times in the last 100 years. Also, Oxygen-starved areas or ‘dead zones’ have been found in the Gulf of Mexico, the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea, the Gulf of Thailand, the Yellow Sea, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Reducing our nitrogen footprint

Clearly, it’s now time to take a closer look at our nitrogen footprint too, that is, the amount of nitrogen released into the environment by different human activities. The best part is that reducing our nitrogen footprint will also reduce our carbon footprint. According to many experts, the solution to curbing the excessive use of nitrogen fertilisers could be sustainable agriculture, popularisation of organic farming, and educating farmers about the environmental issues arising out of uncontrolled use of fertilisers.

References

1. Agata Blaszczak-Boxe: Facts about Nitrogen – LiveScience. com, 27 September, 2017, https://www.livescience. com/28726-nitrogen.html 2. R. Thomas Sanderson: Nitrogen – Encyclopaedia Britannica, 27 April, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/science/nitrogen 3. John Emsley: Nature’s Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements – Oxford University Press, 2011 4. Universal Industrial Gases Inc: Nitrogen (N2) Properties, Uses and Applications – Nitrogen Gas and Liquid Nitrogen – http://www.uigi.com/nitrogen.html 5. Royal Society of Chemistry: Periodic Table – Nitrogen – http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/7/nitrogen 6. Yale University: The world’s nitrogen fixation, explained – ScienceDaily, 23 September 2015, www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2015/09/150923133513.htm 7. Ee Ling Ng, Deli Chen, Robert Edis: Nitrogen pollution: the forgotten element of climate change – The Conversation, 5 December, 2016.

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But, despite its disastrous consequences, nitrogen pollution is not getting as much attention as carbon pollution. It is estimated that in Europe alone, the environmental and human health costs of nitrogen pollution could be around €70-320 billion per year. The nitrate levels in the waterways of most industrialised

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Developments NEWNewDEVELOPMENTS

Technology Potential

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Functionalisation of Methane to Methanol through MOFs could be revolutionary

unctionalising carbon-hydrogen bonds in methane is a particularly challenging process that most known catalysts can achieve only under extremely acidic and/or oxidising conditions. However, microscopic crystalline structures called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) may provide a way to solve one of the biggest problems in methane functionalisation catalysis, an economically important chemical process.

Researchers have been constantly looking to transform methane into something more valuable. One such product could be methanol.

A team led by Delferro and Omar Farha, associate professors of chemistry at Northwestern University, has demonstrated a new way to activate methane with MOFs, as a result of their joint efforts in the Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center. They and seven co-authors recently published their method in Nature Catalysis.

According to the team, MOFs can selectively pro-

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reaction.

In MOFs, organic molecules and metal oxide clusters serve as the links and nodes, respectively. MOFs are attractive candidates for performing shape-selective catalysis because they are structurally tunable, according to lead author Xuan Zhang of Northwestern and his colleagues.

In the next phase of their research, Delferro and Farha will attempt to activate methane with the same chemistry, but they will substitute earth-abundant metals such as iron, cobalt, nickel and copper for iridium, which is rare and expensive.

Scientists discover a catalyst that removes toxic nitrates from water

ngineers at Rice University’s NSF-funded Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT) Center have found a catalyst that cleans toxic nitrates from drinking

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duce a specific boron-infused methane product by shape-selective catalysis, a widely used industrial technique for chemical synthesis and hydrocarbon processing.

Shape-selective catalysis can distinguish between molecules that are slightly different in size and may selectively form only one desired chemical product. But, for the technique to work, the pore space of the catalyst must be comparable to the size of the molecules involved in the

water by converting them into air and water.

Rice chemical engineer Michael Wong, the lead scientist on the study, says, “Nitrates are both an environmental and health problem because they’re toxic.

Ultimately, the best way to remove nitrates is a catalytic process that breaks them completely apart into nitrogen and oxygen, or in our case, nitrogen and water, because we add a little hydrogen. More than 75% of Earth’s atmosphere is gaseous nitrogen, so Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

we’re really turning nitrates into air and water.”

The Rice team also found that the indium speeds up the breakdown of nitrates while the palladium apparently keeps the indium from being permanently oxidised.

Wong said his team will work with industrial partners and other researchers to turn the process into a commercially viable water-treatment system.

The research is available online in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Catalysis.

New Developments

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Inorganic salts give sustainable high yields of sugar

single-step process promises an economical way to produce soluble sugars at high yields from woody biomass, energy crops and agricultural residues, as per the reports from University of Delaware (UD), Newark, Del., and Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J. The route relies on molten salt hydrates (MSHs). The inorganic-salts-based MSHs are easy to prepare, environmentally friendly, and less expensive than common ionic liquids, say the researchers.

The new process integrates the pre-treatment and the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose in one pot. Moreover, the process operates at a lower temperature (85°C) and boasts a shorter reaction time (1 h). This results in processing that is more energy and water efficient, claim the researchers.

The key to the technology, for which UD has filed

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a patent application, is the use of a concentrated solution of an inorganic salt in the presence of a small amount of mineral acid. The solution swells the particles of biomass, enabling it to interact with the fibers.

The unique properties of the salt solution make the process very efficient, with up to a 95% theoretical yield of sugars, explains Basudeb Saha, associate director of research at UD’s Catalyst Center for Energy Innovation.

“Our process enables — for the first time — the economical production of feed streams that could profoundly improve the economics of cellulosic bioproducts manufactured downstream, not to mention the environmental benefits of replacing petroleum,” notes Saha.

Detailed report is available on chemicalprocessing. com.

New fiber-reinforced hydrogels are tougher and more durable

okkaido University researchers, led by Professor Jian Ping Gong, have focused on creating a reinforced material using hydrogels, a report from Chem Europe suggests.

Though such a substance has a potential as a structural biomaterial, up until now, no material reliable and strong enough for longterm use has been produced. This study was conducted as a part of the Cabinet Office’s Impulsing Paradigm Change through Disruptive Technologies Program (ImPACT).

To address the problem, the team combined hydrogels containing high levels of water with glass fiber fabric to create bendable, yet tough materials, employing the same method used to produce reinforced plastics. The team found that a combination of polyampho-

lyte (PA) gels, a type of hydrogel they developed earlier, and glass fiber fabric with a single fiber measuring around 10μm in diameter, produced a strong, tensile material. The procedure to make the material is simply to immerse the fabric in PA precursor solutions for polymerisation.

When used alone, the fiber-reinforced hydrogels developed by the team are 25 times tougher than glass fiber fabric, and 100 times tougher than hydrogels. Combining these materials enables a synergistic toughening.

“The fiber-reinforced hydrogels, with a 40 percent water level, are environmentally friendly,” says Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Dr. Jian Ping Gong, “The material has multiple potential applications because of its reliability, durability and flexibility.

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Science Pages

SCIENCE PAGES

Next generation data storage using light

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s we are living in a digital world, huge amount of data is generated every day, so new efficient ways of data storage are necessary. Tiny, nanosized crystals of salt, encoded with data using light from a laser could be the next data storage technology of choice, following research by Australian scientists.

The researchers from the University of South Australia and University of Adelaide, in collaboration with the University of New South Wales, have demonstrated a novel and energy-efficient approach to storing the data using light.

Dr. Riesen, a Research Fellow at the University of South Australia and University of Adelaide and PhD student Xuanzhao Pan developed a technology based on nanocrystals with light-emitting properties that can be efficiently switched on and off in patterns that represent digital information. The researchers used lasers to alter the electronic states, and therefore, the fluorescence properties of the crystals.

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New world record achieved in direct solar water-splitting efficiency

n an interesting research study reported in ACS Publications, an international team of scientists have successfully raised the efficiency of producing hydrogen from direct solar-water splitting to a record 19 per cent. The team members were from the California Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, Technische Universitaet Ilmenau, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. One part of the experiments took place at the Institute for Solar Fuels in the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.

Photovoltaics is a mainstay of renewable-energy supply system,

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Their research shows that these fluorescent nanocrystals could represent a promising alternative to traditional magnetic (hard drive disk) and solid-state (solid state drive) data storage or blu-ray discs.

This ‘multilevel data storage’ – storing several bits on a single crystal – opens the way for much higher storage densities. The technology also allows for very low-power lasers to be used, increasing its energy efficiency and being more practical for consumer applications.

Dr. Riesen says: “3D optical data storage could potentially allow for up to petabyte level data storage in small data cubes. To put that in perspective, it is believed that the human brain can store about 2.5 petabytes. This new technology could be a viable solution to the great challenge of overcoming the bottleneck in data storage.”

The research is published in the open access journal Optics Express.

and sunlight is abundantly available worldwide but not around the clock. One solution for dealing with this fluctuating power generation is to store sunlight in the form of chemical energy, specifically by using sunlight to produce hydrogen. This is because hydrogen can be stored easily and safely, and used in many ways.

If you combine solar cells with catalysts and additional functional layers to form a monolithic photoelectrode as a single block, then splitting Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

water becomes especially simple: the photocathode is immersed in an aqueous medium and when light falls on it, hydrogen is formed on the front side and oxygen on the back.

For the monolithic photocathode investigated here, the research teams combined additional func-

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Science Pages tional layers with a highly efficient tandem cell made of III-V semiconductors developed at Fraunhofer ISE. This enabled them to reduce the surface reflectivity of the cell, thereby avoiding considerable losses caused by parasitic light absorption and reflection.

Complex organic molecules found on Enceladus

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cientists have found that large, carbon-rich organic molecules are ejected from cracks in the icy surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. They did this by using mass spectrometry data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Southwest Research Institute scientists think chemical reactions between the moon’s rocky core and warm water from its subsurface ocean are linked to these complex molecules, as per the report on Nature.

Prior to its deorbit in September of 2017, Cassini sampled the plume of material emerging from the subsurface of Enceladus. The Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) and the SwRIled Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) made measurements, both within the plume and Saturn’s E-ring, which is formed by plume ice grains escaping Enceladus’ gravity.

“Even after its end, the Cassini spacecraft continues to teach us about the potential of Enceladus to advance the field of astrobiology in an ocean world,” Dr. Glein, SwRI’s space scientist said.

During Cassini’s close flyby of Enceladus on Oct. 28, 2015, INMS detected molecular hydrogen as the spacecraft flew through the plume. Previous flybys provided evidence for a global subsurface ocean residing above a rocky core. Molecular hydrogen in the plume is thought to form by the geochemical interaction between water and rocks in hydrothermal environments.

“Hydrogen provides a source of chemical energy supporting microbes that live in the Earth’s oceans near hydrothermal vents,” said SwRI’s Dr. Hunter Waite, INMS principal investigator. “Once you have identified a potential food source for microbes, the next question to ask is ‘what is the nature of the complex organics in the ocean?’ This paper represents the first step in that understanding—complexity in the organic chemistry beyond our expectations!”

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Under simulated solar radiation, the scientists achieved an efficiency of 19.3 percent in dilute aqueous perchloric acid, while still reaching 18.5 per cent in an electrolyte with neutral pH.

Ultra-High-Speed ‘Electron Camera’ can open up deeper molecular studies

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n extremely fast “electron camera” at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has produced the most detailed atomic movie of the decisive point where molecules hit by light can either stay intact or break apart. The results could give a better idea of how molecules respond to light in processes that are crucial for life, like photosynthesis and vision, or that are potentially harmful, such as DNA damage from ultraviolet light.

Researchers looked at a gas whose molecules have five atoms each. They watched in real time how light stretched the bond between two atoms in the molecules to a “point of no return,” sending the molecules on a path that either further separated the atoms and cleaved the bond or caused the atoms to vibrate while preserving the bond.

“The starting and end points of a chemical reaction are often obvious, but it’s much more challenging to take snapshots of the rapid reaction steps in between,” said postdoctoral researcher Jie Yang, the study’s lead author from SLAC’s Accelerator Directorate and the Stanford PULSE Institute. “The crossroads where a molecule can do one thing or another are an important factor in determining the outcome of a reaction. Now we’ve been able to observe directly for the first time how the atomic nuclei of a molecule rearrange at such an intersection.”

The complete report on the study is available on SLAC’s website.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Renewables RENEWABLES

Delhi Metro’s green power sourcing through Rewa solar plant The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will start receiving green power from the Madhya Pradeshbased Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd (RUMSL) in the next two months. It will be the first project in the country to supply power to an inter-state open access customer.

The 750MW project in Rewa district is spread over an area of 1,590 acres, making it among the largest single-site solar power plants in the world. The DMRC had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the RUMSL to get green power from the latter to run its trains in the national capital, as per the report in indianexpress.com.

The DMRC is currently buying power at Rs. 7 per unit and has a network of about 288 km

with 208 stations which has now crossed the boundaries of Delhi to reach Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana.

The MP Power Management Company Ltd, which supplies power to the state discoms, will get 76 per cent of the power produced from the Rewa solar power plant, while the DMRC will benefit from the remaining 24 per cent.

Delhi was ranked as the sixth most polluted city in the world as per the air quality data compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for mega cities. This green power will help it reduce its pollution index and improve its breathability.

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Speeding up biofuel production through a new enzyme boost

cientists from Imperial College of London have enhanced the process of using biology to make products such as fuels, plastics, medicines and cosmetics.

This may lead to cheaper and more environmentfriendly biofuel production and more efficient plastic recycling.

Imperial scientists say they can break down plantbased biomass 30 times faster than currently possible.

The findings are published in Nature Chemistry.

Dr Alex Brogan, of Imperial College London’s Department of Chemical Engineering, and colleagues modified the glucosidase enzyme, which helps break down complex carbohydrates in biomass, like cellulose from plant cells, into its basic units, glucose. The glucose can then be fermented to make ethanol, a form of biofuel.

Releasing glucose from cellulose is currently the most expensive and time consuming part of the process. This is partly because enzymes typically stop working at temperatures higher than 70 °C and when in industrial solvents like ionic liquids. However, if the enzyme could work in higher temperatures and ionic liquids, the conditions would hasten the process.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Renewables News & Views

Products & Processes

Renewables News & Views

ence ofA Prime Minister Narendra and Russian New Reusable Sponge Modi to combat President Vladimir Putin in Goa on the sidelines of the ocean oil spilldecision on the deal BRICS summit. However, a final will leo be taken by the primecreated minister’s office as cenSponge, a newly absorbent forthe cleantral ing security agencies have raised concerns over the up oil spills, ensures the environmental dammega deal citing the proximity of its part to Pakistan age caused by Deepwater Horizon is never repeated. andThe nearly defence assets . by scientists at Argonne technology, designed According to government it is mandatory National Laboratory, is based rules, on low-cost materials to take security and clearance from the home ministry for and processing anycapture foreign90 investment in the country. The deal covcan times ers own Essar weight Oil’s 20 in million tonne refinery at Vadinar in its Gujarat retail outlets for which the Russian conoil from and bothitsabove sortium will pay $10.9 billion (around `70,000 crore). and below the water’s surface, and is also reusable.

Mumbai to videograph and “What’sICT special about our technoldisseminate lectures ogy he is Institute that we ofcan Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai extract oil, either hasthe selected Mediasite for lecture capture and manfrom the surface or agement.

The selection makes it the first university in from the water column, without creating anyprogram. waste,” India to deploy a large-scale academic video explained Seth B. Darling, the director of the Institute realize the future of education lies inNational technolfor “We Molecular Engineering at Argonne ogy that allows learning to be made available Laboratory and the project lead on Oleo Sponge,toinstuan dents when they’re able to attend classes and for interview with R&D not Magazine. review of lectures anytime, anywhere,” said Professor It soaks up the oil, and then the oil can be recovered, Ganapati D. Yadav, Vice Chancellor, of ICT. “Mediasite which is also added value because that can be used makes that a reality for us without disrupting the way and you can also reuse the sponge. This enables the our instructors teach. Mediasite is fully automated, industry to address a much larger spill incident with a and instructors don’t even notice the camera.” small amount of the absorbent.

The university using Mediasite in all its Pilot-scale tests ofbegan the Oleo Sponge were performed and it showed improved absorption capacity, selectivity, absorption rate and reusability.

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Phenomen characteriz

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(190+)

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classrooms March with plans to captureSchool every lecProven forinFGDP gypsum dewatering Hasunuma (Kobe University Graduate of ture and make it available for students to review onScience, Technology and Innovation) as a Japan Science The VACUBELT® filter belt 2015 has already provdemand.

The university willStrategic experiment withResearch distance and Technology Agency Basic en its worth in the field of FGDP gypsum dewatering learning and flipped instruction.

Program. over many years. Whether in new systems or retrofitting existing power plants, the belt made of pure polyProfessor Hasunuma’s research team aimed to find ester monofilaments meets the strictest requirements. the reaction that acts as the bottleneck in the metabolic Fast dewatering and robust transverse stability are the pathway when CO2 is converted into succinate, and RIL commissions last crystallisation unitmain at itsfactors Jamnagar paraxylene complex During the contributing to its superiority. .

FILTECH fair, it became clear that the need for more eliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has successfully com- the paraxylene (PX) complex at Jamnagar. This plant efficient gypsum dewatering in the field of flue gas deSuccinate method that renewmissionedproduction the last crystallisation trainis(Train 3) of is built with state-of-the-art crystallisation technology sulfurization, and thereby interest in this belt type, is from British Petroleum (BP) which is highly energy efable and efficient still on the rise - particularly in South Africa and India. ficient.

With the commissioning of this plant, RIL’s PX uccinate is an extremely useful raw ingredient for Numerous users and well-known equipment mancapacity has more than doubled making it the world’s petrochemicals, and there is high demand for a way ufacturers discussed concrete issues regarding the second largest producer of paraxylene at 11 percent of of producing succinate that is renewable and environ- design and range of potential applications of the horiglobal production. mentally benign. zontal filter belts with the GKD experts. Process Belt Pursuant to installation and mechanical compleA Japanese researcher has discovered that succinate Division Manager, Michael Seelert, therefore reflects tion of the entire paraxylene complex in the previous production levels increase when cyanobacteria are on the trade fair appearance with a sense of satisfacquarter, Reliance Industries commissioned the second grown above the ideal temperature for cell growth. He tion: “FILTECH was a real success for us.” He also bephase of PX comprising of second crystallisation train lieves that the excellent networking opportunities are use genetic engineering to speed up this bottleused insights into the metabolic pathway engineering then (Train 2), trans-alkylation and aromatic extraction units one of the most of this fair. reaction and important increase theaspects production of trade succinate. to achieve the world’s most efficient production rate neck at Jamnagar in April 2017. were able to make new and promising contacts for bio-succinate, as per the report by Kobe University, “We The team has managed to raise the production rate and also welcome back visitors looking for more inJapan. of succinate to 7.5 times higher than previous studies. depth information.”

The discovery was made by Professor Tomohisa

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2017 Chemical Industry Digest.

JulyJuly 2018

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Chemical Industry Digest. May 2018

4315

Interview

All Stakeholders Should Involve in Safety of Chemical Supply Chain Logistics – Rajkiran Kanagala With the global spotlight on environment, safety and sustainability, these issues have become crucial for chemicals transportation.

This inverview highlights those concerns.

Q

uestion: How are the environmental risks managed during the transit of liquid products like hazardous chemicals or petroleum products?

Rajkiran Kanagala (RK): Chemical industry is a highly complex industry. Dangerous goods can be transported only if handled properly and with care. All the laws & regulations, standards or guidelines to protect the environment are only limited to plant level and are not prevalent in end to end supply chain.

The main challenge to maintain safety standards throughout the value chain is managing the cost.

While chemical industry is hell bent on logistics players to maintain safety standard, they are not ready to bear the cost of maintaining these standards.

No matter how much we pretend to be committed to safety, it will not be effective unless the manufacturer, trader, worker, transporter or inspecting authority do not share the financial responsibility.

Q

: How are logistics and supply chain complexities managed as there are number of stakeholders involved in the transportation of chemical products?

RK: Safety is a serious business for the chemical industry. Because of the nature of its products, the industry needs to be more vigilant to ensure that goods do not spill or are tampered with during transit. Though ISO Tanktainers are considered to be the safest mode of bulk transportation of chemRajkiran Kanagala, (Alumni of Harvard icals, yet their availability in the market is Business School), Sr. Vice President and less. The reason behind logistics players’ Group Head, Business Development with ambivalence to invest in this costly asset is TCI is also heading the Chemical and again non-willingness of chemical compaSAARC vertical. He has worked extensively nies in sharing the cost. with customers in both domestic and international markets and has spent nearly 11 To rectify the problems of the chemical years in international business development transportation industry, a serious re-apand sourcing. Before joining TCI in 2006, praisal of the basic guiding principles of the Rajkiran has held various positions with leadindustry is the need of the hour. ing OEM companies. : According to you, what is the impact of GST TCI Group, with revenues of over `3600 for the chemical and petrochemical industries crore, is India’s leading integrated supply and for their service providers? chain and logistics solutions provider.

Q

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Interview

RK: Almost every impact of GST on the Indian industrial sector looks positive like in the case of most of the industries. The benefits are same for all, consolidation leading to reduction in costs.

The only difference being that in-transit/short term storage of chemicals is not as easy as in the case of other consumer goods as correct storage and handling of the product across the value chain remains a challenge.

Add to it, benefits of consolidation in storage/warehouse space is also not so easy for chemical industry since compliances/licenses do take time and risk mitigation issues come in.

Q

: Environmental and sustainability concerns are pushing companies for adapting greener transport modes but this would increase the cost. So how can companies face this challenge?

RK: The future belongs to multimodal logistics by

rail and sea. Forwarders, particularly in branded companies, increasingly have to deal with customers who are demanding sustainability in logistics. Therefore, logistics companies are required to offer suitable solutions. If we’re talking about ‘green transport’, then inevitably we are talking about using trains and ships.

Rail transportation is anytime much cheaper than road transportation in long haul. ISO Tanktainers with higher loading capacity are able to pass on the cost benefit to chemical companies. One of our joint venture companies, TCI Concor is doing end to end movement of solid and bulk liquid chemicals by rail. Up till now we have safely moved around 2mn tons of chemical by rail and proud to call ourselves as “Leaders in ‘Green Logistics’”.

We hope in future, many companies will definitely opt for transportation via rail route more than what is currently been seen.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Nobel Laureates

Yesteryear Nobel Laureates

Get to know yesteryear Nobel Laureates in chemistry, their lives and times in this feature. Nobel Laureates thought out of the box and strived to discover, develop or invent processes and materials, to understand and explain phenomena, in many instances not thought possible earlier. They have broken barriers and boundaries, pushing the frontiers of science and technology to new paradigms.

The profile not only covers what the scientist won the Nobel for, but also the personal side and interesting interludes in the life of the scientist.

Paul Karrer (1889 – 1971)

Pioneering research on the structure of vitamins Veena Patwardhan, Special Correspondent

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aul Karrer, a Swiss organic chemist, was the first to unravel the chemical structure of several vitamins and plant dyes, and also the first to synthesise Vitamin A (retinol, in 1931) Vitamin B2 (riboflavin, in 1935), Vitamin E (tocopherol, in 1938), and Vitamin K (phytonadione, in 1939). In 1937, he was awarded

the Nobel Prize in chemistry “for his research into the constitution of carotenoids, flavins, and vitamins A and B”. Karrer shared the prize with British chemist Sir Walter Norman Haworth who won it for his research on the structural formula of carbohydrates and vitamin C.

A lifetime dedicated to scientific research

Paul Karrer was born in Moscow on April 21, 1889, but his parents were from Switzerland. His father worked as a dentist in Russia. When Karrer was just three years old, his family moved back to their home country, staying for a short while in Zurich before settling in Aarau, a pretty town at the foot of the Jura Mountains, near Zurich.

Karrer developed an interest in science while in secondary school. He received his Ph.D. in 1911 from the University of Zurich for his thesis on cobalt complexes. He then worked for one year as an assistant to his Ph.D. professor, Alfred Werner – the well-known Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and the ‘Father’ of Coordination Chemistry – at the Chemical Institute of the University of Zurich. Following this, he worked under Paul Ehrlich, a Nobel prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, in the chemistry section of the Georg Speyer Haus in Frankfurt, Germany. Ehrlich had invented the

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Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Nobel Laureates precursor technique to Gram staining of bacteria for diagnosing diseases, and also discovered Salvarsan, the ‘magic bullet’ against syphilis. For five and a half years, Karrer worked there, studying the organic compounds of arsenic and other metals such as antimony and bismuth.

After World War I broke out, Karrer was called Karrer succeeded in finding out the structural formula back to Switzerland to serve as an artillery officer in the for these. Not just that, he also identified a useful link Swiss army. Then, in 1915, after Ehrlich passed away, to the formation of Vitamin A in the human body. He he returned to Frankfurt to take up Ehrlich’s position as discovered how the animal body uses beta-carotene to director of chemical research at the Research Institute produce Vitamin A, the vitamin important for proper vision and the lack of which for Chemotherapy. In 1919, he Throughout his life, plant pigments attracted Karrer. causes night blindness. In 1930, succeeded Werner as professor And hence, from colourful flowers to carrots, natural when he established the corof chemistry at the University of Zurich and Director of the specimens such as these were permanent fixtures in his rect structural formula for beChemical Institute in Zurich. laboratory. He was especially successful with carotenoids ta-carotene, it was a pioneering All his milestones in research – chemical compounds that impart the characteristic yel- work, for it was the first time were achieved at this institute. low, orange, or red colour to fruits and vegetables such as that anyone had discovered the structure of a provitamin (vitaIn the 1920s, he focused mainly tomatoes, carrots, capsicum, and saffron. min precursor) or vitamin. on plant pigments and natural products. In the 1930s, he figPerhaps, Karrer’s most imured out the structures of carotene and lycopene, some- portant scientific contribution was proving that vitathing that had puzzled scientists for years. In 1942, his min A is structurally related to carotenoids. He then research led to a better understanding of the structure went on to establish the constitution of Vitamin A, and and function of nicotine-amide-adenine dinucleotide followed this up by confirming the structure Albert von (NAD), a coenzyme essential for the transfer of elec- Szent-Gyorgyi had ascribed to Vitamin C, and venturtrons in the energy system of the ing into researches on Vitamin B2 cell. In 1950, he completed his and Vitamin E. While studying work on the total synthesis of cathe chemistry of the flavins, he rotenoids. He remained at the indiscovered that lactoflavin was a stitute in Zurich till his retirement part of the complex structure earin 1959. lier thought to be Vitamin B . As

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mentioned earlier, he proceeded to successfully synthesise Vitamin B2, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K.

From colourful flowers to carrots

Throughout his life, plant pigments attracted Karrer. And hence, from colourful flowers to carrots, natural specimens such as these were permanent fixtures in his laboratory. He was especially successful with carotenoids – chemical compounds that impart the characteristic yellow, orange, or red colour to fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, capsicum, and saffron. Engaging in meticulous chemical analysis,

Paul Karrer’s most famous publication, Lehrbuch der Organischen Chemie (A text book of Organic Chemistry) went on to have 14 editions published and was translated into seven languages. He also set up two major foundations for the advancement of science, namely, the Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche Foundation for the advancement of interChemical Industry Digest. July 2018

47

Nobel Laureates

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disciplinary study groups in Karrer also published an astonishingly large an outstanding researcher in the Switzerland, and the Foundation number of scientific papers – over 1,000 of them field of chemistry who then deof Scholarships in Chemistry. – in various fields including organic chemistry, es- livers a lecture at the University Karrer also published an aston- pecially related to vitamins, co-enzymes, plant pig- of Zurich. The recipients to date ishingly large number of scien- ments, curare and other alkaloids, carbohydrates, include several Nobel Prize wintific papers – over 1,000 of them amino acids, and organo-arsenic compounds. ners in Chemistry and Medicine.

– in various fields including orThe front of the Medal has a reganic chemistry, especially relief of the left-side profile of Paul lated to vitamins, co-enzymes, Karrer. The back is engraved plant pigments, curare and other alkaloids, carbohy- with the words University of Zurich - Paul Karrer drates, amino acids, and organo-arsenic compounds.

Lecture.

Recognitions

Karrer was appointed as the President of the 14th International Congress on Pure and Applied Chemistry held in Zurich in 1955. He received honorary doctorate degrees from a number of universities in Europe and America. He was a member of numerous chemical and biochemical societies worldwide including the Academie des Sciences (Paris); the Royal Society (London); National Academy of Science (Washington); Royal Academy of Sciences (Stockholm); the National Academy (Rome); Royal Academy of Belgium; the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences; and the Indian Academy of Science. Apart from the prestigious Nobel Prize, he also won the Marcel Benoist Prize and the Cannizzaro prize, both of which are esteemed awards in the field of Chemistry. In 1995, he was honoured on a stamp issued by the government of Guyana.

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Karrer was appointed as the President of the 14th International Congress on Pure and Applied Chemistry held in Zurich in 1955. He received honorary doctorate degrees from a number of universities in Europe and America.

A group of reputed companies including CIBA AG, J. R. Geigy, F. Hoffman la Roche & Co. AG, Sandoz AG, Societe des Produits Nestle AG, and Dr. A. Wander AG, established the highly respected Paul Karrer Gold Medal in his honour in 1959 on the occasion of the public celebration of his 70th birthday at the auditorium of the University of Zurich. They did this following suggestions made by friends and former students of Paul Karrer who were keen that he should be honoured in a befitting way for his many significant contributions to the development of chemistry. The medal is awarded annually or biannually to

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After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Zurich under Nobel laureate Alfred Werner, Karrer then continued to teach and research for 40 years at the same institution. Throughout his life, he never drove a car. Neither did he consider leaving the University of Zurich, despite receiving several good offers from various universities across the world.

Following a brief illness, Paul Karrer died in Zurich at the age of 82 on June 18, 1971. He was buried at Fluntern Cemetery, Zurich, the same cemetery where the acclaimed Irish novelist James Joyce, Croatian scientist and winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry – Leopold Ruzicka, and the famed Swiss physicist Paul Scherrer is interred.

References 1. Nobelprize.org: Paul Karrer – Biographical – Nobel Media AB 2014, https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1937/karrer-bio.html 2. Marc A. Shampo, Robert A. Kyle, et al: Paul Karrer – Research on Vitamins – Mayo Clinic Proceedings , Volume 75 , Issue 4, 328, https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S00256196(11)64021-4/pdf 3. Jane A. Miller: Nobel Laureats in Chemistry, 1901- 1992 – Ed. James K. Laylin , Chemical Heritage Foundation, October 1993, pp 242 – 246 4. TheFamousPeople.com: Paul Karrer Biography – Updated 13 October, 2017, https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/paul-karrer-7326.php 5. The University of Zurich: Paul Karrer - Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1937 – http://www.uzh.ch/en/about/portrait/nobelprize/karrer.html.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Sourcing

Companies manufacturing Pipes & Tubes Bhandari Foils and Tubes Ltd. 46/48 Jamnadas Building Islampura Street Mumbai 400 004 Tel: 022 23890703 / 32402769 Email: mumbai@bhandarigroup.in Web: www.bhandarigroup.in

Piyush Steel 54, Bhandari Street, 1st Kumbharwada, Mumbai – 400 004.

Tel: 022 23867540, 67437649 Email: info@piyushsteel-pipes.com Web: www.piyushsteel-pipes.com

Bhushan Tubes Pvt. Ltd. 2856, Bazar Sirkiwalan, Hauz Qazi, Delhi -110006 Tel: 011-43184318, 23261181/56363 Web: www.bhushantube.com

Prakash SteelAge Ltd. 101, 1st Floor, Shatrunjay Apartment, 28, Sindhi Lane, Nanubhai Desai Road, Mumbai- 400004 Tel : 022-6613 4500 Email: sales@prakashsteelage.com Web: http://www.prakashsteelage. com

Jignesh Steel 45, Islampura Street, Near Alankar Cinema , Mumbai-400 004 Tel: 022-6659 5844, 6659 5845 Email: sales@jigneshsteel.com Web: www.jigneshsteel.com Jindal Composite Tubes Pvt. Ltd. NO: DSM-311-312, 3rd Floor, DLF Tower, Shivaji Marg (Najafgarh Road), Moti Nagar, New Delhi-110015 Mob: +91-8800997156/51 Email: info@jindaltubes.com Web: www.jindaltubes.com Man Industries (India) Ltd Man House, 101, S.V. Road, Vile Parle (W), Mumbai - 400 056 Tel: 022-6647 7500 Email: enquiry@maninds.org Web: www.mangroup.com Oil Country Tubular Ltd. ‘KAMINENI’, 3rd Floor, King Kothi Hyderabad - 500 001, Telangana Tel: 040 2478 5555 Email: octl@octlindia.com/sales@ octlindia.com Web: www.octlindia.com

Pratibha Group Unit No. 1/B-56 & 1/B-57, 1st Floor, Phoenix Paragon Plaza, Phoenix Market City, LBS Road, Kurla (W), Mumbai – 400070 Tel: 022 - 39559999 E-mail: info@pratibhagroup.com Web: www.pratibhagroup.com Ratnamani Metals & Tubes Ltd 17, Rajmugat Society, Naranpura Cross Roads, Ahmedabad - 380 013 Tel: 079 2741 5501/2/3/4 Email: info@ratnamani.com Web: www.ratnamani.com/

Tubes India 11/15, Maruti Mandir Marg, 5th Kumbharwada Lane, Nr. Alankar Cinema, Mumbai - 400004 Tel: 022-66362544, 23824056 Email: response@tubesindia.co.in Web: www.tubesindia.co.in Vishal Tubes & Pipes Pvt. Ltd. 7th Prabhat Building , 1st floor, 9th Khetwadi Lane, Mumbai- 400 004 TEL : 022 23862124, 66362268 Email : info@vishalgroups.com Web: www.vishalgroups.com Welspun Corp Ltd. Welspun City, Tal. Anjar, District- Kutch Gujarat - 370 110 Tel: 02836 662222 Email: sales_wcl@welspun.com Web: www.welspuncorp.com Zenith Birla (India) Ltd. Dalamal House, 1st floor, J B Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400 021 Tel: 022 66168400 Email: zenith@zenithsteelpipes. com Web: www.zenithsteelpipes.com

Suraj Ltd. ‘Suraj House’ Opp. Usmanpura Garden, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad, Gujarat– 380 014 Tel: 079-27540720, 27540721 Web: www.surajgroup.com Tata Steel Limited 3rd Floor, One Forbes 1, Dr V B Gandhi Marg, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001, India Web: www.tatasteel.com

(Please note that only a selection of companies are listed here and this is by no means a comprehensive directory) Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

49

Oil Exploration

Deepwater Oil and Gas Prospects in India Shrikant M. Kanitkar

Abstract This article describes the scenario of deepwater oil and gas industry in India. The promising growth of the industry in country, rapidly increasing demand, technological advances and governmental policies boosting the sector are discussed in detail in the paper. The author also emphasises on the challenges and bright future of the sector.

P

opulation growth and increase in industrialisation have caused a growth in energy needs and triggered the evaluation of methods to tap into the fullest potentials of various energy resources.

Companies are adopting new technologies which are advanced, reliable and cost effective. The oil and gas sector is no exception and has actively invested in new techniques for oil and gas exploration, extraction and downstream processing.

India is the fourth largest energy consumer in the world, with about one-third of its energy coming from oil and gas. The current production supplies only 20 percent of oil and less than 50 percent of the annual domestic demands, but up to 60 percent of India’s prognosticated reserves are in the ‘yet-to-find’ category.

Consequently, the push to reduce import dependence is a key driver for oil and gas exploration in India.

The first commercially successful oil well in India was an onshore facility set up in 1890 at Digboi, Assam.

Easy accessibility and low capital investments made onshore oil discoveries more popular initially. Offshore exploration was first initiated in 1962 by ONGC, and oil and gas operators started increasing their investments in the offshore vertical.

Bombay High, the first domestic offshore development and India’s largest commercial discovery to date,

Shrikant M. Kanitkar is a senior engineering manager with Aker Solutions’ Pune operation. He has 26 years of experience and has specialised in subsea systems for over 13 years. Shrikant is also a member of the global Society of Petroleum Engineers.

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was commissioned in 1974. It is located about 176 kilometres from Mumbai, at a water depth of 75 metres.

Since then, a huge 2D and 3D seismic survey has been taken up to map the Indian waters and detect the presence of hydrocarbon reserves. These operations are being continued by the government of India even today.

The data from these surveys has triggered an evolution in the focus of the Indian oil and gas sector, from onshore to the shallow waters offshore and now to deepwater developments.

The first major installation in water depths of over 200 metres was set up in 2007, in Kakinada on the west coast of India. This opened the doors for subsea field developments and triggered the interest of oil companies in exploring India’s long coastline.

The Indian government is also supporting the growth of the domestic oil and gas sector through a number of policy changes. These include the introduction of the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), which has streamlined the licensing system for exploration and production of all hydrocarbons. The Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) allows companies to select blocks for exploration and is expected to open up almost three million square kilometres of sedimentary basins to exploration and production activities. New pricing norms have been implemented for difficult fields and foreign direct investment is being encouraged as well. These measures are changing the landscape of the industry and are expected to spur the use of cutting-edge technology as well.

The potential of unconventional hydrocarbon resources such as coal bed methane, shale gas, oil shale and gas hydrates is also being explored.

India is relatively new to the subsea development of fields. However, the strong offshore knowledge

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Oil Exploration base, large number of qualified professionals and years of exploration and operational expertise are all good indicators of the possibility of growth in this segment of the oil and gas industry.

Challenges in Deepwater Field Development

In India, hydrocarbons are primarily found in the sedimentary basins off the east and west coasts and near the Andaman Islands in the east.

The figure below shows the key areas for onshore and offshore exploration. 41 percent of these are related to deepwater development, indicating the exponential growth of this segment.

The east coast is one of the most promising areas for deepwater developments, but presents some environmental challenges. These include the limited window for offshore operations, created by the double monsoon seasons as well as the depths of up to 3000 metres and greater distances from the shore. These can make both development and operation of the field difficult, from the extraction of gas to its processing and transportation to the mainland.

The technological, economic and environmental aspects of concept selection, the field development process and set-up of infrastructure for further processing need to be deliberated at length for effective commercialisation of a field. Considering all these, the normal timeline of such offshore developments is between three and seven years from the time commercial viability has been evaluated to the start of production.

The flow assurance aspects of the hydrocarbons such as pressure drops, hydrate formations, slug flows, water hammer, wax formations, sand production, erosion, emulsion, scale deposition, reduction in temperature, formation water, asphaltenes, corrosion and flow induced vibrations are significant. These, along with the characteristics of the reservoir such as composition, pressure, temperature and sour classification, are real cost drivers and can significantly impact the production output over the life of the field.

A detailed analysis of the potential of the field development, including the possibility of tie-back provisions for future finds, must also be executed. While field proven equipment must be used, the technology must also be updated

Figure 1 - Map of loaded total wells seismic data Source – Directorate General of Hydrocarbons

Figure 2 – Indian sedimentary basins Source – Directorate General of Hydrocarbons

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

51

Oil Exploration

Figure 3 - Typical examples of subsea architecture. Source – Aker Solutions

frequently for the safe production, transportation and distribution of hydrocarbons.

Electro-hydraulic and chemical supply umbilicals must be set up to feed power and chemicals to the development. The downstream facilities required include service bases for maintenance of retrievable modules, quay access for sea transportation of goods, infrastructure for higher power consumptions.

Some additional considerations, such as depleting reservoir pressures, increased water cuts, need of special injection chemicals and late life hydrocarbon recovery/enhancement using multiphase pump modules, are also important to ensure sustainable development.

During the installation of the field equipment, heavy lift vessels and flowline lay vessels are required as well.

Overall, there are a large number of factors that can impact the drilling and production of deepwater developments.

Bright Future for Indian Oil and Gas

The scope for the Indian oil and gas industry is vast, with many prospective onshore and offshore field developments across the country. A projected cumulative investment of USD 40 billion over the next five years is expected to result in a ten percent increase in domes-

Figure 5 – First subsea gas compression facility.

Source – Aker Solutions

tic production. A significant percentage of this growth is likely to be from deepwater and ultra-deepwater developments.

India is also a signatory of the Paris Agreement and has committed to reducing carbon emissions by up to 35 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The combination of an increasing need for energy and an emphasis on minimising environmental impact makes technological development a key factor in the growth of the Indian oil and gas industry.

References

Figure 4 – Subsea modules installed on sea bed with ongoing tie-in operation. Source – Aker Solutions

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1. https://www.ndrdgh.gov.in/NDR/maps 2. http://www.dghindia.org/Image/Sedimentary_Map.jpg 3. www.nishithdesai.com – Oil and Gas Industry in India, Legal, Regulatory and Tax, Feb 2018 4. h t t p s : / / w w w . u i o . n o / s t u d i e r / e m n e r / m a t n a t / m a t h / MEK4450/h11/undervisningsmateriale/modul-5/MEK4450_ FlowAssurance_pensum-2.pdf.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Pipelines

Safety in the Transportation of Hydrocarbons by Cross Country Pipelines Prof. (Dr). G. Madhu

Introduction

Abstract This article discusses the importance of pipeline transportation of oil and gas in a modern economy and spells out the hazards associated with cross country pipelines. The causes of hydrocarbon release from a pipeline are identified in the paper. The essential safety features to be adopted in a cross country pipeline system have been discussed at length. The need for developing a suitable emergency plan to deal with hydrocarbon releases is also emphasised.

Prof. (Dr). G. Madhu, a chemical engineer by profession, is currently serving as Professor of Safety Engineering in the School of Engineering of Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala. He has been with Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd. (FACT), Kochi, for more than 18 years and he joined the University service in the year 2004. His areas of interest include environmental engineering and management, and process safety engineering.

P

ipelines have been extensively used for the transportation of oil and gas around the globe for a very long time. Pipeline transportation is commonly employed in the case of petroleum crude, petroleum products, natural gas, LPG and propane.

The wide network of natural gas and petroleum pipelines covering thousands of kilometres plays a crucial role in the economy of many countries like United States of America, Russia, Great Britain and Canada. Most of these countries have a vast experience in the installation, operation and maintenance of the cross country oil and gas pipelines.

At present, a gas pipeline network of more than 15,000 km length exists in our country.

Government has focused to develop an ecosystem of national gas grid across the country. In order to complete the grid, another 15,000 km of additional gas pipeline has been planned.

The major oil and gas pipelines existing in India are listed below: 1. Naharkatia-Nunmati-Barauni Crude Oil Pipe-

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Pipelines

2.

3.

4.

5.

line Mumbai High-Mumbai-Ankleshwar-Kayoli Crude Oil and Natural Gas Pipeline Salaya-Koyali-Mathura Crude Oil Pipeline Hajira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) Gas Pipeline Jamnagar-Loni LPG Pipeline

Causes of Hydrocarbon Release from Pipelines

A hazardous substance, either flammable or toxic, is safe till it is fully contained and maintained at desired parameters during storage, operation and transportation. The chemical hazard is materialised only when it loses its confinement and is released to the atmosphere.

On release, the chemical disperses in the air and forms a toxic/flammable gas cloud in the downwind direction. Flammable chemical forms a cloud which could be within the flammable range. Any source of ignition within the cloud could lead to fire or explosion.

Incidental or accidental releases of hydrocarbons are bound to occur, even though modern pipelines are safer in construction and have highly integrated leak detection systems.

The predominant causes of hydrocarbon release from the pipelines are as follows:

1. Failure due to external factors

The oil and gas pipelines are often laid belowground at a depth of 1.2 to 1.5 m, but can also be installed aboveground, if necessary. Failure due to external factors is generally caused by third party mechanical interference, which leads to a puncture or a gouge severely reducing the wall thickness of the pipeline. A catastrophic guillotine rupture of the pipeline can also occur as a result of third party interference. The failure may occur immediately or may occur sometime later due to fatigue.

A high probability of ignition is likely when flammable substances are released from a pipeline as a result of the immediate failure. A source of ignition may be provided by the adjacent hutments or vehicles moving nearby. Third party interferences can be either intentional or unintentional. Unintentional interferences occur when the third party is unaware of the presence of the pipeline.

2. Failure due to corrosion

The most commonly employed material of construction for hydrocarbon pipelines is carbon steel.

Two types of corrosion are responsible for the failure of pipelines – internal corrosion and external corrosion.

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Moisture in the ground and salinity of the soil are major factors causing external corrosion. External corrosion may manifest itself in the form of pinhole failures caused by pitting and more generalised corrosion leading to a reduction in pipe wall thickness over a plane area. External pitting corrosion leads to small leaks that are often difficult to detect. The pinholes caused by pitting gradually grow in size over a period of time. A reduction in wall thickness occurs due to external area or plane defects. This can cause catastrophic failure of the pipeline under pressure, leading to a large scale release.

Internal corrosion is caused by the corrosive nature of the hydrocarbon being transported. This also leads to failures similar to the ones caused by external corrosion. Failures are generally caused by the formation of acids resulting from the presence of water or sulphur compounds in the substance being transported. The corrosion effect caused by the presence of water could be more prominent in the bottom half of the pipeline.

3. Failure by miscellaneous causes

Pipelines can also fail due to a variety of other causes like construction defects, pipe material defects, human error, flood ground erosion, and earthquake.

The most common construction defect is the mechanical damage caused by earth moving machinery during backfilling and is often discovered shortly after pressurisation. However, some of the defects such as inadequate welding, inadequate corrosion protection to joints and damage to corrosion resistant coating that occur during the laying of the pipeline will only be identified sometime later.

Safety Features of Hydrocarbon Pipelines

Modern pipeline construction has advanced considerably. The modern steel pipelines carrying hydrocarbons are installed and maintained by following the appropriate national and international codes and practices. The fabrication and erection of the lines shall be as per ASME B 31.4 or equivalent standards. The guidelines given in OISD – 141 (Oil Industry Safety Directorate – Design and Construction requirements for cross country hydrocarbon pipelines) shall also be followed in India. It is necessary to conduct appropriate tests to ascertain the quality of the materials being used including the welding rods. Weld joints would be subjected to radiography tests.

Following safety features are generally incorporated in a pipeline project: 1. The entire stretch of the pipeline is usually buried underground except at the booster pumping sta-

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

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Pipelines tion. If an underground pipeline has to cross any existing underground water or gas line, cable, drain or other services, it shall be laid at least thirty centimetres below such services in a manner that will not obstruct the access to such services for inspection, repair or maintenance. The number of bends in the pipeline shall be kept to the minimum by proper grading of trenches or supports at crossing and other obstacles. The route of underground sections of a pipeline shall be indicated by markers, and not less than two of such markers shall be visible from any point along the route. Markers are usually installed at every 30 meters to indicate the position of the line.

2. The buried lines are protected with anticorrosive coaltar or epoxy coating. The process of providing the coating involves cleaning of the pipe by shot blasting, priming with synthetic primer, coating by successive layers of coaltar enamel, glass fibre reinforcement and glass fibre felt outer wrap. The coating is usually tested by high voltage holiday detector in accordance with NACE standard RP-02-74.

The field joints shall be protected with heat shrink sleeves.

3. The entire underground portion of the pipeline would be provided with cathodic protection.

Cathodic protection is a process that involves electrically connecting other metals to a pipe, which corrode more easily and protect the integrity of the pipe. Companies monitor cathodic protection constantly, conducting surveys on the pipe to ensure that adequate cathodic protection levels are maintained to minimise corrosion growth. They also periodically measure corrosion features using sophisticated in-pipe computerised instruments called inline inspection tools. If corrosion levels exceed the safe limits, repairs are undertaken to restore the strength of the pipe (by either replacing sections of pipe or installing protective sleeves).

4. The lines are buried with a minimum cover of 1.2 m. At road crossings, the lines will be installed with a minimum cover of 1.5 m through hume pipe protection using horizontal boring/trenching technique.

5. Railway crossings are provided with casing pipe protection. A minimum cover of 1.5 m is often given in such cases. The casing pipe shall also be protected with anticorrosive coating. Pipeline insulators are used to support the carrier pipe inside the casing pipe and electrically isolate the carrier pipe from the casing pipe. The annular space between

56

the casing pipe and the carrier pipe, and carrier pipe at casing ends is sealed with casing-end-seals, in order to prevent ingress of moisture and water.

6. At river crossings, the pipeline is installed below the scour bed with a minimum cover of about 4 m.

At the upstream and downstream of major water crossings, isolation valves with valve chamber shall be provided. Anti-buoyancy concrete weight coating should be provided on the pipelines in the water logged areas and river crossings to prevent lifting up of pipes due to buoyancy.

7. Pressure regulators, slam-shut safety valves and pressure relief valves are provided in gas pipelines to protect them against the occurrence of over-pressure.

8. All but weld joints in the pipeline shall be 100 per cent radiographically examined and fillet weld will be subjected to dye penetration test and ultrasonic inspection.

9. The entire pipeline will be tested hydrostatically at 1.25 times the design pressure. The test duration will be minimum 24 hours after stabilisation.

The sections for crossing road, rail and river shall be pre-tested before erection.

10. Isolation valves are provided at critical locations along the pipelines to ensure quick isolation of the pipeline segments during any emergency. It should be possible to operate these valves from remote locations.

11. A computerised supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system is incorporated in the pipeline network to ensure smooth and safe operation.

Any leakage in the pipeline will be immediately detected by the computer system and pumping of the fluid will be immediately stopped. Communication between the various stations along the pipeline is also achieved through SCADA. 12. Natural Gas is quite often odourised with mercaptan in distribution lines for early detection of gas leaks. Mercaptan adds an unpleasant odour to odourless natural gas to aid in the detection of a leaking natural gas. It is particularly effective in detecting small leaks in distribution lines in residential areas.

13. Daily patrolling is carried out along the pipeline route to complement periodical comprehensive maintenance.

14. No maintenance or repair involving cutting or rewelding of any pipeline shall be carried out except under following conditions, namely: -

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Pipelines (i) an experienced engineer shall inspect the section requiring maintenance or repair, before the work is undertaken and issue a written permit specifying therein the precautions to be observed and the procedure to be followed for carrying out the work. The permit so issued shall be preserved by the owner of the pipeline for a period of six months. (ii) all work involving cutting or welding shall be carried out by an experienced person in accordance with the permit referred to in clause (i). (iii) the section of the pipeline shall be isolated and drained before starting the repairs or maintenance. (iv) only mechanical cutters shall be used for cutting the pipeline or any connection thereof, unless the section of the pipeline and its connections have been purged with an inert gas. (v) no hot work shall be carried out on any pipeline until the section thereof requiring repair has been isolated, drained and purged with inert gas or steam or kept filled with water or until such section has been prepared in a manner approved in writing by the experienced engineer. (vi) the section of the pipeline in which repair or maintenance work has been carried out shall not be used for transporting petroleum until such sections are replaced with hydrostatically pretested sections and the repaired weld joints pass the radiography test. (vii) no section of any pipeline and no valve fitted to it shall be separated until an efficient electrical bond has been established between the parts to be so separated which shall not be broken until the separated parts have been rejoined.

Even with the advanced leak detection technology, the human role in pipeline monitoring is vital.

A review of more than 1400 accident reports from Canada revealed that on-site employees and local residents were usually the first to detect and report a leak, whereas only 19.5 per cent of the reported spills were first detected in a control room. Since every small leak or slow leak may not be detected by remote monitoring, responsible neighbours need to be aware of the signs of a pipeline release. These signs include petroleum on the ground, fire and explosion, mist or cloud of vapour, dying vegetation in a green vegetative area, sheen or a film in water, and water bubbling or liquid in unusual areas. The other signs of a pipeline release include the sound of hissing, whistling, or roar-

ing noise.

It is essential to carry out a risk assessment of the hydrocarbon pipeline as in the case of other major hazardous materials. The hazards associated with the pipeline are identified first using techniques like HAZOP. Maximum credible loss scenarios (MCLS) associated with different operational areas should be established. The consequences of the MCLS and worstcase scenarios are estimated using empirical and semiempirical models. The estimated damage distances will aid in development of the emergency plan.

Emergency planning is an integral part of the overall loss control programme. This is important for effective management of an accident/incident to minimise losses to people and property, both in and around the facility. The important aspect in emergency management is to prevent the unintentional escape of hazardous materials out of the facility and minimise accidents and losses by taking technical and organisational measures.

Conclusion

The transportation of oil and gas is essential for the maintenance of modern lifestyles. Pipelines play an important role in this task. In order to ensure the safe transportation, it is necessary to take precautions right from the design stage. There should not be any compromise on the safety features of cross country pipelines. The hazards in the pipeline system need to be identified so that necessary steps can be taken to address them. It is important that we recognise the signs of pipeline spills and leaks, and know what to do in case of an emergency to protect the public and the environment.

References

1. Singh, R.: Pipeline Integrity Handbook: Risk Management and Evaluation, Gulf Professional Publishing, 2013.

2. Jo, Y.-D., Ahn, B. J.: Analysis of hazard areas associated with high-pressure natural-gas pipelines, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 15(2002), 3, 179-188 3. Luo, Z.-S., Gao, Y., Wang, H.-C., Liu, Q.-C.: Comprehensive quantitative risk assessment of urban natural gas pipeline, Fire Science and Technology, 6(2013), 38-43.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

57

Registered with Registrar of Newspaper, New Delhi under R.N. No. 47002/1988. Total Pages: 84 Postal Reg. No. MCN/31/2017-19. Publishing date: 26th of each month. Posting date: 26/27th of each month.

58 92

Chemical Industry Digest.

2017 Chemical Digest. June July 2018

Compressor

Compressors’ Suction Knockout Drum S. Raghava Chari

Compressors - piston type, centrifugal and screw - serve almost all industries. Inadequate suction Knockout Drum (KOD) is a common cause of compressor failure. This article discusses ways to prevent compressor wrecks, associated production loss, failed deliveries and customer wrath.

Introduction

P

ractically, any gas compressor in petroleum refineries, chemical process plants, power plants and for that matter, any plant handled gases, is wet with aqueous or organic liquids. Even traces of these escaping the KOD and silently entering can damage the compressor. From the pitting corrosion, salt deposits to diluted lubricants, the liquid ingress telltale signs point out the cause, viz. failed KOD. Only addressing the symptoms does not solve the problems; they persist. Hence, finding the root cause(s) and removing it (them) is the only way to get rid of debilitating compressors failures. Often, problems stem from KODs, especially their Mist Eliminator ME (fig 1) failing to trap the gas entrained liquids and letting these into the compressors – see case study 1 at the end. Usual problems are: improperly specified ME, KOD overloading, uneven velocity profiles, incorrect installations, high liquid viscosity, waxy deposits, liquid slugs, foam-

ing, and several others. Often, KODs come with no mist eliminator. Even in feed gases of no free liquid particles, fine mist droplets often exist. These coalesce into large drops over the pipe wall inside and eventually reach the compressor inside. Hence, protecting the compressors with inlet ME is necessary in case of highly dry gases. Fortunately, present day economical high-capacity and high-efficiency ME technologies pay off, as even averted one shutdown is worth numerous times the KOD investment. Obviously, as with any process equipment, compressor KODs too, must be properly designed and sized for adequate flow margins.

In addition, its mist eliminator (ME) elements shall be selected for optimum moisture separation and resulting long compressors on stream hours. Remember, individually engineering multi-stage compressors’ each stage in KOD is essential as each stage inlet conditions differ considerably. In addition, in case of operative conditions, e.g. throughputs increase or decrease, gas

S Raghava Chari (Mech Engr-Delhi Univ. and postgraduate certificate in Industrial Management and Steel Making from Illinois Institute of Technology, USA) is an industry consultant. He started off as instrument engineer at SAIL, Rourkela and after 13 years shifted to Madras Fertilisers Ltd (MFL), Chennai, as Chief Instrument Engineer, later becoming General Manager at MFL. A prolific writer (over 150 articles) based on his solving over 100 nos. of vexing 5 to 10 year long inherited technical problems in leading international chemical & engineering journals. Four of his articles won first prize from Fertilizer Association of India and many other prizes. He is also a faculty for Chemical Industry Digest Calibre workshops and those of FAI, NPC, and many Training Organizations.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

59

Compressors - piston type, centrifugal and screw failed KOD. Addressing the symptoms only does serve almost all industries. Inadequate suction not solve the problems; they persist. Hence, Knockout Drum (KOD) is a common compressor finding the root cause(s) and removing it (them) is failure cause.

Apply discussed matter, the only way to getthis rid article of debilitating compressors

Upstream process stream liquid source knowledge prevent compressor wrecks, associated is essential loss, to select thedeliveries right ME type new production failed and for customer applications, or to ensure an existing ME wrath.

Gas Inlet

Gas Inlet

KO Drum

adequacy for changed operating conditions and select new one if inadequate. Table 1 furnishes failures. Often the problems stem from KODs different types of mists’ diameters and table 2 ME especially their Mist Eliminator MEcompressor (fig 1) failinginto Introduction: Practically any gas technologies pay off,capabilities as even with averted one elements’ capture 99.9% Compressor trap the gas entrained liquids and letting these into petroleum refineries, chemical process plants, efficiency. is worth numerous times the KOD shutdown the compressors – see case study 1 at the end. investment. Obviously, as with any process Usual problems are improperly specified ME, KOD equipment, compressor KODs too must be out profiles, incorrect Table 1. Different Particles droplets sizes (DS) overloading, Cooling unevenWater velocity properly designed and sized for adequate flow installations,Intercooler high liquid viscosity, waxy deposits, # Particle type DS µm(ME) margins.

In addition, its mist eliminator liquid slugs, foaming, and several others. Often elements be Particles selected for optimum moisture 1 Largeshall organic ≤0.004 KODs come with no mist eliminator even! Even in Demister separation and resulting long compressors feed gases of no free liquid particles, often fine 2 Smoke 0.004-1 on stream hours.

Remember, individually . coalesce into large mist droplets exist. These CW in 3 Condensation Fog 1-30 engineering multi-stage compressors’ ea. KOD is drops over the pipe wall inside and Air eventually / gas essential as each stage differ reach the compressor inside.

Hence, protecting 4 Atmospheric Clouds andinlet fog conditions 4-60 Air / gas Compressor . considerably.

In addition, in case of operations compressors with inlet ME is necessary save in solvent wash spray system easily clears Compressor 7 Atmospheric 10-400 nozzle exiting Stage Drizzle 2 5 Gas atomizing 1-500 highly dry Stage gases.

Fortunately present day conditions e.g. throughputs increase viscous oil or anddecrease, 1 Liquids generated 20-1000Mist 6 Atmospheric 50-100 economical high-capacity 8and Boiling high-efficiency ME wax caused gas composition and moisture content changes fouling from pad solvent wash and operations and control procedure revisions, Gas Outlet 10-2000 Pipeline two phase flow 9 7 Atmospheric Drizzle 10-400 Air / gas Entry type ME. An generated KOD adequacy need checking and upgrading as viscous oil 8 Boiling Liquids generated 20-1000 upstream highwax cau Page 1 of 5 Fig 1. Compressor, KO drum10& Cooler Schematic needed. Periodically the mist eliminator Rain Drops 400-4000 checking from efficiency vane Mist eliminato 10-2000 9 Pipeline two phase flow major elements and especially after any process fouling Mesh Pad type ME captures 2; Elements to capture different generated composition and moisture contentTable changes and operaupsets and sized making sure they are intact and type ME. upstream h most of the particles with 99.5 efficiency tions and control procedure revisions, KOD adequacy deposits is necessary for their continued good 10 Rainfree Drops 400-4000 power plants and for that matter any plant handled viscous oil efficiency v Gas Inlet needs checking and upgrading #as needed.

Periodically Range Element typeand thus the compressors’. performance gases are wet with aqueous or Size organic liquids. dropletsdifferent andsized type ME capt Table 2; Elements to capture checking the mist eliminator elements, especially after lengthens the ME most of 11 ≥0.1 Fiber Candles or Panels Even traces of these escaping theµmKOD and particles with 99.5 efficiency any major process upsets and making sure they are incleaning Considerations: viscous entering silently damage the compressor.

Pitting Droplet Size Distribution ≥2 µm 12 for their continued Mesh with # co-knit Sizeyarn Range Element type Inlet Vane Cyclon tact and deposit free is necessary droplets intervals. corrosion, salt deposits, and diluted lubricants, the Manufactures offer many different ME fitted KODs. ≥5 µm good performance.

150 µm11 Knitted Mesh 13 out ≥0.1 µm Fiber Candles or Panels liquid ingress telltale signs point the cause viz.

Upstream process stream liquid source knowledge lengthens the cleaning ≥10 µm only does ≥2 µm failed KOD. AddressingConsiderations the 14 symptoms 180 µm12 Meshto select Mesh with yarn for new isKnitted essential theLiquid rightco-knit MESlugs type Droplet Size Distribution intervals. and high liquid notManufactures solve the offer problems; they ≥10 persist. applications, or to150ensure an Mesh existing ME many different ME KODs. µmfittedHence, ≥5 Vane µm Mesh Double13 Pocket 15 µm Knitted holding in conditions pads: finding theprocess root cause(s) removing it (them) is adequacy for changed operating and Upstream stream and liquid source ≥15 µm knowledge ≥10 µm Conventional varne arrays 16 14 180 µm Knitted Mesh Liquid Sl Occasional liquid only way get the rid of debilitating select new one if inadequate. Table 1 furnishes Collected isthe essential to to select right ME typecompressors for new apLiquid and high liq short time slugs ≥10 types µm efficiency failures. Often the problems stem from KODs afor given 15 ME capture different of mists’ diameters and table Double Pocket Vane Mesh2 ME plications, or to ensure an existing MERemember adequacy holding in p and high liquid especially their Mist Eliminator ME (figon failing depends the below factors: elements’ capabilitiesvarne with 99.9% changed operating conditions and select a1)new one,toiflisted16 ≥15 µm capture Conventional arrays loading In pads Occasional li trap the gasTable entrained liquids and letting into efficiency. inadequate.

1 furnishes different typesthese of mist diLiquid Drain with Valves causing liquid short time Remember a given ME capture efficiency the compressors see ME caseelements’ study 1 capture at the end. ameters and table 2 – shows capaI. Droplet size Fig 3. Cyclone Deviceli carryover are and high MEs are better choice foul prone applications, as break depends on the belowfor listed factors: Usual problems are improperly specified ME, KOD FoamIn p bilities with 99.9% efficiency.

II. Element type loading wider1.spacing between the vanes is lesssizes foul prone.

Different Particles droplets (DS) overloading, uneven velocity profiles, incorrect theTable causing li Remember, a given ME capture depends III. efficiency Mist load expressed as liquid flow rate per Pad bottom Collected Fig. 2I. shows thatsize solvent wash spray system easilythin mist layer installations, high liquid viscosity, waxy deposits, Droplet # Particle type DS µm carryover Active Capturing and Draining Zone unit cross-area. on the below listed factors: most viscoustype oil and wax caused fouling from liquid slugs, foaming, and several others. Often clears II. element Element IV. Gas velocity through the 1 Large organic Particles I. KODs Droplet size pad type ME. An upstream high-efficiency≤0.004 vane type Inactive zone come with no mist eliminator even! Even in III. Mist load expressed as liquid flow rate per Pad bo V. Gas often and liquid ME most of the viscous oil droplets II. Element feed gasestype of no free liquid particles, finedensity Active 2 captures Smoke 0.004-1and unit cross-area.

VI. flowLiquid Viscosity the ME cleaning intervals.

III. Mist load expressed as liquid rate perlarge unit lengthens mist droplets exist. These coalesce into Gas velocity through the element1-30 3 IV.Condensation Fog cross-area drops over the pipe wall inside and eventually V. Gas and liquid Liquid densitySlugs and high liquid Other factors reach compressor inside.

Hence, protecting 4 Fine Atmospheric Clouds and fog 4-60 IV. Gas the velocity through the element VI. Liquid Viscosityholding in pads being equal, efficiency compressors with inlet ME is necessary save in V. Gas and liquid density 5Demister Gas atomizing nozzleOccasional exiting 1-500 Fig 4. Optimum Gasshort Velocity Lght Liq Ld generallypresent increases liquid highly gases. Fortunately day VI. Liquiddry Viscosity with velocity increase; Other factors high liquid 6 Atmospheric Mist time slugs 50-100 economical high-capacity and high-efficiency ME Fineand Substantial Flooding; Raising gas Other factors being equal, efficiency generally inVane Unit finer mesh strands, being equal, efficiency loading in pads causing liqDemister agitates it Fig 4. Opt generally closer mesh packing creases with velocity increase, finer mesh strands, closSolvent Spray increases uid carryover are inevita- Inactive zone with velocity increase; (greater density), er mesh packing (greater density), vanes’ closer spacble. So is the consequent liqSub Page 1 of 5 Vane Unit finer mesh strands, closer ing in vane type separator (figvanes’ 6 A) and MEspacing element uid carryover into the comagit in vane type separator closer mesh packing Solvent Spray thickness increase. pressors.

Figs 3, 4 and 5 show (fig 6 A) and ME (greater density), Mesh pad fouling element thickness vanes’ closer spacing what happens when liquid in vane type separator slugs occur. The end result is increase.

Gas carried over liquids escape into the compressor liquid carryover into 5. Higher Vel and higher Liq Ld (fig 6 A) and ME massive Fig in case Mesh-type mist eliminator fouls up. Possible re-entrainment begins the compressor and its potenelement thickness Fig 2. Deposits reasons for this are the restricted gas flow the conMesh padandfouling: Washing Spray increase. tial destruction.

Hence, spesequent extra liquid holdup by the pads.

Vane-type Gas carried over Entire Pad Flooded

60

Fig 5. Hi liquids escape into the re Fig 2.

Deposits Mesh pad fouling: compressor Chemical in case Industry Digest.

July 2018 Washing Spray Gas carried over Mesh-type mist Entire P liquids intothe the eliminator fouls up. Restricted gasescape flow and consequent extra liquid holdup by the padsin arecase the compressor Negligible draining reasons. Vane-type ME are Mesh-type better choice for foul mist prone applications, as the eliminator between the foulsvanes up. Restricted gas flow and the liquid holdup by pads are the wider spacing is less foul consequent prone. Fig extra 2 shown Figthe 6. Excessive Vel + Flooding Full

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

61

Gas Inlet

Liquid Slugs and high liquid holding in pads: ≥15 µm Conventional varne arrays Occasional liquid Collected Liquid short time slugs Remember a given ME capture efficiency and high liquid pends on the below listed factors: loading In pads Liquid DrainCompressor with Valve causing liquid .

Droplet size Fig 3. Cyclone Device to carryover are vent wash spray system easily clears most break Foam .ous Element type oil and .

Mist load expressed as liquid flow rate per Pad bottom Collected thin mist layer x caused Active Capturing and Draining Zone unit cross-area. ing from pad Gas Outlet Inactive zone Gas velocity e. ME. An through the element .tream Gas and liquid density high.

Liquidvane Viscosity ciency Mist eliminator Mesh Pad e ME captures st Other of the factors Fine ous oil ng equal, efficiency GasDemister Inlet Fig 4. Optimum Gas Velocity Lght Liq Ld nerally increases plets and h velocity gthens theincrease; ME Substantial Flooding; Raising gas Vane Unit er mesh strands, aning agitates it Inlet Vane Cyclone ser mesh packing Solvent Spray rvals.

Inactive zone eater density), nes’ closer spacing ane typeSlugs separator uid 6 A) liquid and ME d high ment in pads: thickness ding rease. casional liquid Fig 5. Higher Vel and higher Liq Ld Collected Liquid

.

re-entrainment begins

Negligible draining

Foam forming liquids entering a compressor KOD mesh pads and in severe cases, inevitable.

So is the consequent liquid carryover even a vane unit.

The final result is massive liquid esSubstantial Flooding; Raising gas into the compressors.

Figs 3, 4 and 5 show what agitates it cape into the compressor and consequent severe damhappens when liquid slugs occur.

The end result is Inactive zone age. massive liquid that carryover into the compressor Fig. 3 depicts vortex-tube cyclone device and can its potential destruction.

Hence, take special care break up the foam and save the compressor. to prevent liquids slugs entry into compressors.

Fig 4. Optimum Gas Velocity Lghtflood Liq Ldits can readily

Protecting from high liquid viscosity

Few gas streams Foam contain high liquids viscosity liquids.

Foam Breaking: forming entering a

Fig 5. Higher Vel and higher Liq Ld Such high viscosity trapped demister compressor KOD liquids can readily floodbyitsthe mesh pads re-entrainment begins

pads don’t drain easily intoa the vessel. the and in severe casesback even vane unit.Hence, The final result is massive liquid escape intoliquid the pads get flooded even at low velocities and low compressor andapplications, consequent asevere damage. content.

For such vane unit is a better Fig 3 depicted vortex-tube cyclone choice. Several vane unit types from vendors aredevice avail-

Entire Pad Flooded

Fig 7. Axial Outlet

62

liquids escape the ME, enter the compressor and

types are available for selecting one.

Page 2 of 5D 450

Fig 8. Side Outlet

ME location inside a KOD: Figs 7-12 show ME D D 450 for KODs location guidelines, very important d success. Overlooking these leadsD to failed 2 compressors: d d gas in case ME is too close to the > /3D- /2 inlet, gas entrained liquids escape the ME, enter d > 0.5it. ( D+d) Leveldamage the compressorLiqand Localized high velocities with liquid re-entrainment in ME portions and too lowFigvelocities at others mar liquid capture 11. Side inlet Fig 12. Side inlet efficiency.

On the other hand, Little ME or notoo free close liquid to Fig 10. Axial

(D-

>0.5d

>0.5(D-d)

>0.5 D Min 300

d

>(D+d)/2 min 300 mm

D

>(D+d)/2 min 300 mm

(D-

450

able for the selection.

inevitable. So is the consequent liquid carryover ME location inside a KOD into the compressors.

Figs 3, 4 and 5 show what Figs 7-12 location which happens whenshow liquidME slugs occur.guidelines The end result is are veryliquid important forinto thethe success of KODs. massive carryover compressor and Overlooking these leadsHence, to failedtake compressors: in its potential destruction. special care to prevent slugs entry into compressors. case ME isliquids too close to the gas inlet, gas entrained

ity profile to even out. One possible solution is ME downstream velocity evening out the KO profile Drum Configurations Overcoming pressure-drop constraints: device.

Compressor KOD allowable ΔP under vacuum or Page 2 of 5 >0.5d dlow suction pressures conditions is very low. veryOvercoming pressure-drop constraints d Generally, the lower is theKOD pressure-drop a >0.5(D-d) Acceptable Compressor (ΔP) underacross vacuum ME, the lower its mist capturing efficiency and D or very low conditions is very low.

450 suction pressure higher the liquids entry into the compressor Generally, lower the pressure-drop across an ME,D low0 45 ΔP is critical and not high possibility. Where low er is its mistD capturing efficiency and higher is the pos-d mist capture efficiency (MCE) a vane unit or low sibilty of liquids entering into the compressor. Where density mesh pad suffices. However, a dual 7.

Axial and low ΔPFig is mesh critical not high mist capture efficien8. Side Outlet density padFigconsisting of entry side low Fig 9.

Side Outlet cydensity (MCE),Outlet a vane unit or low density mesh pad sufmesh and exit side high density mesh also fices.

However, a dual density mesh pad consisting canhigh break up the foam and save the compressor. offers capture efficiency at marginally higherof entry ΔP. side low density mesh and exit side high densiProtecting from high liquidefficiency viscosity:; gas ty mesh also offers high capture at few marginstreams contain high viscosity liquids.

Such high ally higher ΔP. Retrofits to handle increased throughputs: viscosity liquids trapped by the demister pads standards require sizing ME for min 110% or don’ttodrain easily back into the vessel. Hence, the Retrofits handle throughputs preferably 125%increased max compressor throughput pads get flooded even at low velocities and low Standardsto require sizing the ME for minimum capacity high MCE even during higher liquid content.

For such applications a vane unit is 110% or preferably 125% ME max are compressor throughput throughput situations. typically sized for the better choice. Vendors’ several vane units’

KO Drum Configurations

d Fig 6. Excessive Vel + Flooding Full Re-entrainment

Fig 6 A. Vane Separator

Overcomin Compresso very low su Generally, t ME, the lo higher the possibility. mist captur density me density me density mes offers high ΔP.

Retrofits t standards r preferably capacity to throughput

Fig 6. Excessive Vel + Flooding Full paper plane & the plates Re-entrainment

Fig 6 A. Vane Separator

Negligible draining

Gas flows perpendicular to paper plane & the plates called vanes trap the gas entrained liquids

Foam Breaking: Foamhigh forming liquidswith entering a damage it. Localized velocities liquid compressor KODincan flood its too mesh re-entrainment MEreadily portions and lowpads veKOD outlet results in inadequate space The for the and in severe cases eventhe a vane locities at others impair liquidunit. capture final effivelocity profile to even out.

ME downstream result massive liquid ME escape the ciency. is On the other hand, too closeinto to KOD velocity profile and evening device is one possible compressor consequent severe damage. outlet results in inadequate space for the velocsolution.

Fig 3 depicted vortex-tube cyclone device

Entire Pad Flooded

entryGas intoflows the compresperpendicular to called vanes trap the gas entrained liquids sors.

Foam Breaking

KOD outlet velocity pro velocity pro solution.

Gas + Liquid

(D-

rt time slugs

Fig 2. Deposits shhigh pad liquid fouling: Washing Spray s carried over ding In pads ids escape into the Liquid Drain with Valve sing liquid mpressor in case Fig 3. Cyclone Device to yover aremist sh-type break+Foam Gas Liquid minator fouls up. Restricted gas flow and the nsequent extra liquid holdup bymist the layer pads are the Pad bottom Collected thin sons.

Vane-type ME arecare better choice fortaken foul Active Capturing and Draining Zone cial has to be ne applications, as the between the vanes Inactive zone to prevent liquid slugs’ er spacing is less foul prone. Fig 2 shown

.

(D-

Double Pocket Vane Mesh

>(D+d)/2 min 300 mm

180 µm Knitted Mesh

≥10 µm

>(D+d)/2 min 300 mm

≥10 µm

D d

Fig 9. Side Outlet

Outlet

can break up the foam and save the compressor.

cross sectional area to achieve a design velocity

Protecting from high liquid viscosity:; few gas streams contain high viscosity liquids. Such high viscosity liquids trapped by the demister pads don’t drain easily back into the vessel. Hence, the pads get flooded even at low velocities and low

calculated as under:

Chemical Industry Digest. according July 2018 to Souders-Brown vapor load factor K

K=VG/√((γL-γG)/γG) Where K

Souders-Brown vapor load factor

D >2/3D-d/2 d

Fig 10. Axia Outlet

cross sectio according t calculated as

K=VG/√((γLK VG γL γG

Soude Gas Ve

Liquid d

Gas de

E.g. Room velocity. Wh this applicat Put water; γG = conditions a

K=3/((1000-

Handling throughput increase situations: two options to handle throughput increase beyond Compressorexisting KO drum capacity are:

capacity to high MCE, even during higher throughput situations. ME are typically sized for cross sectional area to achieve a design velocity, according to SoudersBrown vapor load factor K, calculated as under: K=VG/√((YL-YG)/YG) where, K Souders-Brown vapor load factor VG Gas Velocity m/s YL Liquid density – any consistent unit e.g. kg/m3 YG Gas density – any consistent unit e.g. kg/m3 E.g. Room air conditioners draw air at 3 m/s velocity. What is the K factor for the mesh used in this application?

Putting values of YL = 1000 kg / m3 for water; YG = 1.293 kg / m3 approx. for room temp conditions air in the above formula, we get: K=3/((1000-1.293)/1.293)^0.5 = 0.11 m/s

Handling throughput increase situations

Two options to handle throughput increase beyond existing KO drum capacity are: 1 Substitute a larger vessel to accept greater cross sectional area ME, sized to handle the increased throughput. This reduces gas velocity sufficiently to . make the ME and KOD effective.

2 Retain the same KOD, with substituted latest technology high efficiency ME, sized to handle the increased throughput in place of the existing ME. Option 2, not requiring long downtime and expenHandling throughput increase situations: two siveoptions new vessel, is the cost effectiveincrease and versatile apto handle throughput beyond proach.

Given are KODare: capacity increase retroexisting KObelow drum capacity fit techniques. Use one or more as necessary: 1 Replace vertical ME elements with horizontal flow Fig 13. A Compressor K = 0.13 m/s pads and or K = 0.2 Gas m/sOut vane KOD KOmesh capacity units doubling retrofit 2 Install properly Mesh Pads engineered coalesce small velocity, even profiling baffles particles into large ones; Vane horizontal Unit removes &Kdrains the m/s mesh pads with 3 Install = 0.12 coalesced into large particles zones; 10 to 12% capacdrainage layers or multiple Retrofitted is horizontal ity increase easy. to vert flow change ME Vane unit 4 Vendors offered Double-Pocket Vanes Drainthat Pipescan doucombo. Note the vertical ble the capacity of ainto conventional vane unit (K = 0.24 flow changing Inlet in the combo m/s toHorizontal 0.34 m/s) Collected Li idcombina5 Install K = 0.15 m/s to 0.2 m/s Mesh-vane tions; 10 to 25% efficiency and capacity increase are easy.

1 Substitute a larger vessel to accept greater 6 Installcross agglomerating Mesh and upstream 99.9% sectional area ME sized to handle theof 2-micron droplets efficient Double-Pocket increased throughput.

This reduces Vanes; gas velocity capacity sufficiently to make ME and KOD considerable increase is the easy. effective 7 Two or four banks ME configurations increase flow

Fig 13. A Compressor KOD KO capacity doubling retrofit

Gas Out

Mesh Pads coalesce small particles into large ones; Vane Unit removes & drains the coalesced into large particles Retrofitted horizontal to vert flow change ME Vane unit combo. Note the vertical flow changing into Inlet Horizontal in the combo

Drain Pipes Collected Li id

efficiency astounding Figure possibilities: ho eliminator ele agglomerate fin units remove configuration. V available for o and efficiency in

Retrofit with loss (fig 14): N other structure heat treatmen ASME recertif Vessel dia

Rings Segme

cross sectional aareas; thetonew efficiency 1 Substitute largerhence vessel accept greaterand Space capacity astounding. crossincreases sectionalare area ME sized to handle the Existin increased throughput. reduces gas Figure 13 illustrates several This of these possibilities: Ring velocity to make mist the ME and KODelehorizontal flowsufficiently through vertical eliminator Fig 14. ME Re effective ments, using mesh pads to agglomerate fine mist in2 Retain the same KOD, with substituted latest to largetechnology droplets that units ME remove and a highvane efficiency sizedeasily, to handle double-bank configuration.

Vendors’ design specialthe increased throughput in place of the he ists helpexisting is available ME for optimal KOD capacity, perfor- segments bolt for supporting mance andOption efficiency 2 notincrease. requiring long downtime and

codes permit w new ring, whic indeed a short complete pro the above retrofits and final ASME recertification are including new cumbersome time ME consuming. offer ring 1 Replaceand vertical elementsVendors with horizontal efficiency and capacity increases are flow K=0.13 m/s mesh pads and or K = 0.2 m/s lo- KO Drum inle segments to position retrofit ME elements at correct astounding. vane units cation (fig 14). Crew takes in new ring segments via the details while Figure 13 illustrates several of these consequently 2 Install properly engineered velocity even vessel’s entrance and bolts segments, sandwiching possibilities: horizontal flow the through vertical mist depicted KOD profiling baffles spacers at each bolt location (fig 14) to the existing eliminator elements, using mesh pads to ME deflector pene 3 Install horizontal K=0.12 m/s mesh pads with support ringfine (MESR) factory, thevane shell and given problems agglomerate mist into largewelded dropletstothat drainage layers or multiple zones; 10 to 12% units remove easily,Alland a double-bank finallycapacity ASME certified. the segments bolted togethincrease is easy. configuration.

Vendors’ design specialists help isME at 1 Gas jets to er4constitute new Double-Pocket ring for supporting Vendorsthe offered Vanes new that can available for optimal KOD capacity, performance correct location.

ASME codes permit welding 2 Consequen double the capacity of a conventional vane beams, unit and cleatefficiency etc., on increase. tom/s thetonew diffuse the (K=0.24 0.34ring, m/s)which is not a pressure ME portion part. a short down, expensive 5 Thus, Install ME K =is indeed 0.15 m/s to 0.2 m/s less Mesh-vane Retrofit without ASME code certification uneven; he combinations; 10 to ME 25%vendors efficiency and easy to complete project. offer and all the loss (fig 14): New support rings, beams, clips and escaping l capacity increase are easy help bolt-able segments supply. otherincluding structuresnew welding requirements, post weld damages it.

6 Install agglomerating Mesh and upstream heatDrum treatment for the above retrofits and final KO inlet diffusers 3 The bottom 99.9% of 2-micron droplets efficient DoubleASME recertification are cumbersome and time KO bottom coll Designers often neglect details while designing Pocket Vanes; considerable capacity increase taking. Vendors offer rings upward tow is easy drum inlet; consequently drums segments to position retrofit remove dro 7 Vessel Two or four banks ME configurations increase perform poorly. atFig.correct 15 depicts dia ME elements damages th flow cross sectional areas; hence the new an example.

Rings Segments location (fig 14). Crow takes inlet deflector in The new half-pipe ring segments via the vessel’s people entry penetrating into the vessel causes Spacer way and bolts the segments below following problems: Existing sandwiching at wall.

1 Gas jets to thespacers vessel back Ring each bolt location (fig 14) to 2 Consequently, due to inadeFig 14. ME Retrofit the existing ME support quate space tofactory diffusewelded the jet, liqring (MESR) 2 Retain the same KOD, with substituted latest to the shell and finally technology high efficiency ME sized to handle Industry Digest. July 2018 63 ASME certified. All the the increased throughput in place Chemical of the he segments bolted together constitute the new ring existing ME for supporting new ME at correct location. ASME Option 2 not requiring long downtime and codes permit welding beams, cleat etc. on to the expensive new vessel is the cost effective and new ring, which is not a pressure part. Thus ME is versatile approach. Below given are KOD’ indeed a short down, less expensive and easy to capacity increase retrofit techniques; use one or complete project. ME vendors offer all help more as necessary: expensive new vessel is the cost effective and KOD’ New support rings, beams, clips and use otherone welding capacity increase retrofit techniques; or structure more asrequirements, necessary: post weld heat treatment for

Retrofit without ASME code certification versatile approach.

Below given loss are

.

Compressor

Shell Wall

Gas Inlet

the listed remedies to the MEs avoids 1 below 2 uninterrupted production.

Conclusion pressure surges 3 ill effects: Fig 18.silent Through Poorly KODs are compressor killFig 17.performing Dual Boltcompressors ME 1 Reinforce with heavy-duty materials Support Rings ME ers.

New plants shall inspect their at suit2 Fasten ME elements with bolts instead of able opportunities around a year after commissioning traditional tie wires Disturbed and based on tell-tale compressor deterioration signs.

3 Gas Provide Vel an upper support ring in addition to the KOD Case Study: Fortunately, this author faced They should get their KODs studied by experts and lower one (fig 18) Profile no KOD inadequacy problem save one. The plant their proposed remedies to save their com4 Provide a pressure relief door in the caseneeded ofimplement to shut down their 3-barrel centrifugal mesh pressors for uninterrupted production.

Agitated Agitated compressor involving 2 days shutdown ea. to collected Liq collected Liq renew the eroded Intermediate Casing last wheel

Gas Inlet

Gas Inlet

2-ME normal Portion 3-ME Re-entrainment

1-ME low Efficiency Portion

Gas Inlet

Shell Wall

2-ME normal Portion 3-ME Re-entrainment

1-ME low Efficiency Portion

Gas Outlet Gas Outlet uid carrying gas flows through ME portions only.

Multi-holes inlet In addition, velocity profile is uneven; hence, ME efdiffuser velocity ficacy decreases and ME escaping liquid profile betteringentry into inlet diffuser the compressor damages it.

Normal Gas ME Pads Normal Gas Velocity rofile 3 The bottom directed gas Pjet agitates the liquidProfile colVelocity lected at the vessel Hence, the gas flowing 1 bottom.

2 3 it difficult to remove upward towards the ME finds Fig 18. Through Fig 17. Dual droplets, which escapes the ME and damages the Bolt ME Support Rings ME compressor.

4 Consequent turbulence prevents the large liquid stead of traditional tie wires Disturbed Gas Vel the resulting additional 3 Provide particles’ gravity settling; KOD Case Study: support Fortunately, author faced an upper ringthis in addition to the Profile no KOD inadequacy problem save one.

The plant liquid load on the ME could flood it. lower one (fig. 18) needed to shut down their 3-barrel centrifugal Retrofitting a properly selected inlet diffuser to the 4 Provide a pressure relief door in case of a mesh Agitated Agitated compressor involving 2 days shutdown ea. to KOD (fig 16) evens out the velocity profile across vescollected Liq collected Liq renew eroded Intermediate Casing last wheel Case the Study sel diameter before the gas moves upwards; thus KOD KODlabyrinth set.

The author concluded from laby Fig 15. KOD Inlet Poor Fortunately, the author has faced no KOD inadeFig 16. KOD Inlet effectiveness attains the desired levels. visual inspection that the synthesis gas carried Design Retrofit quacy problem. plant– needed shut down its 3 water eroded The the labys the root to cause.

Sudden pressure surges and others caused damages barrel centrifugal compressor, involving the 2 days shutThe tech services engineers plant’s The following events could potentially and seriousdown to renew the eroded intermediate casing last troubleshooters averred no water carryover 4 Consequent turbulence prevents the large st nd and 2 barrels inlet MEs likelihood from the 1 ly damage the liquid compressors: wheel labyrinth set.

The author concluded from laby particles’ gravity settling; the resulting exiting 60-bars syn gas. Never the less, they offer additional load on the ME could 1 Pressure surges fromliquid compressor recycle, e.g.flood anti-it visual inspection that the synthesis gas carried water no other reason for the laby erosion. A tech Retrofitting a properly selected the labys – the root cause. surge valve opening could dislodge the ME pad el-inleteroded journal ad on super-efficient KOD (SEKOD) diffuser to the KOD (fig 16) evens out the velocity ements, consequent liquid and even damaged pad The tech ofservices engineers, the plant’s capable coalescing even sub-micron sizedtroubleand profile across vessel diameter before the gas fragments’ entry into the compressor.

Connecting emulsified particles and draining these periodically shooters affirmed that no water carryover likelihood moves upwards; thus KOD effectiveness attains his attention.

Since no MEs other exiting solution60 was the recycle valve outlet KOD upstream is a solution. fromattracted the 1st and 2nd barrels inlet bars desired levels. apparentgas. the management authorized the author toreaof synthetic Nevertheless, they offer no other 2 Hydrates formed in Natural Gas pipelines ofSEKOD, as its negligible cost compared Sudden and others causedson install for thethelaby erosion. A tech journal ad on Super ten damage the pressure ME pads,surges vane separator, conseto laby erosion losses. Thanks to the SEKOD damages; The following events could potentiallyEfficient KOD (SEKOD), capable KOD of coalescing even quent liquid carryover into the compressor. installed downstream existing during the and seriously damage compressors: sub-micron sized and emulsified particles and drainfollowing TA Laby erosion and its associated Applying one, more, or even all of the below listtheselosses periodically, vanishedattracted forever. author’s attention. from compressor ed remedies1 toPressure the MEs surges avoid pressure surge illrecycle effects:e.g.ing huge Crew change the laby sets at 8-years Since no other solution was apparent, the management due heavy-duty to anti-surge materials valve opening could dislodge 1 .Reinforce with intervals if necessary during scheduled TAs authorized the author to install the SEKOD, as itsas negthe ME pad elements. Consequent liquid and abundant caution.

2 Fasten ME elementspadswith bolts, in- theligible even damaged fragments entry into cost compared to laby erosion losses. Thanks to compressor.

Connecting the recycle valvethe SEKOD installed, downstream existing KOD durGas Outlet Gas Outlet Conclusion: Poorly performing KODs are silent outlet KOD upstream is a solution. ing the following TA Laby erosionshall andinspect its associated compressor killers.

New plants their Multi-holes inlet 2 Hydrates formed in Natural Gas pipelines often hugecompressors losses vanished forever.opportunities around a diffuser velocity at suitable damaging ME profile padsbettering and vanes separator vanes year after commissioning andatbased tell-tale if changed the laby sets 8-yearonintervals, and consequent liquid carryover into the Crew inlet diffuser compressor deterioration signs get their KODs Normal Gas ME Pads Normal Gas compressor necessary, during the scheduled TAs, as an abundant studied by experts and implement their proposed Velocity ProfileApplying Velocity one, more, or even all ofcaution.

Profile remedies to save their compressors for

labyrinth set. The author concluded from laby Page 5 of 5 visual inspection that the synthesis gas carried water eroded the labys – the root cause.

The tech services engineers the plant’s troubleshooters averred no water carryover Industry Digest.

July 2018 64 4 Consequent turbulence prevents Chemical the large st nd likelihood from the 1 and 2 barrels inlet MEs liquid particles’ gravity settling; the resulting exiting 60-bars syn gas. Never the less, they offer additional liquid load on the ME could flood it no other reason for the laby erosion. A tech Retrofitting a properly selected inlet journal ad on super-efficient KOD (SEKOD) diffuser to the KOD (fig 16) evens out the velocity capable of coalescing even sub-micron sized and profile across vessel diameter before the gas emulsified particles and draining these periodically moves upwards; thus KOD effectiveness attains Fig 15. KOD Inlet Poor Design

Fig 16. KOD Inlet Retrofit

30

Waste Treatment

Environmental Impact of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and Overview of the Treatment Techniques Sandeep Panda, Sameena Begum, A Gangagni Rao

What is Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)?

Abstract Acidic wastewaters generated from the mining industries are referred to as Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and are known to be associated with serious environmental problems. The dissolution of heavy metals and toxic substances into the environment, as a result of AMD, cause serious concerns to the waterways and biodiversity. Over the years, several treatment techniques have surfaced for AMD management and safe treatment. The present article focuses on the origin, causes, environmental impact of AMD along with an overview of the available treatment techniques.

Dr A. Gangagni Rao is Chief Scientist at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad. He has about 28 years of research experience in the field of biological waste management (anaerobic digestion) and biological gas purification. The technologies developed by him are commercially proven in the field and working successfully. He is retained as advisory consultant by reputed companies and he has won several prestigious awards. He has 50 research publications and 4 patents to his credit.

66

M

ining activities have been practised for centuries for the commercial exploitation of mineral resources to meet the growing demand for metals. Extensive mining activities for extraction of metals, like - copper, gold, nickel etc., from their sulphides, results in the generation of wastes such as “waste rocks” and “mine tailings” at the mine site, which is dumped(1). The dumped wastes at the mine site generally come in contact with air and water (ground or rain water) that results in its weathering. This generates acids and toxic substances. The weathering of the metal sulphides can

Dr. Sandeep Panda is a SERB – National Post Doctoral Fellow (NPDF) at the CSIR – Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad.

Since 2009, he has been working on several aspects of industrial waste management such as in the areas of Bio-hydrometallurgy; Biodegradation & Bio-desulphurization. His current interests include Biological Wastewater treatment. He has published 34 peer reviewed research articles, 2 Books, 4 book chapters and several papers in National/ International conferences.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Sameena Begum has obtained her Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies. She is enrolled for Ph.D at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia and presently carrying out her doctorial studies under the guidance of Dr A Gangagni Rao at Bioengineering and environmental sciences division of CSIRIICT, Hyderabad.

Waste Treatment be chemical, hydrological or microbiological(2). Waters generated either from the waste dumps or abandoned mines are highly acidic and have elevated levels of heavy metals due to the weathering of the sulphide minerals.

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is thus an acidic wastewater, rich in metals and other toxic substances, generated from a mining site (example - coal or any metal sulphide mine).

The dissolved metals and acids seep and mix into nearby water bodies causing concerns to the waterways and biodiversity.

The mining sector in India plays an important role in the country’s economy. India stands to be the third largest producer of coal. For the year 2018, production of coal in the country has been estimated to be 676.51 million tonnes. In terms of production of Fig.1. Sources of AMD (adapted with modification from Akcil & Koldas, 2006) iron ore, India stands to be in the 4th position globally with a production reported to 210 million tonnes FY 2018.(6) This indicates that iron ores and (8) Temperature. or iron as part of other ores constitute to be a major Causes and Environmental Impact of AMD element of the mineral deposits. Generally, iron is seen In general, the dumped waste materials at the mine as iron pyrites (FeS2) when it occurs in sulphide form sites (for example in coal mines or hard rock sites) pre(details discussed below w.r.t. AMD formation). AMD dominantly contain sulphide minerals. As discussed is a common problem in coal or other sulphide-rich earlier, exposure to atmospheric oxygen or microbes mines and reports on its treatment in India are scarce. or a combination of both results in weathering of the Recently, Vyawahre and Rai (2016) have attempted minerals. There are several types of sulphide minertwo types of passive treatment methods for treatment als but Pyrite (FeS2) is the most common and abundant of AMD from Durgapur mines, Maharashtra. It is besulphide mineral found in the earth crust. Most of the lieved that, in the coming years, treatment of AMD will metals in the sulphide ores, for example - Zn in sphalbe an attractive area of research in India. erite, are commonly associated with pyrite. In addition Sources and Factors contributing towards AMD genera- to Zn, metals such as Ag, Au, Cu & Pd are also considered to be impurities associated with pyrite. Thus, tion Before going into the aspects related to the causes weathering not only results in acidity of the wastewaand impact that AMD has on the environment, it is ter (due to pyrite oxidation; the underlying chemistry important to understand the sources and factors that is discussed in the next section) but also causes the drive AMD generation. The sources of AMD can be release of heavy metals. The metal contamination in two-fold: primary and secondary (Akcil and Koldas, AMD depends on the type of mineral, amount of ex2006). The primary and secondary sources are present- posure of the metal sulphide and its oxidation. Such outputs cause several environmental problems.(2) A ed in Fig.1. picture of pyrite weathering is shown in Fig. 2a and Similarly, there are a number of factors that play a the acid rich waste waters (AMD) flowing in the minrole in AMD generation. Akcil and Koldas (2006) have ing areas is shown in Fig. 2b & c. listed the factors that play an important role in acid generation in AMD. They are as follows: (1) Microbial Underlying Chemistry of AMD Formation activity; (2) Activation energy (chemical) required to Oxidation of pyrite is the first reaction that results in initiate acid generation; (3) Activity of ferric iron; (4) generation of ferrous, sulphate and protons as shown Degree of saturation with water; (5) Concentration of in Eq. 1. The protons generated as a result of this reacoxygen in water phase; (6) Content of oxygen in the tion contribute to lowered pH causing acidity. gas phase (if saturation is less than 100%); (7) pH; the Fe+2 + 2SO4-2 + 2H+ (Eq. 1) surface area of metal sulphide exposed to air or water FeS2 + 7/2 O2 + H2O Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

67

Waste Treatment Ferrous iron oxidation depends on the oxidizing environment, pH and bacterial activity. Several microbes flourish in AMD sites (Chen et al., 2016) and contribute to ferrous iron oxidation. It can be oxidized chemically when sufficient oxygen is available in water. However, the microbial ferrous oxidation is a faster process. The oxidation of ferrous is shown as below: Fe+2 +1/4 O2 + H+

Fe+3 + ½ H2O (Fe2+ oxidized by IOB) (Eq. 2) With the increase in pH (greater than 2.3), the Fe+3 (as in Eq. 2), precipitate as Fe(OH)3 as shown in Eq. 3 Fe+3 + 3H2O

Fe (OH) 3 (solid precipitate) + 3H+

(Eq. 3)

Therefore, the overall reaction (combining Eq. 1 to 3) will be as in Eq.4.

FeS2 + 15/4 O2 + 7/2 H2O

lime, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide. Although the active chemical treatments have been used, they also have certain disadvantages in terms of higher operating costs and formation of waste sludge in the process(4).

Passive Techniques: An alternative to the active chemical treatment can be the passive technique such as anoxic limestone drains (ALD). This process is slightly different from the active method. It aims at maintaining the iron in a more reduced stage (avoiding the oxidation of the ferrous iron) and allow precipitation of ferric hydroxides on lime stone. In this process, AMD is targeted to have improved alkalinity by addition of ALD. ALD increases the alkalinity of AMD. A short-term treatment for AMD having high ferric iron or aluminium levels is considered good using ALD (4).

However, it is not suitable for all types of AMD.

Fe (OH)3 + 2SO4-2 + 4H+ (Eq. 4) Biological Systems 3+ Soluble Fe i.e. when it does not tend to precipitate Active Techniques (Sulphidogenic Bioreactors): will oxidize the metal sulphide (FeS2) as in Eq.5.

Active biological systems employ sulphidogenic bioFeS2 + 14Fe+3 + 8 H2O 15Fe+2 + 2SO4-2 + 16H+ Table. 1. Oxidation reaction of Metals sulphides to release metals(10) (Eq. 5) Thus, the overall reaction (combining the individual steps) under the above condition will be as in Eq. 6.

FeS2 + 15/8 O2 + 13/2 Fe+3 + 17/2 H2O 15/2 Fe+2 + 2SO4-2 + 17/2 H+ (Eq. 6) A number of other sulphide minerals (apart from pyrite), shown in Table.

1, are oxidized and they release metals.

However, they do not sufficiently/necessarily contribute towards acidity in AMD.

Treatment Techniques

Chemical Systems Active Techniques: The active techniques involve the use of aeration and chemical neutralizing agent. Addition of the chemical neutralizing agent will increase the pH of AMD thereby decreasing the severity of the discharge.

Also, the oxidation of ferrous iron will be facilitated upon addition of the neutralizing agent. In this process, various neutralizing agents have been tested such as lime (calcium oxide), calcium Fig. 2. Picture of (a) pyrite weathering(7); (b) Acid Mine drainage(8); (c) Acid Mine drainage (9). carbonate, magnesium oxide, slaked 68

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Waste Treatment reactors to treat AMD. Sulphidogenic bioreactors are engineered systems that employ Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB). SRB reduces the sulphate content in the AMD and generates hydrogen sulphide. The biogenic hydrogen sulphide aids in the precipitation of metals in AMD as insoluble sulphides which can be recovered and reused (4).

Passive Techniques Aerobic Wetlands: In underground mines, a common feature seen is alkaline drainage. Aerobic wetlands are constructed to treat alkaline drainages. However, alkaline drainages can turn acidic when ferrous iron is oxidized, and further oxidation might occur for products that are formed (see Eq. 2, 3 as discussed in section 4). These wetlands are shallow systems that operate by a surface flow of water. Macrophytes are planted to regulate the flow of water (ex – to prevent channeling) and they help in accumulating the insoluble ferric precipitates (4).

Compost Bioreactors or Anaerobic Wetlands: Anaerobic wetlands are different from the aerobic ones in terms of anaerobic environment and treatment of waters that are acidic. Unlike aerobic wetlands, they do not involve the use of macrophytes. The aim of such systems is to generate alkalinity and precipitate metals from AMD. Anaerobic wetlands are mostly referred to as compost bioreactors (4).

Aerobic-Anaerobic Wetlands: Passive bioremediation techniques using both the operating conditions of aerobic and anaerobic wetlands in a combination are the composite aerobic-anaerobic wetland systems and are aimed at a full scale AMD treatment (4).

Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB): PRB’s are constructed based on the principles of a compost bioreactor. Generally, PRBs are used to treat wastewaters by digging a trench on the normal path of the flowing water. The trench is filled with gravel and limestone, such that there is sufficient permeability for the effluent water. A reductive microbial process is used to generate alkalinity of the acid water and aid in further dissolution of limestone, removal of metals as sulphides, carbonates and hydroxides (4).

Iron-Oxidation Bioreactors: Ferrous iron oxidation using acidophile, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, is well known. Iron oxidization bioreactors are designed to immobilize Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans over a fixed solid matrix/support and allow oxidation of ferrous iron thereby forming the concept of packaged bed reactors (4).

Future Outlook

As we can now understand that the wastewaters generated from the mine sites cause severe environmental concerns not only for the aquatic life but also for humans inhabiting those areas. The raw wastewater generated from the mine site is not only acidic but also contains dissolved solids and metals that are unsafe for generic use. Therefore, several treatment techniques have been practised. However, more research is under progress to provide a potential solution. Currently, the use of sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) along with sulphur oxidizing bacteria (SOB) has been an area of potential research study for the safe treatment of AMD. We hope that more studies in this regard will be available in the coming future that will reduce the sulphate content in AMD as well as aid in safe removal and recovery of heavy metals.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge SERB, India for the award of National Post Doctoral Scholarship (File No. PDF/2017/000036) to Dr. Sandeep Panda and the Director, IICT, Hyderabad, India for extending the laboratory facilities to conduct research under the fellowship scheme.

References

1. Panda S, Akcil A, Pradhan N, Deveci H (2015) Current scenario of chalcopyrite bioleaching: A review on the recent advances to its heap-leach technology. Bioresour Technol 196: 694 – 706.

2. Akcil A, Koldas S (2006) Acid mine drainage (AMD): causes, treatment and case studies. J Clean Prod 14: 1139–1145.

3. Chen L, Huang L, Mendez-Garcia C, Kuang J, Hua Z, Liu J, Shu W (2016) Microbial communities, processes and functions in acid mine drainage ecosystems. Curr Opin Biotech 38:150–158.

4. Johnson DB, Hallberg KB (2005) Acid mine drainage remediation options: A review. Sci Total Env 338: 3-14.

5. Vyawahre A, Rai S (2016) Acid Mine Drainage: A Case Study of An Indian Coal Mine. International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology (IJSRSET), 2 (2): 1297-1301.

6. https://www.ibef.org/download/Metals-and-MiningReport-July-2018.pdf; https://www.ibef.org /industry/metals-and-mining-presentation.

7. http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/ photo/ pyrite-weathering/ 8. http://www.miningsafety.co.za/ newscontent/ 280/ Acidmine-drainage-poses-risks 9. Source:http://www.infrastructurene.ws/2016/05/19/permanent-solution-to-acid-mine-drainage-in-sight 10. Younger et al., 2002.

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

69

Products & & Processes PRODUCTS PROCESSES

Dehumidifier Coils for petrochemicals & fertilizer plants

T

he air is dehumidified by cooling with refrigerant much below dew point temperature & reheated with steam coil to achieve the required process temperature.

S.S. Construction Ammonia Dehumidifier with Ammonia Cooling, Pre-filters, Moisture Separator, Heating Coil & Aluminium Casing

Features: m Total Cooling Capacity : 1275000 Kcal/hr m Air Quantity : 35000CFM m Air Inlet Condition to Cooling Coil : 86ºF 86%RH m Air Outlet Condition from Cooling Coil : 45ºF (saturated) m Air Outlet Condition From Heating Coil : 167ºF & 4.5% RH m Cooling Coil : SS Tubes/SS Fing having 76.0 sq.ft Face Area x 16 Rows deep. m Heating Coils : C.S.Tubes/C.S. Fins (Hot Dip Galvanized) having 76.0 sq.ft Face Area x 4 Rows Deep For more details contact: Aerotherm Products Plot No.1517, Phase-3, GIDC Vatwa, Ahmedabad, Gujarat - 382445. Tel: 079-25890158 Mobile: +91-9898817846 Web: www.aerothermproducts.com

remove stubborn contaminants, to quickly degas fresh cleaning solutions or to prepare lab samples. This economical product line is manufactured in Germany to the highest quality standards and is backed by a 2-year warranty plus a replacement guarantee one year from the purchase date.

Features: l Unique pulse function provides powerful cleaning for difficult jobs l Thorough and uniform cleaning with sweep function l Pulse functionality for common laboratory mixing and degassing operations l Quality promise: 2-year warranty with replacement guarantee for first year l 9 units available with tanks sizes from ¼ to 7-½ gallons For more details contact: Tovatech LLC Phone: (973) 913-9734 Email: info@tovatech.com tovatech.com Web: www.tovatech.com

Koch Membrane Systems launches new filtration product line for electrocoat paint

K

och Membrane Systems, Inc. (KMS), a global leader in the development and manufacture of membrane filtration technologies, launched a new line of Electrocoat (E-coat) paint spiral ultrafiltration membranes offering manufacturers greater recovery of paint resin and pigments. This innovation provided energy efficiency, zero bypass operation and longer

Elmasonic E Plus Line Cleaners

E

lmasonic E Plus can be used for fast and thorough cleaning of a wide range of parts and instruments. Sweep frequency assures uniform cleaning action. The user activated Pulse mode adds bursts of 20% additional power to

70

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Products & Processes membrane life, as well as a simplified system design with easy and safe membrane replacement.

The new KPAK® PLUS and SPIRAPAK PLUS modules feature optimized element design and construction to improve performance while providing the same excellent separation properties and low fouling characteristics as the traditional KPAK and SPIRAPAK modules.

Features: v Paint Recovery: Recovers up to 98 percent of paint solids for reuse, while generating rinse water (permeate) for use in the plant. v Paint Bath Conductivity Control: Removes excess free ions, low molecular weight resins and carry-in from pretreatment. v Hazardous Waste Minimization: Recovers up to 98 percent of dragged out paint and reduces loading on wastewater treatment plant. v The KPAK PLUS and SPIRAPAK PLUS modules, as well as the PLUS version of the flanged and dropin spiral elements for E-Coat paint are now readily available in all product sizes and configurations.

For more details contact: Rob Carlton TEL +1 978-694-7000 Email: rob.carlton@kochcm.com Web: www.kochmembrane.com

New FKM material specifically to meet the demands of the oil and gas industry

C

. Otto Gehrckens’ newly developed FKM compound Vi 900 is a high-performance product innovation for use in the petrochemical industry. The material has proved its suitability as a dependable elastomer seal even under the most demanding conditions, complying with NORSOK test standard M-710 and also passing the hardness test with the best possible rating of 4x ‘0000’, without showing any damage whatsoever. Vi 900 is therefore ideally suited for use in production sectors which, as a result of the danger of explosive decompression, impose especially high demands on the seals used.

Features: m o u t s t a n d i n g stability under low

temperatures. m With a TR-10 value of -40°C, Vi 900 is suitable for the coldest applications, right down to -50°C and m It complies with the NORSOK standard, it therefore also complies with American standards API 6A and 6D for oil and gas installations. m It is combined with an extraordinarily good cold compression set. m The material sets new standards in relation to AED (anti-explosive decompression) and RGD (rapid gas decompression) seal materials.

A further plus point for this new FKM compound is its excellent resistance to a wide range of specific media and chemicals, from mineral oils to aliphatic, aromatic or even chlorinated hydrocarbons and also to acids in various concentrations and weak alkalis. And as the material is also characterized by very low gas permeability, a wide range of applications is possible.

Vi 900 is used as a seal material in valves, ball cocks, pig traps or slider valves in production areas where the very highest levels of reliability and the best possible quality with respect to explosive decompression are required, above all in the petrochemical industry, in compressor construction and also in compressed air preparation.

For more details contact: Henning Wrage C. Otto Gehrckens GmbH & Co. KG Tel: +49 (4101) 5002-0 E-Mail: h.wrage@cog.de# Web: www.cog.de

GKD’s ODW6 Microfilter

O

DW6 is a further development of the optimized dutch weave (ODW). With a woven pore opening of 6 µm, this single-layer mesh design more than doubles the already extremely high particle retention rate of ODW20. ODW6 combines this extreme separation rate with the high throughput required for large-scale water processing. Among other things, this qualifies it for various areas of application in the battle against microplastics. Whether they are used for filtration of outlet water at sewage plants or in sampling baskets that collect tire abrasion in street drains as a way of reducing the amount of microplastics entering aquatic systems, ODW6 meshes are already impressively demonstrating their potential in multiple research projects.

For more details contact: GKD GEBR. KUFFERATH AG Tel.: +49 (0) 2421 / 803-0 E-Mail: info@gkd.de www.gkd.de

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

71

Products & Processes

Glatt’s TwinPro® pharmaceutical plant

The Glatt Group presented The TwinPro® pharmaceutical plant combines two batch processes at ACHEMA 2018. It was honored with the ACHEMA Innovation Award, and the Process Technology Food, Feed & Fine Chemicals competence area displayed a novel compact plant concept for powder agglomeration, which can be installed and ready for operation in just 12 days. The plant combines granulation with high shear and fluidized bed drying in a single process.

The short construction time and 12-day installation period for the new GF ModFlex fluid bed compact plant for continuous spray agglomeration was a central theme within the Process Te c h n o l o g y Food, Feed & Fine Chemicals division.

A fundamentally new combination of two processes in one system allows the company to use only one installation instead of two, to reduce investment costs in equipment and technology development, while achieving the maximum efficiency of the technological process.

For more details contact Glatt Mona Berger Tel: + 49 3643 47-1502 Email: mona.berger@glatt.com

New stabilizers from Lanxess reliably protect plastics against hydrolysis

T

he Lanxess Additives business unit is expanding its product range of hydrolysis stabilizers for plastics and polyurethanes with the addition of Stabaxol L, the first product in a new line of innovative, low-emission monomeric carbodiimides.

With Stabaxol L, as with the other new carbodiimides, Lanxess is addressing the trend toward customized antihydrolysis agents that are tailor-made for use in individual applications and can thus outstand-

72

ingly meet requirements with respect to stabilization performance, toxicology, emissions and handling.

Stabaxol L shows outstanding performance when used in the polyester/polylactone polyols, thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) and other PU elastomers.

In particular its use in the polyurethane applications leads to an extension of the service life of the final article under moist and warm operating conditions. It is supplied in liquid form. It can be processed very easily as it does not have to be pre-heated in the production process, has low viscosity at room temperature and is thus easy to meter uniformly.

Typical applications include cable sheathing, shoe systems, rollers, PU hot/cold casting systems, engineering injection moldings and electronic housings.

For more details contact: Sunder Rajan Lanxess Tel: +91 22 2587 1000 (B) sunder.rajan@lanxess.com

Steridose’s Sterimixer

T

he Sterimixer is a magnetically coupled mixer for biopharmaceuticals applications.

It consists of the following major components: impeller, bearing, weld-plate, drive unit and control box.

All wetted parts of the impeller and the weld-plate are made of AISI 316 L (EN 1.4404). Interchangeable impeller designs are available.

Features: • Effective mixing • Removable drive-units • Bottom Mounted • Prevents sedimentation • Interchangeable Impellers • Low shear Design • Autoclavable • Reduces foaming • For vessels from 5 liters - 30.000 liters For more details contact: www.steridose.com

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

Events To DiaryCome

Date

Title

Venue

Contact

2018 India 9–10 August 2018

Amai Seminar on “New Developments In ChlorAlkali Processes

Chandigarh

Alkali Manufacturers Association of India Harjeet Kaur Anand Tel: 9818904989/+91-1122432003/22410150 Web: www.ama-india.org Email: hkanand@ama-india.org

23rd-25th, August 2018

Everything About Water 2018

Hall No. 12 A Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

EA Water Pvt Ltd Nisha Aggarwal Tel: +91 11 43100521/ 9910629024 Email: nisha@eawater.com, Web: www.eawater.com/expo

30th Sept to 3rd Oct 2018

CORCON 2018 International Conference & Expo

Jaipur, Rajasthan

NACE International Gateway India Section Rishikesh Mishra Tel: +91-22-25797354 Email: rishikesh@naceindia.org Website : www.naceindia.org / www. corcon.org

4th – 6th India Chem 2018 October 2018

Bombay Exhibition Centre, FICCI NSE Nesco Complex Nachiket Basole, Assistant Director Goregaon, Mumbai Tel: +91-98673 12834 Email: nachiket.basole@ficci.com Web: www.indiachem.in

11 –12 2nd Indian Surfactants October 2018 Conference

Mumbai

ICIS Conference Tel: +44 (0) 20 86524659 Email: events.registration@icis.com Web: www.icisevents.com/asianbaseoils

1st – 3rd November 2018

4th Envirotech Asia 2018

Bombay Exhibition Centre, Divyesh Bhavsar Mumbai Radeecal Phone: 07802077033, 09409084661 Email: events@radeecal.in Website: www.envirotechasia.com

10th - 14th December 2018

CPhI & P-MEC India 2018

Greater Noida, Delhi NCR

CPhI Online UBM India Pvt. Ltd. Ms. Ketki Karkhanis Tel.: 22-61727163 Email: ketki.karkhanis@ubm.com

18th – 20th 24th FAFAI Seminar on January 2019 India – The new growth story

Kochi, Kerala

Fragrances and Flavours Asson of India Kamlesh Shah Tel: +91 222090184 Email: fafailaya@gmail.com Web: fafai.org

4-5 February 2019

Mumbai

Three Ten Initiative Technologies LLP Dr. Anirudh R. Patrachari Tel: +91-73308 75310 | Mob: 87677 16688 Email: anirudhp@the310i.com / admin@ sulgasconference.com Web: sulgasconference.com

Sulgas Technical Conference

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

73

Diary

2018 Foreign 12 – 13 September 2018

7th ICIS European Butadiene and Derivatives Conference

Novotel Munchen ICIS City, Munich, Ger- Gabriella Gillett-Perez many Tel: +44 (0) 207 911 1479 Email: gabriella.gillett-perez@icis.com

26th – 28th September

11th Carbon Dioxide Utilisation Summit

Manchester, UK

ACI (Europe) Rohan Baryah T. + 48 61 646 9780 DL.+48 61 646 7022 Email: rbaryah@acieu.net Web: acieu.net

New Orleans, USA

WEFTEC Tel: 800-666-0206 Web: https://www.weftec.org/

29 September WEFTEC 2018: 91st An– 3 October nual Technical Exhibition 2018 & Conference 24th to 27th October

10 – 11 October

15-17 October

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WATEC ITALY 2018 – WA- Cremona, Italy TER TECHNOLOGIES AND MORE

KENES EXHIBITIONS Tamar Bagdadi Tel: +972-74-7457480 Email: tbagdadi@kenes-exhibitions.com Web: www.kenes-exhibitions.com

Biofuels International Conference and Expo

Berlin

Biofuels Inernational Edward McCauley edward@woodcotemedia.com Tel: +44 (0)203 551 5751 Web: https://biofuels-news.com/conference/ biofuels/biofuels_index.php

Dubai

ICIS Hannah Mahoney Web: www.icisevents.com/middleeastbaseoils Tel: +44 (0) 20 8652 4659 Email: events.registration@icis.com

15th ICIS Middle Eastern Base Oils & Lubricants Conference

26th – 28th November

13th Annual GPCA Forum

Madeinath, Jumeira, GPCA Dubai Jill Raine Email: GPCA.registrations@rbi.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 8652 3233

8–9 November

8th ICIS Asian Surfactants Conference

Singapore

ICIS Lynn Neil Tel: +44 (0) 7827 939182 Email: lynn.neil@icis.com Web: www.icisevents.com/ asiansurfactants

29 – 30 November

Salt Asia 2018

Hong Kong

Roskill Information Services — Head Office Tel: +44 20 8417 0087 Web: roskill.com

11-13th December 2018

5th Winter Process Chemistry Conference & Exhibition

Manchester, UK

Scientific Update Hanna May Tel: +44 (O) 1435873062 Email: hannah@scientificupdate.com Web: www.scientificupdate/events

Chemical Industry Digest. July 2018

HAVER IBAU INDIA powder and pigment filling technology and expertise www.haveribauindia.com

Your Challenge:

Our Solution:

Your Advantage:

Profitable business with high

HAVER M-Series bag filling machines.

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quality powders and pigments.

appreciated by your customers.

The HAVER bag filling process know-how, reflecting one century of experience with filling of more than 20 000 different bulk products into bags, provides filling systems with best performance and weight accuracy as well as lowest dust emissions.

HAVER IBAU INDIA Pvt. Ltd. Survey No. 32/4/41 & 42 Khandiwada, Baroda Halol Road, Post Asoj,Vadodara 391 510 Gujarat, India Phone: +91 2676 306-600 E-mail: info@haveribauindia.com •

Registered with Registrar of Newspaper, New Delhi under R.N. No. 47002/1988. Total Pages: 76 Postal Reg. No. MCN/31/2017-19. Publishing date: 26th of each month. Posting date: 26/27th of each month.

YOU CAN’T

USE CO2 TO ACHIEVE

CLEANER PRODUCTION. WHY NOT?

Covestro approaches sustainability with tireless ingenuity. As a leading global polymer company, we push boundaries with innovation like using CO2 as a new raw material for plastics. Our commitment is strong and our goal is clear: to deliver products and technologies that help society while reducing impact on the planet. Learn more about how we're helping to make the world a brighter place at covestro.in