Chemical World - July 2011

Also available in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, China & Hong Kong

INDUSTRY WATCH - Chemical World

July 2011

EDITORIAL

The logistics labyrinth

G

one are the days when supply chain invariably meant purchasing activity!

Logistics is not any more just another functional cost, but a strategic value enabler for an organisation, probably in the same league as production and sales. Several recent developments in the global chemical sector reinforce this paradigm shift.

To begin with, there is a distinctive trend towards supply chain integration. Moreover, leading players in chemicals have initiated integration of logistics as a key component of their business planning process. So much so, proprietary systems are being shared to effect greater connectivity with third-party logistics providers (3PLs), carriers and customers.

Taking a step further, there is a growing focus on reducing the carbon footprint of chemical logistics. However, India, going by the current state of affairs seems to have a long way to go as far as this global trend is concerned. The reality involves several practical challenges in implementing the green approach in a cost-effective manner.

To elaborate, given the sorry state of infrastructure – far from adequate roads, expressways, transport hubs, etc – the result is more carbon emissions, and hence the whole purpose of green logistics gets defeated.

Besides, a dearth of qualified & trained

Business Insights Technologies Opportunities

Editor : Manas R Bastia Assistant Editor: Rakesh Rao Senior Features Writer: Prasenjit Chakraborty Features Writer: Mahua Roy Correspondent: Avani Jain (Ahmedabad) Copy Editor: Marcilin Madathil Edit Associate - Products: Paskaline Sebastian Assistant Art Director: Varuna Naik Chief Photographer: Mexy Xavier Photographer: Neha Mithbawkar, Joshua Navalkar Design: Mahendra Varpe Production: Vikas Bobhate, Pravin Koyande, Dnyaneshwar Goythale, Ravikumar Potdar, Ravi Salian, Sanjay Shelar, Lovey Fernandes, Pukha Dhawan, Varsha Nawathe, Akshata Rane, Abhay Borkar Marketing & Branding: Jagruti Shah, Ganesh Mahale CEO-Publishing: Sandeep Khosla Associate Vice President: Sudhanva Jategaonkar Subscription: Sunil Nair, Distribution Head Email: sunil.nair@network18online.com, customercare@infomedia18.in Tel: 91-22-3003 4631/4633

personnel and limited application of the latest technology & equipment compound the complexity of the challenges facing chemical logistics in India.

So, how does one go beyond this logistics labyrinth and realise the right set of services, in line with rising health, safety and environment standards? As a starting point, the logistics service provider needs to offer a thorough costbenefit analysis, and effectively communicate the value-addition that the user will achieve upon implementation of green logistics.

On the part of the government, tax relief for green logistics operations as well as supporting construction of eco-friendly warehouses and other storage facilities (preferably shared ones) will go a long way towards further restricting carbon footprint. Turn to ‘Sector Watch’ and ‘Trend Analysis’ for more such insights into chemical logistics.

Should you be interested in the evolving dynamics of the petrochemical sector, especially in India, ‘Industry Update’ and ‘Market Scope’ have a lot to offer. Read on...

Editorial Advisory Board Pothen Paul Executive Chairman, Aker Powergas Pvt Ltd D P Misra Director, TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd and Former Director General, ICC P D Samudra Executive Director (Sales) & Member of the Board, Uhde India Pvt Ltd

Manas R Bastia Editor manas@infomedia18.in Mumbai : Tel: 022-3003 4640 Fax: 022-3003 4499 Email: spmktg@infomedia18.in

Editorial & Business Office Infomedia 18 Ltd, Special Interest Publications Division, ‘A’ Wing, Ruby House, J. K. Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai 400 028 Tel: 91-22-3024 5000/3003 4672, Fax: 91-22-3003 4499 Email: chemedit@infomedia18.in

New Delhi (Mukesh/Surendra): Tel: 011-6630 3278 Fax: 011-2332 7884 Email: sipd.delhi@infomedia18.in

Other Business Offices Ahmedabad (Shashin): Tel: 079-3982 6432 Fax: 079-3982 6464 Email: sipdahmedabad@infomedia18.in

Surat (Sunil): Tel: 0261-263 0181 Fax: 0261-263 0974 Email: surat@infomedia18.in

Pune (Rohit): Tel: 020-3322 3309 Fax: 020-3322 3322 Email: sipd.pune@infomedia18.in

Bangalore (Mahadev B): Tel: 080-3001 0900 Fax: 080-3001 0999 Email: sipd.bang@infomedia18.in

Vadodara (Samarth): Tel: 0265-392 6500/1 Fax: 0265-235 6013 Email: vadodara@infomedia18.in

Chennai (Hari): Tel: 044-3986 4200 Fax: 044-3986 4250 Email: sipd.chennai@infomedia18.in

Jaipur (Durgesh): Tel: 0141-300 7414; 300 7411 Fax: 0141-221 3728 Email: sipd.rajasthan@infomedia18.in

Ringier Trade Media Ltd Overseas Contacts China: Tel: +86 21 6289 5533 Ext. 368; Fax: +86 21 6247 4855 Email: craig@ringier.com.hk Hong Kong: Tel: +852 2369 8788 Ext. 21; Fax: +852 2869 5919 Email: octavia@ringier.com.hk Taiwan: Tel: +886 4 2329 7318 Ext. 16; Fax: +886 4 2310 7167 Email: sydneylai@ringier.com.hk Singapore: Tel: +65 9625 7863; Fax: +65 6841 5273 Email: annie@janianmedia.com Germany, Austria, Switzerland: Tel: +41 44 734 0472 Fax: +41 44 734 0680 Email: info@islerannoncen.ch

Kolkata (Deb Ranjan): Tel: 033-2265 8637/38 Fax: 033-2265 2964 Email: sipd.kol@infomedia18.in

B2B Portales: Tel: +1 305 4486227 Email : tbeirne@b2bportales.com

Ludhiana (Inder): Tel: 0161-302 6198/99, 302 6200 Fax: 0161-302 6198 Email: ludhiana@infomedia18.in

Issue Price: ` 100

Cochin (Robin): Tel: 0484-4054 380/90 Fax: 0484-405 4370 Email: kochi@infomedia18.in Coimbatore (Prakash): Tel: 0422-309 2600 628 Fax: 0422-309 2666 Email: coimbatore@infomedia18.in Hyderabad (Rahul): Tel: 040-3064 7600 Fax: 040-3064 7676 Email: sipd.hyderabad@infomedia18.in Indore (Ameya): Tel: 0731-307 4876 Fax: 0731-307 4882 Email: sipd.indore@infomedia18.in

Annual Subscription: ` 799

Printed by Mohan Gajria and published by Lakshmi Narasimhan on behalf of Infomedia 18 Limited and printed at Infomedia 18 Ltd, Plot no.3, Sector 7, off Sion-Panvel Road, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400 706, and published at Infomedia 18 Ltd, ‘A’ Wing, Ruby House, J.K.Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai - 400 028.

Chemical World is registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India under No. 14798/2005. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Infomedia 18 Limited.

Infomedia 18 Limited reserves the right to use the information published herein in any manner whatsoever. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the information published in this edition, neither Infomedia 18 Ltd nor any of its employees accept any responsibility for any errors or omission. Further, Infomedia 18 Ltd does not take any responsibility for loss or damage incurred or suffered by any subscriber of this magazine as a result of his/her accepting any invitation/offer published in this edition. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Editor: Manas R Bastia

July 2011 | Chemical World

13

CONTENTS

30

LEADERS SPEAK “Automation can make a huge difference in non-bio-based as well as renewable-based facilities” ...says Louis Meyer, Director - Global Industry Solutions (Chemical & Biofuels Industry), Invensys Operations Management

30

ROUNDTABLE Industry-academia collaboration: A distant dream or a soon-to-be reality?

34

FACILITY VISIT Rockwool Insulation India Pvt Ltd: Energising industry with sustainable solutions

38

SECTOR WATCH 42

Chemical logistics: Taking a ‘green’ route

34

TREND ANALYSIS Hazardous chemicals transportation: Exploring a safe mode

46

INDUSTRY UPDATE Petrochemical industry: In transition towards cleaner alternatives

50

MARKET SCOPE Polymers: The changing market dynamics Deepak Mahurkar, Associate Director – Oil & Gas Practice, PwC India

54

RESEARCH ZONE R&D in chemical industry: Catalyst to score high on innovation Dr Surendra Kulkarni, Senior Director - R&D and CTO, Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd

56

ENERGY MANAGEMENT Blowdown condensate: Opportunity to optimise energy utilisation Suhas C Mekhe, Head - SPES Division, Spirax Marshall, A Forbes Marshall Group Company

42

59

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS Workplace protection: Donning the safety harness Shrikant Kulkarni, GM - Occupational Health and Environmental Safety Division, 3M India

64

TECH TRACK 67

Water treatment market: Giving a ‘Finnish’ing touch

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS Supplier and partner focus: Enabling improvement, recognising performance

69

Suresh Lulla, Founder & Managing Director, Qimpro Consultants Cover photo shoot: Joshua Navalkar

R EG U L A R S EC TI O N S

50

56

Editorial .................................................... 13 National News ......................................... 16 National News - Report .......................... 20 World News............................................. 22 Tech Updates ........................................... 26 Events Calendar ....................................... 76 Product Update........................................ 81 Product Index........................................... 87 Advertisers’ List ....................................... 88

Highlights of Next Edition Sector Watch

: Asset Optimisation

Industry Update : Base Chemicals Note: ` stands for Indian rupee, $ stands for US dollar and £ stands for UK pound, unless mentioned otherwise

14

Chemical World | July 2011

Details on page no. 27-28, 72-75, 76

NATIONAL NEWS

SAFETY POLICY

NEW FACILITY

WACKER commissions silicone rubber compounding plant near Kolkata The Munich-based chemical group WACKER has commissioned a compounding plant at its joint venture site Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt Ltd (WMC) near Kolkata for the manufacture of ready-to-use silicone elastomers. The plant is designed for an annual production volume of several thousand metric tonne and can be expanded in stages as demand requires. It is intended to supply high-quality silicone compounds faster and more flexibly to India’s strongly growing economy.

“India is one of our fastest-growing sales markets,” said Dr Bernd Pachaly, Head, Engineering Silicones Business Unit, WACKER. The new SILMIX facility is constructed according to WACKER standards and will produce silicone compounds for the Indian electronics, automotive and medium & high-voltage insulator market as well as for other industries.

Soumitra Mukherjee, Managing Director, WMC, termed the investment as an important milestone for the joint venture. “WACKER and Metroark have been working together with great success for over a decade. With our range of high quality silicone products, we are already market leaders in many industries in India today,” said Mukherjee. He pointed out that the plant includes a stateof-the-art lab for quality control. With its new compounding plant in Kolkata, WACKER is excellently positioned. “This way it is possible to test and develop high quality silicone compounds for the Indian market locally. This is a major competitive advantage for our customers, who are often under tremendous pressure to deliver quality on time,” emphasised Mukherjee.

For the manufacture of silicone compounds, the crosslinker, pigment and other additives are usually mixed into the rubber base. Blends such as these are used in a number of industries such as automotive, electrical, etc.

India becomes compliant with global GLP norm India has achieved the status of full adherence to Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) certified by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). With this certificate, India has become the third key emerging economy, after South Africa and Singapore, to join the OECD system for mutual acceptance of data in the assessment of chemicals, ensuring that the results of non-clinical chemical safety tests done here will be accepted in all other member countries. Earlier, manufacturers wanting to export pharmaceuticals and agro products had to get the tests done overseas.

Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, said, “This development demonstrates the confidence of the OECD council in India’s compliance monitoring system and the transparent procedures and processes for monitoring and complaint redressal present here.”

POLYMERS

ACQUISITION

Dhunseri Petrochem lays foundation for PET resin plant in Egypt

BASF approves acquisition of Cognis in India

One of the leading Indian producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, Dhunseri Petrochem & Tea Ltd, recently announced that its subsidiary, Egyptian Indian Polyster Company (EIPET), has laid the foundation stone for the 4,20,000 MT/year PET resin plant at the port town of Ain Sokhna, northwest of the Gulf of Egypt.

The plant is estimated to cost $ 160 million and is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2012.

Initial revenues of $ 700 million/year are forecast when fully operational.

Dhunseri Petrochem currently operates a 2,00,000 MT/year PET resin plant at Haldia, and with its brownfield expansion underway, the total capacity of the Haldia plant will exceed 4,00,000 MT/year by March 2012.

16

Chemical World | July 2011

Prasad Chandran

Consequent to the acquisition of Cognis Holding GmbH by BASF SE worldwide in December 2010, the Board of Directors of BASF India Ltd recently approved the proposal to purchase the business of Cognis Specialty Chemicals Pvt Ltd in India,

for a lump sum consideration of ` 134 million.

“With the acquisition of Cognis, BASF will strengthen its Performance Products business and further expand our position as the world’s leading chemical company,” said Prasad Chandran, Chairman, BASF Companies in India and Head, South Asia.

“The product portfolio of Cognis complements BASF’s product portfolio well. We are now in a position to serve our customers better,” he added.

The integration of Cognis into BASF India Ltd will strengthen its leading position in personal care ingredients and value-added products for home care. It will also expand BASF’s existing portfolio in the nutrition & health as well as detergents & formulations businesses.

NATIONAL NEWS

CAPEX PLANS

GACL plans expansion in South Gujarat Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd (GACL) has commissioned its third phase 14,000 tonne per annum hydrogen peroxide expansion project at Dahej in South Guajrat. With this expansion, the total hydrogen peroxide production capacity of the company has increased to 39,080 tonne per annum.

Meanwhile, the company is also in the process of setting up a project to manufacture 20,000 tonne per annum of sodium chlorate crystals for which it has awarded ` 1,435 crore towards engineering services, procurement assistance and supply of proprietary items for the project to UHDE India. The project is scheduled to be commissioned in June 2013.

CARBON BLACK

Aditya Birla Group acquires Columbian Chemicals Aditya Birla Group recently announced its complete acquisition of Columbian Chemicals Company, an Atlanta-based carbon black maker, for $ 875 million.

“The completion of the acquisition of Columbian Chemicals is indeed a milestone in our carbon black business.

At one stroke, it doubles our capacity, from one million tonne to two million tonne,” said Santrupt Misra, Member of the newly-formed Board of Columbian Chemicals.

Carbon black additives are used by tyre and other rubber manufacturers.

Its products also service the ink and plastic segments. The acquisition has helped the Aditya Birla Group to extend its geographical reach and to gain a foothold in North and South America.

“Columbian Chemicals’ excellent R&D

capability, multiple specialty products, the customer connect in North America and South America, coupled with committed teams, will add to the strength of the carbon black business,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, Group Chairman, Aditya Birla Group.

Columbian Chemicals is among the world’s leading producers of carbon black. The company and its affiliates own and operate 12 manufacturing facilities in the US, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Korea and Spain, employing 1,300 people. The newly-constituted Board for Columbian Chemicals will be chaired

by Birla. Other directors in the Board include Kevin Boyle (CEO, Columbian Chemicals), Rajashree Birla, Rajiv Dube, Santrupt Misra and D D Rathi.

WATER TECHNOLOGY

EPC CONTRACTS

Aquatech invests in WEX

TICB bags contracts in Gujarat and Bahrain

Aquatech, one of the global leaders in water purification for industrial and infrastructure markets, has made a strategic investment into WEX Technologies Pvt Ltd, a leading provider of performance water treatment chemicals and services, located in Pune.

WEX’s chemical product solutions address applications for boilers, cooling towers, and reverse osmosis & thermal evaporator anti-scalants and cleaners.

Over the past 10 years, WEX has experienced consistent growth and has built an impressive customer base, particularly in the power, petrochemical, and oil & gas markets.

“Aquatech has been focussed on growth in India by providing innovative and integrated technological solutions.

Investment into WEX will enhance our ability to add value to our clients by providing them a total water management solution. By working together, Aquatech and WEX can help our clients use less water and optimise cost by managing their water consumption,“ said Devesh Sharma, Managing Director, Aquatech.

18

Chemical World | July 2011

Devesh Sharma

WEX will continue to operate as an independent entity with the original founders continuing in their management capacities. “This investment by Aquatech will provide WEX the required infrastructure and network to meet its accelerated growth plans and help WEX cater to the entire spectrum of water treatment needs of its clients,” said Dhrubo Banerjee, Managing Director, WEX.

Tecnimont ICB Pvt Ltd (TICB) has been awarded two EPC contracts on lumpsum turnkey basis for the realisation of polyolefin plants for PE and PP in Dahej, Gujarat, for ONGC Petro additions Ltd (OPaL), a joint venture company promoted by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) along with other co-promoters, ie the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) and GAIL. The two contracts, worth about $ 440 million, cover the implementation of a PP plant and two HD/LLD swing PE plants. The Ineos’ Innovene PP process will be used for the polypropylene plant and the Ineos’ Innovene G process will be used for the two LL/HD swing PE plants.

Apart from this, TICB has been awarded two contracts for supply and installation of HP steam boiler and substation projects in Bahrain. The client is Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC), a joint venture equally owned by the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, SABIC, and Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), Kuwait.

NATIONAL NEWS

INVESTMENT

Carlyle Asia invests $ 25 million in Visen Industries Carlyle Asia Growth, arm of the Washington-based Carlyle Group has invested $ 25 million in Visen Industries, a manufacturer of water-based polymer emulsions in India. The funds will be utilised by Visen to expand its manufacturing capacities in India and abroad, Carlyle said in a statement. Carlyle’s investment is from its $ 1.04 billion fund, FCV III, a part of Carlyle Asia Growth Partners IV (CAGP IV), which invests in India. Alpen Capital was the sole financial advisor to Carlyle for the transaction.

“Visen’s business is a play on the strong consumptionled demand growth across paints, textiles, adhesives and construction in India and other emerging markets. Visen has a clear track record of growth and a well-defined strategic roadmap for future expansion,” said Wayne Tsou, Growth Capital Head and Managing Director, Carlyle Asia.

Visen has long-standing relationships with industry players including Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac and Jotun Paints, Carlyle said. “We are pleased to be associated with The Carlyle Group and hope to leverage this relationship as we continue to build Visen into a global player in the polymer emulsion industry,” said Vijay Nair, Managing Director, Visen.

RECOGNITION

Forbes Marshall judged 11th best place to work in India Forbes Marshall has been ranked No 11 in the top 25 ‘Best Workplaces’ in India for the year 2011 based on a survey conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute in association with The Economic Times. The study, conducted annually, is in its eighth year and has a presence in across 40 countries around the globe covering over one million employees.

Forbes Marshall, the only Pune based company to make it to the top 50 list for the country, was awarded the 11 th position among 471 companies which participated in the survey across all sections in the industry.

Forbes Marshall was also recognised as 2 nd best company in the ‘manufacturing & production industry’ and in ‘employee participation in CSR activities’. This is the third time Forbes Marshall is ranked among India’s top 25 Best Workplaces. They were also listed among the top 25 in 2005 and 2008.

July 2011 | Chemical World

19

NATIONAL NEWS Report

Chemicals consumption

Demand on an upswing The quest for products that make life better by the increasing number of middle-class populace will fuel the growth of chemical industry in India.

Prasenjit Chakraborty

T

he consumption of chemicals in India is projected to grow in the near future as the demand from burgeoning middle class population for products that enable better living is on the rise, according to a new report, ‘Compass 2011: Global chemicals sector midyear outlook’, from the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd’s (DTTL) Global Manufacturing Industry Group. The report indicates that the global chemical industry is continuing to recover, with revenue growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.9 per cent over the near term. This trend is expected to continue into the second half of 2011 and sectors like automotive, construction, pharmaceutical and consumer products are expected to fuel the growth.

“The consumption of chemicals in India is still low as compared to other countries, which suggests room for growth,” pointed out Kumar Kandaswami, Leader – Manufacturing, Deloitte, India.

According to Kandaswami for expediting the industry’s growth, research & development and green chemistry would be clear priorities. “This sector is also heavily dependent on good quality infrastructure to transport and store both input material and finished products – given the cost pressures; the sector will hugely benefit, if the quality of the infrastructure improves,” he opined.

Table 1: Global chemical industry: Change in share of total industry revenue by region (2009-2010) Region

2009 share of total industry revenue

2010 share of total industry revenue

Percentage of change

Asia-Pacific

43.7%

45.4%

1.7%

America

31.7%

31.0%

-0.7%

Europe

24.6%

23.6%

-1.0%

Total

100%

100%

(Source: DTTL’s Global Manufacturing Industry Group analysis and Datamonitor’s ‘Industry profile: Global chemicals’ November 2010)

20

Chemical World | July 2011

Speaking on India and China, Kandaswami said that the scope and scale are vastly different for the two countries. “Given the price advantages in the feedstock, quality of infrastructure and the scale of firms, China would continue to stay highly cost competitive. Therefore, companies from India will continue to have strong competition from China. It is likely that the migration of capacities from developed economies to China will happen first before capacity moves to India. This may result in over-capacity in some sectors forcing Chinese manufacturers to aggressively seek export opportunities, thereby putting pressure on the local players,” he explained.

Global scenario Looking ahead, China is anticipated to dominate the global chemical scene with the highest percentage revenue growth for the remaining of 2011. Markets such as India, Brazil and Korea will follow China closely.

While demand in the US and Europe is expected to be moderate, higher prices are likely to translate into stronger revenues for chemical companies in these markets this year. Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is an important trend for the global chemicals sector, with 2011 deal volumes and values likely to exceed pre-recession figures. India, China and other developing countries are likely to be targets for M&A activity in both chemical and plastics sectors.

According to the report, sustainable housing and agriculture are two global megatrends at play this year for chemical companies looking to gain a competitive advantage. “Chemical companies in India have woken up to concepts in sustainable technologies and not merely from an angle of corporate social responsibility. The impetus on being sustainable for Indian chemical companies can be noticed across most business processes; in areas of procurement, product design innovation, manufacturing, marketing and even reporting” said Vijay Iyer, Leader - Chemicals Sector, Deloitte, India.

WORLD NEWS

NEW PLANT

STRATEGIC ACQUISITION

Eastman to acquire Sterling Chemicals Eastman Chemical Company has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Sterling Chemicals Inc, a single site North American petrochemical producer, for $ 100 million in cash. The transaction includes Sterling’s plasticiser and acetic acid manufacturing assets in Texas City.

Eastman plans to modify and restart Sterling’s currently idled plasticiser manufacturing facility to produce non-phthalate plasticisers, including Eastman 168™ non-phthalate plasticisers. This additional capacity will enable the company’s Performance Chemicals and Intermediates (PCI) segment to serve the growing market demand for non-phthalate alternatives. In the North American and European non-phthalate plasticisers markets, total sales volume is expected to increase at a compounded annual rate of approximately seven per cent over the next five years.

“This acquisition supports our growth strategy for our plasticiser product line, and will enable us to keep pace with the growing demand for non-phthalate alternatives, like our Eastman 168™,” said Ron Lindsay, Executive Vice President, Performance Chemicals and Intermediates, and Fibers, Eastman.

WACKER starts new production lines for silicone elastomers WACKER, the Munich-based chemical group, has started operating several silicone-polymer production lines at its Burghausen site in Germany. The lines are for high-purity specialty silicones, encapsulation and coating compounds, as well as UV-activated silicones for the medical, LED and electronics industries. As these products must meet particularly high quality and purity

BUSINESS INITIATIVE

Microfluidics launches PureNano Group Microfluidics, the exclusive global provider of Microfluidizer® high shear fluid processors, has launched a dedicated, internal PureNano Group (PNG) to develop go-to-market strategies for PureNano. This is an exclusive, award-winning, processing technology used to create tailored nanomaterials through crystallisation, chemical reaction and nano-encapsulation.

Applications of the technology include nanotechnology-based novel pharmaceuticals, functional foods and catalysts. “Our PureNano technology is a leap forward for materials engineering

in producing the purest, most uniform nano-sized substances available anywhere. The PNG has the passion and commitment to advance PureNano technology, process consulting, training and implementations. I am confident that we will achieve new levels of product quality and process efficiency for the pharmaceutical market, the energy industry and beyond,” said Thomai (Mimi) Panagiotou, Chief Technology Officer, Microfluidics. It combines a high shear fluid processor with expert process development and is a revolutionary technology for bottomup nanoparticle creation offering.

requirements, a new cleanroom facility was added to the site. By expanding its cleanroom capacity, WACKER can continue to extend its leading position in the field of high-purity silicones and encapsulants.

The new facility sets standards in the manufacture of high-purity silicones. It meets WACKER’s novel ‘Clean Operations’ principles, and thus fulfils quality and purity standards.

“This plant operates as per selected Good Manufacturing Practice principles, making it one of a kind worldwide,” said Dr Bernd Pachaly, Head, Engineering Silicones Business Unit, Wacker.

PROCESS EFFICIENCY

PRICE HIKE

High time for major breakthrough in PI technologies

LANXESS increases prices for technical rubber grades

According to Roger Benson, former ICI Head of Manufacturing Technology, after 30 years of false starts, the time has come for process intensification (PI) technologies to make a major breakthrough in the chemical and process industries. Speaking at the 3rd European Process Intensification Conference, organised by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and held in Manchester (the UK), he argued that PI practitioners had repeatedly failed to make a sound investment case in support of the adoption of ground-breaking technologies, including rotating packed bed distillation columns. He said, “In the 1980s, business survival did not depend on the adoption of the latest technology. Add to this a conservative mindset among chemical engineers and a failure to shout about the cost benefits, and it is no surprise that PI has not had the impact that it should have had.”

22

Chemical World | July 2011

LANXESS has increased prices for its Perbunan and Krynac synthetic rubber ranges and its Baymod and Nanoprene products by Euro 150 per metric tonne, with effect from July 1, 2011.

The reason for this price adjustment is the rise in manufacturing costs.

LANXESS is one of the leading suppliers of specialty elastomers for the rubber processing industry. The rubbers supplied by the Technical Rubber Products business unit provide solutions for an extraordinarily broad range of applications.

WORLD NEWS

PRODUCT EXPANSION

CHANGE OF GUARD

AkzoNobel appoints new CEO The Supervisory Board of AkzoNobel NV has announced that Hans Wijers, Chief Executive Officer, has decided to step down with effect from the Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2012. The Supervisory Board also announced the appointment of Ton Büchner as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer – pending AGM approval – with effect from the AGM 2012. Büchner is currently President & Chief Executive Officer of Sulzer AG. He joined Sulzer Ton Büchner in 1994 and has held a number of operational & leadership roles across the company. A Dutch national, Büchner graduated from Delft University of Technology with an MSc in Civil Engineering and gained an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland.

In another development, AkzoNobel has entered into a partnership in China with Quangxi CAVA Titanium Industry Co Ltd for the production and supply of titanium dioxide (TiO2), one of the most important raw materials in the production of paints & coatings.

CARBON STORAGE

Shell inks pact for carbon dioxide storage project in Canada Shell has signed agreement with the Governments of Alberta and Canada to secure $ 865 million in funding for its Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project in Canada.

The Quest Project will capture and permanently store more than one million tonne of CO2 deep underground per year from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta, which processes heavy oil from the Athabasca oil sands.

“Quest would be the first application of CCS technology for an

oil sands upgrading operation. Not only would it allow us to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our oil sands operation here in Alberta, but it will contribute to the global knowledge that will help to get other CCS projects up and running more quickly,” said John Abbott, Executive Vice President, Heavy Oil, Shell. The company aims to be a leader in continuously improving its oil sands environmental performance, through CO2 reduction, improved water management and minimising the impacts of tailings ponds.

Tyco Flow Control introduces new M30 series Tyco Flow Control, a unit of Tyco International, announced the expansion of its Anderson Greenwood instrument valve line, by introducing the new M30 series primary isolation instrumentation root valve. This state-of-the-art valve series was created to provide a large-bore isolation valve to handle particularly hostile environments and processes including high temperatures

and pressures, while providing excellent seating capabilities. The M30 series includes single block (M37), block and bleed (M38), as well as double block and bleed (M39) functions built into one compact modular single valve body. This eliminates the need for field assembly and testing of conventional valve & fitting stacks while reducing leak points.

“The introduction of the M30 series of valve demonstrates our continued commitment to providing advanced technology and superior service to our customers,” said Ed Ross, Business Development & Marketing Manager, Pressure Management Group, Tyco.

NEW DEAL

ECO-FRIENDLY SOLUTION

Li3 signs MoU to explore intensified evaporative technology for use in Maricunga Project

Chinese firm to use UOP’s methanol technology

Li3 Energy, Inc, a US-listed and Peruvian-based global exploration company in the lithium and minerals sector, announced that it has executed an exploratory Memorandum of Understanding with R3 Fusion Inc, New York. R3 Fusion is a leading technology company focussed on applying a new, proprietary technology to address global challenges in environmental & water issues including desalination, industrial & municipal wastewater treatment, water recovery & reuse, bio-fuel processes and fine chemical synthesis. According to Li3, R3’s technology could radically improve the methods and approaches used in lithium brine processing.

24

Chemical World | July 2011

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that China’s Wison (Nanjing) Clean Energy Company Ltd has selected UOP technology to convert methanol into building blocks for chemical products at an existing coal chemical complex in China. The project will be the first commercial-scale installation of Honeywell UOP’s advanced MTO methanolto-olefins solution, which allows petrochemical producers to use methanol from natural gas or coal, instead of petroleum, to produce high yields of high-value plastics and petrochemicals. This solution allows producers in countries with limited supplies of crude oil, but plentiful quantities of coal or natural gas, to produce high-value petrochemicals.

TECH UPDATES

Cole-Parmer develops Polystat laboratory baths and circulators

First self-powered modular cellulose ethanol refinery established in the US

Cole-Parmer has launched Polystat® circulating water baths and immersion circulators, which offer excellent temperature stability for a range of laboratory applications. Cole-Parmer has redesigned and updated its line to offer even more versatile models – Polystat Heating Immersion Circulators, Polystat Open Heating Circulating Baths, Polystat Stainless Steel Heating Circulating Baths and Polystat Cooling/Heating Circulating Baths.

High-stability Polystat Heating Immersion Circulators provide temperature control up to 200°C and inlet/outlet connections for circulation to external open- or closed-loops.

Polystat Open Heating Circulating Baths offer an economical alternative to stainless steel baths and are operated by a two-speed pump with adjustable nozzle. For more demanding applications, it offers Polystat Stainless Steel Heating Circulating Baths, which are driven by a two-speed pump and are available in standard or advanced models.

For broad temperature ranges from -35 to 200°C, Polystat Cooling/ Heating Circulating Baths include a powerful refrigeration system. These baths are available in standard digital The new Polystat baths or advanced digital models.

The US-based Allard Research and Development has reportedly developed the world’s first self-powered modular cellulose ethanol refinery utilising cellulose feedstock grown as part of the system in hydroponic shipping containers.

A 20 gallon-per-hour modular cellulose ethanol refinery module with feedstock grow containers will have a 3,600 sq ft footprint. These modules can be networked together to increase the size of the refinery without losing efficiencies. Adam Allard, Founder and Chairman, Allard Research and Development, informed, “The ability to grow the cellulose feedstock as part of the system is a gamechanger. Historically, the big limiting factor for people wanting to make their own ethanol fuel has been a lack of abundant feedstock. Now it comes with the system.”

The technology and process behind the Allard ethanol refinery is unique. The seeds are the input and ASTM fuel grade ethanol is the output of the refinery. The ethanol production refinery tightly integrates an engine, generator, and distillation system together. This approach uses the waste heat from the engine for the distillation process, and creates enough electricity to power the entire plant operation.

Interstate Products launches rapid entry spill containment

Simulator can improve hydrogen safety

The US-based Interstate Products Inc (IPI), the leading manufacturer of spill containment products and the preferred source for environmental and industrial solutions, has introduced an enhanced line of rapid entry spill containment berms. The company’s new high performance XR-5 berm options are manufactured with 30 mm XR-5 fabric from Seaman’s Corporation and offer the highest standards of durability & spill containment.

IPI’s Rapid Entry Ready Berm is a secondary containment solution that helps industry comply with SPCC mandates at oil, fuel & chemical storage facilities and provides release containment for petroleum products & various chemicals handled in manufacturing processes around the world.

Typical applications for the portable containment berms include containing fuel tankers during transfer operations, providing containment for above-ground storage tanks, portable generator sets and chemical & hydrocarbon storage drums. IPI’s spill berms are able to contain thousands of gallons when required and are fast and easy to deploy & break down. The new line also features a collapsible ‘L’ Bracket Wall construction. The exit and entry walls are made with edges that lay almost flat on the ground so that trucks may drive in and out freely. The edge will automatically rise with the level of any spill.

26

Chemical World | July 2011

The Flame Acceleration Simulator (FLACS), originally developed for natural gas modelling, has been refined by the Norwegian firm, GexCon, to model hydrogen dispersal.

Tests have shown that the simulator can predict the outcomes of hydrogen dispersal scenarios precisely. FLACS is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool for predicting the dispersal patterns of hazardous gases and analysing the risk of explosion. The tool has already earned good standing in the oil & gas industry for simulations of natural gas dispersal.

Ten years ago, GexCon began further developing FLACS to simulate hydrogen – and now the model can portray with excellent precision what happens when hydrogen is released, how the gas disperses, and what will happen if it is ignited.

“We have customised FLACS to work just as well for hydrogen as it does for natural gas, even though the two gases have completely different properties,” said Olav Roald Hansen, Product Director, GexCon. GexCon receives funding under the Research Council’s Large-scale Programme on Clean Energy for the Future (RENERGI). This support has enabled the company to continue its R&D activities as well as participate in International Energy Agency (IEA) expert groups on hydrogen safety for the periods 2005-2010 and 2011-2013.

CW_July _2011_ Engg Expo_Tab-1_27

CW_July _2011_ Engg Expo_Tab-1_28

TECH UPDATES

Balluff designs pressure sensors for gaseous and liquid media

Scherzinger’s new dosing pump improves performance spectrum

Balluff has introduced BPS, a newly developed series of pressure sensors with IP 67 protection for use in gaseous and liquid media. The rugged devices feature a highquality, long-term stable ceramic load cell and an especially attractive price/performance ratio, simple installation, high operating comfort and high precision. A large, bright and easily visible display ensures immediate status overview. This shows not only the current system pressure in bar, mbar, PSI and MPa, but also features fast and simple configuration of the sensors according to the VDMA standard, using 2 keys and intuitive menu guidance.

With 11 pressure range versions, the BPS sensors cover all the important ranges from -1...0 bar up to 0...600 bar for monitoring process media in factory automation.

Typical applications include hydraulics monitoring as well as pneumatics equipment. The new Balluff pressure sensors, available in the standard model with plastic housing and in the high-end version with stainless steel, offer either two switching points or one switching output plus analog channel (0...10V or 4...20mA).

Thanks to their highly compact design the sensors can be easily located in the control cabinet without taking up BPS sensor valuable space.

Scherzinger Pump Technology has introduced energyefficient dosing pump series 5030. Supplied with a magnetic coupling for hermetic sealing, the new pump transfers up to 50 l/min. Further, design modifications like the simple adaptation of the pump with either metrical adapters G 1” and G 1 ½” as well as SAE DIN ISO 61621/-2 or DIN EN 1092 adapters ensure an easy installation in the user system. A pulsation-optimised gear geometry is the key for an exact dosing – an important characteristic for the chemical industry. In contrast to the old series, the new series 5030 is able to reach system pressures of up to 100 bar.

“Out of an economical point of view, the 5030 is an attractive product for our customers as well. Due to the optimised design, we are able to offer the pump at a much better price – although we keep using only high-quality material,” stated Thomas King, General Sales Manager, Scherzinger Pump Technology. Depending on the application, the pump 5030 is available in stainless steel, hastelloy or titan. In order to guarantee a chemical persistency of the seals, Scherzinger uses primarily Pump 5030 offers better efficiency FFKM seals.

Nanowire-based sensors make detection of volatile organic compounds easy

Bry-Air introduces breakthrough technology in gas phase filtration

Researchers have reportedly developed a nano-sized sensors that detect volatile organic compounds (VOC) – harmful pollutants released from paints, cleaners, pesticides and other products – that offer several advantages over currently used commercial gas sensors, including low-power room-temperature operation and the ability to detect one or several compounds over a wide range of concentrations.

A team of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), George Mason University and the University of Maryland has shown that a gas sensor made of a single nanowire and metal oxide nanoclusters can be chosen to react to a specific organic compound. This work is the most recent of several efforts at NIST that take advantage of the unique properties of nanowires and metal oxide elements for sensing dangerous substances.

These new sensors, built using the same fabrication processes that are commonly used for silicon computer chips, operate using the same basic principle, but on a much smaller scale: the gallium nitride wires are less than 500 nanometre across and less than 10 micrometre in length. Despite their microscopic size, the nanowires and titanium dioxide nanoclusters have a high surface-to-volume ratio that makes them exquisitely sensitive.

Bry-Air recently announced a breakthrough in its in-situ synthesised macro porous honeycomb technology research by extending it to gas phase filtration. Bry-Air’s new honeycomb matrix-based macro-porous chemical filters provide the largest amount of impregnated chemical (typical 15 per cent for KMnO4) for the chemical reaction for maximum efficiency for a given physical size and geometry of the media matrix & its air carrying capacity for a given pressure drop. The air flows through the honeycomb matrix are typically at 2 to 3 m/sec unlike the granular media bed at 0.4 to 0.6 m/sec, thus shrinking substantially the chemical filter media bed/matrix face area as well as depth. The new desiccant-based macro porous honeycomb matrix is even capable of removing ultra low concentration of gases from the supply air and is much more effective than previous generations.

Unlike the extruded honeycomb matrix with limited chemical carrying capacity, this technology is the first ever such solution in the world, which uses the in-situ synthesised macro porous honeycomb matrix to remove air-borne contamination like formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, bromine and oxides of nitrogen & chlorine, other lower molecular weight gaseous Bry-Air’s new honeycomb matrix based chemical filter compounds and VOCs.

July 2011 | Chemical World

29

LEADERS SPEAK

“Automation can make a huge difference in non-bio-based as well as renewable-based facilities� ...says Louis Meyer, Director - Global Industry Solutions (Chemical and Biofuels Industry), Invensys Operations Management. He has about 30 years of industry experience, including strong involvement in engineering, consulting, sales and marketing activities related to process automation and design with responsibility for projects related to process simulation, advanced control and information/ automation system strategic planning.

In an interaction with Rakesh Rao, Meyer highlights the importance of automation to enhance efficiency and implement green solutions in the chemical industry.

Requirement of energy-efficiency Energy input into industrial processes, either in the form of fuel (gas or oil, electricity) or in the form of crude oil-based feedstock, is a significant part of global energy consumption. For example, in the US, it represents 32 per cent of energy consumption, followed by transportation (29 per cent), residential (21 per cent) and commercial (18 per cent). Hence, reducing energy consumption can have an immediate impact on any sustainability initiatives.

30

Chemical World | July 2011

Impact of growing environment awareness on the chemical industry Chemical manufacturers are under regulatory (GHG reduction) and economic (cost of energy, competitiveness, etc) pressure. To this end, a steady trend to reduce both the energy and CO2 intensity is evident. For instance, the EU industry has reduced energy intensity by about 55 per cent since 1990. The initiatives to yield increased energy-efficiency invariably lead to more effective management of the production processes, such as reducing GHG emissions and waste & improving

LEADERS SPEAK

scheduling of all inputs, including energy. The process of improving energy-efficiency also reduces variable costs of production and increases business competitiveness. But it is not only about CO2: it applies equally for all the other emission streams.

Automation suppliers have responded by incorporating a range of energy-efficient and environmentfriendly technologies into their offering.

They offer solutions that make it better/ easier to deploy and maintain sensors wirelessly (measuring energy streams is often the biggest barrier to effective environment management/energy reduction). Suppliers have developed software that optimises the overall plant energy balance and efficiently schedules the energy supply & consumption, eg, when best to start batch reactors, given the required production schedule, the availability and cost of steam, electrical power, etc. In addition, they offer better information management systems to help identify sustainability bottlenecks.

Role of sustainable development in the growth of chemical industry The industry will have no choice but to adopt sustainability, both in response to regulatory pressures cascading from national commitments to the Kyoto, Copenhagen and other agreements, which should come from more informed younger consumers who are increasingly defining the future of energy consumption. Price will ultimately no longer be the ultimate driver of consumption patterns: The ethical and environmental stances of the manufacturers will also be important.

To this end, the chemical industry will not only need to move to proven lower energy and GHG intensities, but also consciously and visibly switch to or replace production with biochemicals.

Scope of automation in achieving sustainability Automation can make a huge difference in non-bio-based as well as

Automation solution providers are expected to provide significantly better information management, not only for basic environmentrelated data gathering, processing, historisation and reporting, but also for data validation, since in many cases, this data is used as the basis for fiscal/commercial transactions.

renewable-based facilities. In existing, non-bio-based production facilities, automation can, with the right management controls, help to: R Reduce energy consumption and NOx, CO2, etc, with advanced process control, APC and DCSbased enhanced and multivariable control R Optimise yield, which reduces raw material consumption and produces less waste with real-time optimisers (RTO) R Design better energy integration with process design simulation and optimisation tools R Improve process and plant design to increase yield & throughput, while lowering energy intensity In the sustainable/renewables technology plants, such as biofuels and biochemicals, automation can: R Help design viable plants using process design simulators, especially in the risky stage of scaling up from lab/pilot scale to commercial scale production plant.

These tools provide first-principles chemical engineering models that prove the viability of plants before they are even built. Without the certainty that the scaled-up design will work, many of these renewable technologies will simply not get the funding necessary to be built R Deliver exactly the same benefits as is the case in non-bio-based plants, as described previously For example, Invensys has implemented a utilities optimisation system (steam, electrical power and heating fuel) for a medium-sized petrochemical/ refining complex in Japan using its

ROMeo optimiser, which resulted in an additional net reduction of energy consumption, equivalent to 2,200 metric tonne of CO2 per year for just this one site.

Similarly, for renewables-based technology processes, the company’s PRO/II process design simulator has been used to provide pilot and commercial scale-up plant design & verification for many secondgeneration bio-fuels and bio-chemicals processes. Without the certainty that the full-scale plant will work properly, the commercial risk was perceived as simply too high and the projects would not have been funded.

Solutions for meeting environmental norms Automation solution providers are expected by chemical manufacturers to provide significantly better information management, not only for basic environment-related data gathering, processing, historisation and reporting, but also for data validation, since in many cases, this data is used as the basis for fiscal/commercial transactions, such as carbon credits trading & regulatory reporting. This type of information is subject to audit and as such must be proven to be accurate. For this purpose, it is not sufficient simply to rely on the raw instrumentation measurements.

Rather, statistical data reconciliation tools, such as Invensys’ ROMeo software, which use extended and inferred measurements & equations based on modelled mass and energy balances, are required to provide the necessary rigor & data accuracy.

July 2011 | Chemical World

31

LEADERS SPEAK

Significance of automation to emerging economies Initially, the high-growth economies might not place sustainability as their highest priority and hence not apply these automation tools within their chemical facilities. However, as their markets shift from internal growth to a more global market due to the increasing affluence and urbanisation, factors such as carbon footprint labelling will become the norm.

Therefore, automation technologies will become as relevant as they are in today’s mature economies. Even internal market pressure from an increasingly environmentally conscious, younger, aspiring society will drive this trend.

Efficient processing technology and sustainability ‘Sustainability’ has many definitions, but let us accept the 2005 World Summit’s view that it requires the reconciliation

32

Chemical World | July 2011

of three often conflicting demands: environmental, social and economic. Of these, the chemical industry influences primarily one, namely the economics of its activities. For example, a more efficient plant is more profitable, which means it has more resources to give back to the shareholders and the community, as well as a stronger ability to hire workers. Indirectly, of course industry can and does influence the other two – environmental through lower emissions, and social through providing products with attributes its target market can relate to, such as low-environmental impact, use of sustainable raw materials, etc.

Industry’s natural point of departure is to maximise profit, which it does through efficient processing. This leads to reductions in energy cost, improved utilisation, maximisation of yield, etc. Reduction of energy intensity directly leads to lower amounts of CO2 and other GHGs emitted, while

yield maximisation in turn leads to a reduction of waste & effluents and requires fewer raw materials, many of which are crude-oil based. So sustainability is immediately enhanced by ‘normal’ efficiency initiatives.

Conversely, as Edwin Piñero, Chair of the Programme Committee ISO/PC242, which is putting together the ISO 50001 standard for ‘Energy Management Systems,’ stated, “ISO 50001 will not only lead to effective management of the process, but will also increase energy-efficiency and more prudent energy use.”

This is analogous to the spin-off benefits of ISO 9001 which, though focussed as it was on quality, led to many poor areas of the (production) processes being identified and resolved.

Through its energy focus, ISO 50001 is likely to expose poor, ie, energy intense, wasteful, etc, processes and lead to them being improved or resolved.

ROUNDTABLE

Industry-academia collaboration

A distant dream or a soon-to-be reality?

A lot has been said about industry-academia collaboration, but still no concrete steps seem to have been taken by either towards its fruition. On one hand, the industry needs to leverage on the capabilities of institutions in research activities in the areas of new product development, design and process innovation to sustain its competitiveness, and on other, research institutes should also play their part in giving a boost to industrial development.

Avani Jain finds out from industry experts as to what steps can be taken by the stakeholders on this front and the possible outcomes of such collaboration.

Dr Arup Basu, COO - Chemicals (India), Tata Chemicals Ltd Research institutes play a significant role in driving product innovation in the chemical industry, but they also need to take into account a few factors. Quality and timeliness are the two top criteria that research institutes need to bear in mind when aspiring to work with industry. In order to meet the expectations of its stakeholders, industry functions on the bedrock of process discipline, and this factor plays a key role in defining any collaboration.

The other shift that research establishments need to make is to move from highly individualistic research practices to joint researches that create authentic centres of excellence across different subjects. Product research needs an interdependent and interdisciplinary

34

Chemical World | July 2011

mindset, and this cannot be nurtured if there are only few ‘larger-than-life’ individuals associated with research.

Till date, this culture of partnership has not really existed at an appropriate scale. In India, the first requirement is to build mutual trust and respect.

Industry will certainly work with research establishments, provided that the collaboration offers enduring value to it. So research establishments need to have the mindset of resolving industry’s problems and should proactively help industry to break new grounds.

Finally, industry has an inbuilt mechanism of weeding out non-performers from its system whereas this is not very evident in research establishments. Fallout of this process is that research establishments will also have to move towards a team-based meritocracy framework.

ROUNDTABLE

A Prathap Reddy, Managing Director, Balaji Amines Ltd Research institutes have a fundamental role to play right from groundbreaking discovery of processes to finetuning them.

They should proactively approach industry and explore research opportunities. They should depute researchers to industry for working in industrial labs and gain experience on new equipment so that the research teams can make use of these learnings for carrying out research on new process as well as product. Institutes should also welcome technical staff from industry to interact with their researchers as well as use their equipment so as to foster closer relationships and encourage more industry-focussed research work, which can then be funded by industry with backing from their own support staff.

Institutes should also fund an active cell similar to a college placement cell to proactively maintain connections with the industry, organise brainstorming sessions and inform the industry about the latest research developments. Talking about the industries, they should also actively scout opportunities to commercialise technologies developed within the institutes.

The industry-academia collaboration has worked effectively in many developed countries such as Germany and the US as

well as in developing countries like China. However, the key challenges include the protection of intellectual property and government support to such initiatives so as to ensure that even small-scale industries are encouraged to leverage on the efforts of such research institutes for carrying out cuttingedge research that otherwise would have been beyond their reach.

The industry-academia collaboration has high probability of attaining success in India as the country is a major chemical manufacturing hub, posing tough competition to China and this will help increase India’s competitive edge. This would offer a phenomenal opportunity to industry for stretching research funds since in-house set-up always involves extensive set-up and HR costs. Moreover, industry generally faces substantial shortage of research talent with the requisite skillset and experience in advanced analytical researches, but this collaboration will help the industry in this aspect also.

Narendra R Mehta, Managing Director, Fibro Organic (India) Pvt Ltd Growing competition in the market forces companies to innovate their brands constantly. To become a successful brand requires large amount of resources and appropriate skills. It is now commonplace for companies to work with outside partners and pursue ‘open innovation’, which includes research institutes; ‘Connect & Develop’ initiative of P&G is an instance. There are currently three basic types of collaboration seen between industry and research institutes.

First, collaboration between companies and research institute for basic product research. Second, collaboration where companies bring in new technology and research institutes help them to adapt to the local conditions. Third, both research institutes and companies providing core expertise in complementary areas. Of the three, the first type is the most frequently observed.

A lot of work is underway at regional research institutes – working on plant-based natural products in cosmetics.

In the second type, companies bring in technology or a specialty chemical, while the research institutes offer platform to test the products for some alternative use, etc. Despite concerns about the intellectual property, the third type of collaboration can be seen in few cases. The main reason is that contributions provided by two partners to the joint activity are still clearly distinguishable and separate, which reduces the risk of knowledge loss.

Industry-academia collaborations can work, provided clear areas of cooperation are worked out at the start of a project. However, the challenges are many. First, R&D works only when there is win-win situation for both the parties. Second, to be partners for R&D co-operation, both the parties need to have their strong areas either in research or with regard to other relevant aspects. Third, the two needs to be upfront and clear about potential issues regarding intellectual property, and prepare possible solutions for these in advance. The key is that cooperation between industry and research institute is similar to a business transaction – it is an exchange from which each partner needs to benefit. These examples give clear indications of a probable mutually beneficial venture between private sector and research institutes. Major global corporations have already made it clear and some have even declared it in their strategy that they are ready for collaboration for renewing their product portfolio. For research institutes to become an ideal partner for collaboration, it needs to focus on identified strong areas and build its manpower committed to timely work and agreed cost. Both sides need to relook at their approach, if the outcome has to be a continuous fruitful exchange.

July 2011 | Chemical World

35

ROUNDTABLE

Niraj Sharma, SPSD India Sales Manager, Chemical Analysis Group, Agilent Technologies India Pvt Ltd The universities and national research institutes play a critical role in industry functions in terms of R&D. The purpose of research in a company is to create new knowledge that other departments of the company can use to improve the overall business. In India, till recently there was no need for research in most companies – the knowledge that existed in the public domain was sufficient for the business, a company was engaged in, but that seems to be changing now.

Today, it is crucial to spread awareness on technologies developed by universities or national laboratories to private sector. In fact, the industry in India often looks for consultants in academic community who can guide them in solving its problems. This model assumes that the academies are already working on these problems. But this is not the case. Only after spending considerable time together, common issues can be identified, which may be addressed through joint research. Hence, the main hurdle today is lack of structures and mechanisms to enable researchers from both sides to spend time together. Often academicians are involved in academic or pure research that may not have ‘applied’ aspect

to it. With time, the academicians tend to become too conceptual and far removed from the real problems that the industry might be facing.

Despite the above fact, few research institutes do have cutting-edge consultancy services. Also collaboration between research institutes & chemical companies does work. Already institutes like University Institute of Chemical Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research, Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Science, and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research laboratories are collaborating with many chemical and pharmaceutical industries. They are focussed on catering to the needs of the industry by upgrading the highly specialised courses to produce chemical engineers, scientists, technologists and pharmacists of ‘A’ class.

Lastly, the private sector is open to collaboration with research institutes. To advise industry on how to get more from existing assets is the most rewarding experience in terms of relationship between academia and industry. Industry is benefited immediately in terms of more profits, less load on effluents, more throughput out of existing equipment while the academicians can revel in the knowledge that their ideas actually work, and if required, undertake further research.

Omkar P Herlekar, Whole Time Director, Omkar Speciality Chemicals Ltd Research is typically not a business or a profit centre, but a long-term investment enabling an organisation to earn more revenue. Research can enhance the strength of a company to adapt to changes and also the readiness for absorbing changes in technology. This also enables the company to have a leadership position in leveraging the new technology for offering higher value. Research can also help cater to the constant demand for improvement in quality, lowering the costs and creating more value.

Research can be basic or applied. Applied research is where the knowledge is being created with the intent to be used for commercial gains. Earlier, academics were often engaged in basic research, but now both are being implemented in tandem. Academic research is driven by the impact it will have on the global research community, and the measures of success are largely based on publications, whereas research in any organisation is driven by the impact it will have on the company. Though publications are often not the objective in a company, companies do publish parts

36

Chemical World | July 2011

of their work after camouflaging the confidential sections.

This brings in commonality of goals among the academic and industry researchers. With this alignment of goals and nature of research, there is a clear possibility of collaboration between academicians and industry.

Till date, the common exchange model between academia and industry was that of producer and consumer, which has been in existence for long. There arises a situation wherein the industry provides the inputs to academic institutions with reference to its perceptions and evaluation of products. Even this interaction does not occur in a structured format, as both the industry and academia are poles apart – the main reason being lack of suitable forum or platform to facilitate this.

Though general forums covering the issue at a much broader level are useful, to implement such tie-ups in a meaningful way, forums at institutional levels are necessary.

To summarise, in order to promote collaboration between research institutes and industry, concerned people from both sides needs to start expending reasonable time and knowledge with each other so as to enable a clear understanding of problems and facilitate some joint work in exploratory projects, potentially making the research programme more useful.

FACILITY VISIT

Rockwool Insulation India Pvt Ltd

Energising industry with sustainable solutions The industry accounts for 26 per cent of annual energy consumption and almost 80 per cent of this energy is obtained from non-renewable resources. While the demand for energy is exploding, resources are becoming scarce. In such a scenario, stone wool insulation products for industrial applications manufactured by Rockwool Insulation India Pvt Ltd not only facilitate energy and cost savings but also reduce CO2 emissions, thereby enabling companies to attain long-term sustainability in operations.

Avani Jain

E

nergy keeps the entire world in motion.

The global economy is dependent on secure and efficient supply of energy.

However, with depleting energy resources and prices continuously soaring, there is a huge demand for efficient insulation systems that can enable scarce energy reserves to be put to the best possible use. It is here where Rockwool Insulation India Pvt Ltd (a part of Denmark-based Rockwool Group) has taken the initiative to encourage the industry to spur into action towards conserving energy.

Ian Russell, Business Director Export & UK, Rockwool Insulation, says, “With demand and cost of energy rising, the high quality stone wool insulation products such as ours can have a huge impact on cost and energy saving, CO2 emissions, etc. The better the insulation on pipes and vessels the lower will be the cost to heat up & refine materials. Typical pay-back periods for our products can be measured in weeks, and over a 15- to 20-year life-span, these offer huge returns on investment.”

38

Chemical World | July 2011

The journey so far Rockwool Insulation India commenced work on its first plant in India, or rather Asia, in January 2010 and completed the construction in 16 months. The virgin plant located at Dahej SEZ in Gujarat began its production work in April 2011.

This factory specialises in technical insulation for power plants and other industrial units, which have special needs for heat loss reduction, fire protection, noise absorption, energy saving and reduction of CO2 emissions. The total area of the factory is 10 ha and it has the capacity to produce 30,000 tonne of stone wool per year.

At present, the company has employee strength of 100 but the number is expected to increase to 160 within the next four months.

The production process Stone wool is a wholly natural material spun into wool from rock. Rockwool’s stone wool is a natural material formed from one of the earth’s most abundant materials – volcanic diabase rock, which is over 200 million years old. Bartosz Stentoft, Plant Director, Rockwool Insulation India Pvt Ltd, states, “Rockwool uses diabase

FACILITY VISIT

India is a key market for us and a major part of our investment plans will revolve around being a large exporter of materials throughout India and Middle East. With this plant, we will be focussing on the energy-efficiency requirements in industrial and power generation sectors across the country.

Unique properties of Rockwool’s stone wool R Thermal conductivity: A low

thermal conductivity is desirable to achieve a high resistance to heat transfer. Rockwool products fully comply with both Indian and international standards.

R

Low shot content: Nonfibrous particles or shot content in mineral wool products have a negative influence on the thermal conductivity; but due to the unique production process, Rockwool products achieve excellent thermal conductivity, even at low densities.

R

Water repellency: The company offers only those insulation materials that are hydrophobically treated. Hydrophobic treatment makes it difficult for water to penetrate into the insulation and repels water affecting the insulation from outside.

R

Safe: Made of rock, Rockwool’s stone wool is naturally fire resistant and does not emit any toxic fumes in the event of fire. It tolerates temperature of up to 1000°C and is used as vital fire protection in industrial applications.

R

Long-lasting: Relying on entrapped air for its thermal properties, the use of natural/ inorganic materials and unique production process of the company ensures a long lifetime.

R

Sustainable: Rockwool’s stone wool has a positive environmental balance. In its lifetime, it saves more than 10,000 times the energy used for the production of industrial insulation. Moreover, it is biodegradable.

rock from the closest source. This reduces the transport cost compared to sourcing from further afield and lowers the overall carbon footprint of Rockwool products. The Rockwool

Ian Russell Business Director Export & UK

process resembles the natural action of the volcano: stone wool is made by melting rock, limestone and recycled briquettes with other raw materials at 1,500°C in a coke-heated cupola furnace. The company procures majority of raw materials locally from Gujarat or other Indian states.”

Raw material and coke are automatically fed from the top of the cupola furnace. Tonnes of stones are melted every day to supply Rockwool products. The melt runs out of the furnace and onto the spinning machine, where the fibres are spun.

Minor amounts of binder & oil are added, and the wool is collected in the spinning chamber. The structure and density of the wool are adjusted before it enters the curing oven. These properties are maintained after the binder has been cured. The cured wool then proceeds to the cutting saws and packing equipment or is led to offline equipment for special treatment.

The off-gases from the production – furnace, spinning chamber, curing oven – are cleaned in filters before they enter the chimney. Environmental equipment such as filters, pre-heaters, afterburners and other cleaning & collection systems make the ‘tamed volcano’ an environmentally responsible process.

Rockwool products are unique. Our initial product assortment is focussed on technical insulation for chemical processing. We are a world leader in this field and the standards we supply in India will be the same as those supplied around the world, thereby offering massive advantages to our clients.”

The factory produces a wide range of high quality stone wool insulation products – slabs, wired mats and pipe sections – for the insulation of industrial plants and buildings. Stentoft informs, “Each of them is developed with a specific field of application (eg pipework, boilers and storage tanks) in mind. These products exhibit exceptional thermal, fire, acoustic and sustainable properties in an unrivalled combination.”

Pre-formed pipe sections are supplied split and hinged for easy snap-on assembly and are suitable for the thermal

Sustainable solutions & product portfolio The products from Rockwool Insulation India offer good thermal conductivity performance. Russell claims, “Rockwool products provide three-in-one protection, ie energy saving, noise reduction and fire prevention properties. That is why

Rockwool ProRox wired mat manufacturing

July 2011 | Chemical World

39

FACILITY VISIT

We adhere to all the environmental norms. The combustion & curing units are equipped with filters and post-combustion units are also in accordance with the latest environmental standards. The products exhibit exceptional thermal, fire, acoustic and sustainable properties.

Bartosz Stentoft Plant Director

& acoustic insulation of industrial pipe work. Pipe sections, which are available in a wide range of diameters and thicknesses, ensure an optimal insulation.

Wired mats are lightly bonded rock wool mat stitched on galvanised wired mesh with galvanised wire. These wired mats are available in a wide range of densities and thicknesses of up to 120 mm. Preformed slabs, which are suitable for the thermal and acoustic insulation of flat surfaces, are also available in a wide range of densities.

40

Chemical World | July 2011

The company is ISO 9000 certified and has its own quality assurance system to monitor its production process. Stentoft adds, “We adhere to all the environmental norms. The combustion & curing units are equipped with filters and post-combustion units are also in accordance with the latest environmental standards.”

Envisioning future growth The insulation market is expected to witness robust growth due to the

continuous increase in demand and prices of energy. Russell notes, “India is a key market for us and our investment will reflect that. A major part of our investment plans will revolve around being a large exporter of materials throughout India and Middle East.

With this plant, we will be focussing on the energy-efficiency requirements in industrial and power generation sectors across the country. The appropriate use of Rockwool’s products in areas like petrochemicals and power plants can have a massive impact.”

As a worldwide leader in this technology, the company is committed to new product development and manufacturing process development.

Russell concludes, “We focus on doing what we strongly believe are the best things for the market and environment.

We are a leader in this area. If we can convince the customers about the best practices, we are certain that we can be a success.”

SECTOR WATCH

Poor infrastructure in India is the biggest stumbling block for promoting green logistics. Cost is yet another factor that poses challenges for those who attempt to take the green route. Currently, the scenario is far from satisfactory. In this backdrop, logistics service providers must communicate the benefits of going green to one and all.

Photo by: Joshua Navalkar

42

Chemical World | July 2011

SECTOR WATCH

Prasenjit Chakraborty

T

he concerted effort to reduce carbon footprint in the environment is the onus of all industries. The difference lies in the adoption of procedures. In simple terms, the activities undertaken to achieve the goal differ from sector to sector. And in this context, green logistics has a significant role to play.

However, when it comes to chemical industry, the concept of green logistics is at an embryonic stage in India.

Roadblocks in promoting green logistics According to Lars Sorensen, CEO, Damco South Asia, the concept of green logistics in India is still at a nascent stage. “Although logistics service providers are offering propositions that aim at helping clients to reduce their carbon footprint, the interest & acceptability of these is yet to gain full steam,” he adds. This can partly be attributed to the perception that implementing a green-certified logistics programme might lead to higher costs. Cost is an issue when asking companies to reduce their impact on the environment.

In a rapidly growing economy like India, customers often ask whether it makes sense to spend the extra money required to go green. “The logistics industry is fragmented, particularly when it comes to warehousing and transportation, and competition is fierce. So, the pressure is always on to cut costs, which makes it hard for many players to embrace green initiatives, even if they wanted to,” points out Pavithran M Kallada, Managing Director, BDP (International).

Another difficulty in pursuing green logistics is the state of the nation’s infrastructure. Poor road conditions, lack of expressways and traffic bottlenecks result in increased carbon emissions. “The level of pollution could be lowered by creating expressways, transport hubs, and using clean fuel

Lack of world-class specialised equipment to handle/store hazardous cargo is another area that calls for attention. Additionally, since chemicals call for high-quality handling, there is a need for specifically trained industry professionals who can execute the job efficiently.

Lars Sorensen CEO, Damco South Asia applications (including CNG) in trucks,” exhorts Kallada.

According to Sorensen, infrastructure is the foremost challenge being faced by logistics service providers and clients alike.

Moreover, underdeveloped infrastructure intrinsically results in cost escalations and delivery delays. “So, we see this as a vicious circle that hinders the growth of green logistics,” he says. As far as mindset is concerned, Sorensen feels that the industry understands the benefits and importance of green logistics, and from a long-term perspective, clients want to reduce the environmental impact of their supply chain. Hence, the mindset and willingness are definitely there, but there are practical challenges to implement green services in a cost-effective manner.

The industry is unanimous in saying that lack of adequate infrastructure and qualified & trained personnel are the biggest hurdles faced by the chemical logistics sector in India. The highways are heavily congested and there are a few expressways and transport

hubs. “Transport corridors are often surrounded by densely populated urban areas, which pose several challenges when moving chemical products. We need more trained people to meet the unique requirements of handling chemicals,” points out Kallada.

Availability of latest equipment and technology is another area of concern. “Lack of world-class specialised equipment to handle/store hazardous cargo is another area that calls for attention. Additionally, since chemicals call for high-quality handling, there is a need for specifically trained industry professionals who can execute the job efficiently,” opines Sorensen.

Going green To effectively promote green logistics in India, the service providers must be able to communicate the value proposition that the client will derive from implementing green logistics. A detailed cost-benefit analysis can prove to be an effective tool for clients to assess the advantages as

The bright prospects for chemical industry augur well for logistics service providers Courtesy: Damco

July 2011 | Chemical World

43

SECTOR WATCH

Transport corridors are often surrounded by densely populated urban areas, which pose several challenges when moving chemical products. We need more trained people to meet the unique requirements of handling chemicals.

Cost implications for implementing green logistics in India R People

believe implementing a green-certified logistics programme might lead to higher costs

R

Customers often ask whether it makes sense to spend the extra money required to go green

R

Pressure is always on to cut costs, which makes it hard for many players to embrace green initiatives

R

Service providers must be able to communicate the value proposition that the client will derive from implementing green logistics

R

A detailed cost-benefit analysis can prove to be an effective tool for clients to assess the advantages as well as help them adopt an ‘earn and contribute’ approach towards green logistics

Pavithran M Kallada Managing Director, BDP (International) well as help them adopt an ‘earn and contribute’ approach towards green logistics. “The government can provide some relief in the form of tax cuts for companies practising green logistics.

Moreover, the government can support the construction of environment-friendly warehouses and other storage facilities, thereby acting as a facilitator of green logistics,” suggests Sorensen. Echoing a similar view, Kallada says, “Priority should be given to damage-free handling processes, consolidated transport arrangements, and the construction of environment-friendly warehousing and distribution facilities.”

There needs to be an emphasis on shared or common-user facilities such as a chemical warehousing zone or transport hub. Allowing companies to use common facilities will reduce waste and duplication, optimise the utilisation of resources, and reduce carbon emissions by consolidated transport arrangements.

Emerging trends According to Kallada, the Indian chemical sector accounts for 13-14 per cent of total exports and 8-9 per cent of total imports in the country. Currently, per capita consumption of products pertaining to the chemical industry in India is about 1/10th of the world average, but this will grow over time.

As the demand for chemicals grows, so does the demand for experienced transportation companies for moving chemical products safely, and in compliance with the numerous domestic & international regulations.

Chemical manufacturers are looking for supply chain management (SCM)/ logistics partners that can offer the required expertise.

Another trend witnessed is that some manufacturing companies are leasing storage facilities and dedicated transportation fleet themselves, so as to better control Health, Safety

and Environment (HSE) matters.

“And recently, we have seen the establishment of a few warehousing facilities that do meet global standards for safety,” opines Kallada.

Sorensen strongly believes that the Indian chemical industry is focussing on innovations to produce environmentfriendly technologies and products.

The logistics services in India, thus, can play a significant role to address the specific needs of the chemical industry and help promote exports, which is slowly witnessing a rise.

“Increasingly, chemical exporters and importers want their logistics partners to not only provide specialised as well as customised services, but also adhere to better health, safety and environment standards,” he observes.

Investment scenario

Barrels loaded with chemicals Courtesy: Damco

44

Chemical World | July 2011

Currently, the production of chemicals in India mainly caters to the strong demand from the domestic market.

However, through government initiatives and investments in setting up Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions

SECTOR WATCH

(PCPIRs) and SEZs, the export levels are all set to rise significantly in the days to come. “To support the export-related activity, we need dedicated chemical warehousing zones for storage and distribution, decongested highways, easily available transportation equipment to handle hazardous & specialty chemicals. We are seeing some industry and government initiatives; however whatever gap remains need to be bridged for immediate progress of chemical logistics segment in India,” exhorts Sorensen.

Anticipating growth, several companies have taken initiatives in this direction. For instance, Damco India has a dedicated chemical industry vertical to provide specialised chemical logistics services to its clients. “We have a team of experts that caters to the requirements of clients and offers the best logistics solutions, keeping in mind health, safety and environment aspects of the cargo.

Moreover, to provide a seamless service

experience, we have tied up with multiple vendors across India and can successfully manage any chemical logistics-related requirement,” he says.

For BDP, its investment is more on manpower training. “Our investment in India focusses on getting the right people, and training & development of our staff,” says Kallada.

Long road ahead Let us take a look at India’s standing in chemical logistics when compared with that of the developed world. The country lacks majorly on the infrastructure front and also on storage capabilities for chemicals. “Ambiguity in existing policy framework regarding material handling and transportation is one of the areas that calls for attention in greater detail,” opines Sorensen. As compared to the developed economies, which have invested heavily in building efficient infrastructure to support chemical logistics, India still has a long way to

go before it can claim to have met international standards in this arena.

Unlike the West, India does not have earmarked chemical logistics or manufacturing hubs. In the developed world, there are clear guidelines on the transportation/storage and handling of chemicals and they are adopted by every logistics service provider. “In contrast, in India, these processes and guidelines are still not clear,” laments Kallada.

What is important is that the industry, by and large, has realised what must be done on a priority basis. Looking at the growth of the chemical industry, the logistics service providers should concentrate on their weak areas immediately. Introducing latest equipment and technology is equally important to facilitate growth. Besides infrastructure, the government should come out with clear policy, as far as transportation of chemicals is concerned.

July 2011 | Chemical World

45

TREND ANALYSIS

Hazardous chemicals transportation

Exploring a safe mode The encouraging growth of chemical industry in India has naturally brought the issues concerning hazardous chemical transportation into sharp focus. Besides the bottlenecks pertaining to infrastructure, suitable storage facility, equipment and technology, the lack of continuous interaction between chemical industry and logistics service providers is posing serious challenges to the growth of the sector.

However, with the government providing a few sops in the areas of storage facility, equipment, etc the logistics sector seems to be moving on the right track.

Courtesy: DHL

Prasenjit Chakraborty

T

he unprecedented growth of the chemical industry in India has led to the increase in the proportion of hazardous chemicals in the total freight traffic. There is a rising demand to store and distribute temperature-sensitive products in potent conditions, which has resulted in a higher need to monitor cold chain supplies in the country. Hazardous materials transportation risk management involves establishing, organising, planning, executing and monitoring a set of operations that aims to decrease the probability of accidents and reduce the relevant potential consequences. This risk management process pertains to preventive and repressive safety measures.

The preventive measures aim to eliminate the potential causes of accidents, ie, the roadway system defects, mishandling by drivers, mechanical errors in vehicles, etc.

Besides, drivers’ training, policies related to driving hours, container specifications, vehicle & mechanical conditions monitoring equipment and routing through safe roadway segments

46

Chemical World | July 2011

are other important elements. Such norms are hardly being followed in India, despite the growth of logistics business. “While logistics business in India is on the rise, transportation of chemicals is still marred by certain challenges with respect to real-time tracking & tracing, qualified personnel to handle chemical cargo, cost-effective special packaging solutions, immediate custom clearance, retaining the temperature at trans-shipment hubs & gateways, and compliance to regulatory requirements at the origin & at the destination,� says Sanjay Tejwani, Director - Ocean Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, India.

Frequent changes in regulations The rules for transportation of chemicals in India are quite stringent. The Indian government has constituted various regulations to ensure that proper precautions are taken while transporting chemicals in the country by road, railway and sea in order to avoid any accidents during transportation. Many-a-time, it has been seen that people complain about frequent changes in policies by the government, when it comes to chemical transportation. But one has to

TREND ANALYSIS

keep in mind that change in policy aims at ensuring safety for people and product, and it is not meant to bother the logistics industry. What is important here is to follow the norm, the moment it is made effective. The reputed companies follow the norms, and hence stay ahead of competition.

Such companies work closely with their customers to make sure all requirements pertaining to safety are adhered to. “DHL has a highly secure transportation system for smooth movement of chemicals throughout India as well as abroad. Any change in the regulations is implemented in the supply chain at the earliest and due care is taken to ensure that it does not affect the customer’s consignment, thus reducing the time taken at port,” maintains Tejwani.

Hazardous chemical transportation: Tracking trends R There is a need for frequent

interaction between manufacturers and service providers

chemical logistics

R

Perhaps, in the next decade India’s railroad network would emerge as an important part of the logistics matrix

R

Many domestic and international logistics service providers are investing extensively in this space (in India), which will result in best practices and added expertise being brought into this particular segment

R

Grants to establish new storage facilities to the tune of 25 per cent of capital expenditure, reduction in peak import duties on equipment imported for storage facilities and taxes on them, are some of the incentives provided to the logistics sector

R

Forward staging of inventories in tank storage and bulk facilities appears to be declining as many 3PLs report more products moving directly to consumption

The infrastructure facilities for storage and transportation of hazardous chemicals are not up to the mark in the country. The poor road conditions and the age-old technology that is used in the functioning of the Indian rail lead to excessive time consumption and delay in the transportation of hazardous goods.

Sanjay Tejwani Director - Ocean Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, India There is a need for frequent interaction between chemical manufacturers and logistics service providers. This will benefit the chemical industry in many ways when it comes to reduction of losses, handling issues related to environment and difficulties in transportation, etc. “Over the years, we have been working closely with our customers in the chemical industry, thus enabling the Indian chemical industry become environmentally responsible and globally competitive,” he asserts.

Road vs rail The process of globalisation is expanding India’s position in the world trade, leading to a rapid climb in transport volumes in recent years. The expansion of the logistics infrastructure has been unable to keep up with this pace of globalisation and increase in transport volumes in the country. For this reason, transport capacities have already reached their limits. This calls for the need to look at other avenues.

“We have been making efforts to shift freight from road to rail,” reveals Tejwani. However, the rail infrastructure in India, although the largest in the world, is yet at a nascent stage as far as freight transportation is concerned. The Indian government is currently striving to exploit the potential of its railroad infrastructure and the same has resulted in investments into this particular sector.

Perhaps, in the next decade India’s railroad network would emerge as an important part of the logistics matrix.

“Currently, railways has its own constraints in terms of end-to-end

connectivity, time-bound distribution of cargo, etc. This results in preferred option for road transport,” points out Pradyumn Sharma, General Manager - Operation, JWC Logistics Park.

The industry players are optimistic about the initiatives taken by the government as far as rail transport is concerned. In future, it is likely that the share of railways in terms of freight transportation may go up substantially.

Sharma states, “There are some positive steps by the government in terms of dedicated rail-freight corridors. But all these measures are at a nascent stage to overtake transportation by truck.”

In future, many companies will definitely opt for transportation via rail route more than what is currently been seen. “We plan to improve the existing freight capacities in the country and implement further techniques

Safety measures being taken before transportation Courtesy: DHL

July 2011 | Chemical World

47

TREND ANALYSIS

Currently, railways has its own constraints in terms of end-to-end connectivity, time-bound distribution of cargo, etc. This results in preferred option for road transport. There are some positive steps by the government in terms of dedicated rail-freight corridors.

But all these measures are at a nascent stage.

Pradyumn Sharma General Manager - Operation, JWC Logistics Park to ensure smooth movement of hazardous chemicals, while also trying to gauge the possibilities of boosting transportation of hazardous chemicals in India by rail mode,” says Tejwani.

India vis-à-vis developed countries Despite its unique production and distribution qualities, matching supply to demand has specifically impacted the chemical industry.

While the shift means increased use of ocean transport for imports and exports, companies managing smaller shipments are opting for truckload and rail intermodal services in place of rail bulk. Forward staging of inventories in tank storage and bulk facilities appears to be declining as many third party logistics (3PL) service providers

report more products moving directly to consumption.

“The infrastructure facilities for storage and transportation of hazardous chemicals are not up to the mark in the country. The poor road conditions and the age-old technology that is used in the functioning of the Indian rail lead to excessive time consumption and delay in the transportation of hazardous goods,” points out Tejwani.

The government regulations in the country are stringent but are ignored.

The lack of trained staff to handle the packaging and transportation of hazardous chemicals, lack of awareness about the new trends and technologies used in the developed countries and clustered third party logistics supply chain are some of the issues that plague the transportation of hazardous chemicals in

Treading the path towards efficient logistics Photo by: Joshua Navalkar

48

Chemical World | July 2011

India and have prevented the emulation of the current trends in the market.

Elaborating on the adoption of technology, Sharma says that in foreign countries temperature-sensitive cargos are tagged with temperature measuring units and are monitored through GPS throughout the supply chain system. “If at any given point of time it is noticed that there is an imbalance in set temperature, corrective measures are immediately taken. Whereas in India, though such facilities are available, due to the cost factor such practices are not in use, barring few reputed companies,” laments Sharma.

On a positive note Everything is not bad for hazardous chemical transportation segment.

Growth of the chemical industry has been the most encouraging factor for players in the logistics space.

For this reason, many domestic and international logistics service providers are investing extensively in this space, which will result in best practices and added expertise being brought into this particular segment. “In the next few years, we shall also see a lot of innovation being brought into this space as Indian customers will look to expand as they try and meet global demand,” opines Tejwani. It is worth mentioning here that DHL Global Forwarding has invested $ 10 million in its Free Trade Zone facility in Tamil Nadu earlier this year and has sections devoted to packaging & transporting of hazardous chemicals.

The Indian government has been making positive moves in the direction of encouraging the industry. Grants to establish new storage facilities to the tune of 25 per cent of capital expenditure, reduction in peak import duties on equipment imported for storage facilities and taxes on them, are some of the incentives provided.

The measure will definitely boost the morale of the logistics players and facilitate the smooth functioning of hazardous chemical logistics sector.

INDUSTRY UPDATE

Petrochemical industry

In transition towards cleaner alternatives Maintaining cost-efficiency with sustainable production is quite a challenge for petrochemical manufacturers. Thus, integrated research efforts are directed towards positioning this industry into a clean, green and responsible one.

Mahua Roy

T

he EU has proposed key targets for the year 2020: a significant one being 20 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions (compared to 1990). With the petrochemical industry contributing towards pollution, is it ready for such a remarkable feat?

No doubt that it will spell kudos for the industry, but balancing the cut without compromising on output is the biggest challenge to be addressed.

With globalisation and environmentalconsciousness increasing, the day is not far when India embraces similar legislations. The Indian

petrochemical industry is flourishing with a high growth rate, having witnessed a few changes in the past decade. “The big change in the petrochemical industry in India can be discussed from two perspectives – supply and demand.

On the supply side, India is beginning to pull its weight in the global basic petrochemicals, which are the building blocks for more complex downstream materials. Reliance’s paraxylene production train is world-scale. Similarly, Indian Oil Corporation’s naphtha cracker is also worldclass. On the demand side, India has seen a huge growth in petrochemical market, driven by increase in end-user industries; be it carpet

Indian petrochemical industry: The last decade R

Earlier, India used to have high import barriers with high import tariff levels. However, in the last decade, the duty on polyolefin imports has come down from 39 to 5 per cent. At the same time, import duties on feedstock naphtha has been increased to 5 per cent, making the situation a zero duty differential one, thus putting naphtha-based petrochemical manufacturers at a strong disadvantage.

R

Traditionally, India used to be a net importer of polyolefin, but with the commissioning of new projects by companies such as IOC, HPL, RIL, etc, in the last decade, the country has become a net exporter of HDPE/LLDPE/PP.

R

The last decade witnessed several free trade agreements (FTAs) between India and several other countries, out of which special mention is required of the India-Singapore CECA. The India Singapore CECA impacts the Indian petrochemical industry with an inverted duty structure scenario, whereby the import duty on polyolefin from Singapore will progressively diminish to zero by 2015 against naphtha duty of 5 per cent.

R

Further, major capacity build-ups by Middle Eastern countries by virtue of their low-cost feedstock have put the naphthabased producers in India at a serious disadvantage.

Source: Ujjal De, Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd

50

Chemical World | July 2011

INDUSTRY UPDATE

fibres, plastics, automotives, medical applications, etc. As India’s GDP grows and we reach the $ 10,000 per capita income watermark, this consumption will only accelerate,” says Srinivas Achanta, Senior Marketing Director – India & South East Asia, UOP - A Honeywell Company. Thus, on one side we have ambitious monetary targets to reach, and on the other, there are environmental targets. Achieving the alignment of these two aspects is what the R&D worldwide needs to concentrate on.

Understanding the feedstocks A major understanding of the feedstocks used in the petrochemical industry speaks of the changing dynamics, slowly being diverted towards cleaner alternatives. “The petrochemical industry is witnessing the emergence of gas-based production. Huge investments have taken place in the Middle East to unlock the potential of gas-based feedstock, which has proven to be hugely cost-competitive in the face of conventional feedstock like naphtha.

In addition, shale gas has recreated the opportunity for the US producers.

The whole world is now looking to tap shale gas potential. Countries like China and India have already initiated steps to explore the same,” says Ujjal De, Senior Vice President, Head Marketing & Business Development, Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL).

Besides gas-based, the option of biobased feedstocks is being considered, as well. However, a lot is still to be explored by way of R&D efforts in this field. “Bio-feedstocks, based on sugarcane and corn, are also under progress to produce commercially viable petrochemical products. In fact, India has been a pioneer in producing olefins from molasses. ICI near Kolkata used to manufacture LDPE from molasses back in the 60s. Also, SBR was being produced from bio-feedstock by Synthetics and Chemicals Ltd, Bareilly. Hindustan

Harnessing IT and automation in the right direction by improved monitoring, operation and control, exploring better heat recovery strategies, using advanced process & production technologies, in line with sustainable measures, are the areas to be identified and worked upon.

Srinivas Achanta Senior Marketing Director (India & South East Asia), UOP - A Honeywell Company Polymer Ltd used to produce styrene from bio-feedstock. These days, MEG from molasses is being produced by India Glycols Ltd,” adds De. The same opinion is voiced by Dr G D Yadav, Vice-Chancellor, Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT), who puts forward a futuristic area for R&D in this field. “Instead of the petroleum refineries, the future will witness biorefineries, which will use renewable resources (biomass) as the feedstock.

Thus, catalysis will play a major role. Unlike petroleum as feedstock

where functionalisation is achieved, in biorefineries defunctionalisation of biomass will be required to create new types of feedstocks for secondary and tertiary products, which are commonly used. These technologies will require powerful selective hydrogenation and oxidation catalysts,” says Dr Yadav.

Emergence of the sustainable attitude A typical 1,00,000 barrels per day (BPD) refinery emits 1.2-1.5 million metric tonne (MMT)/year of CO2. About

Changing the image of the petrochemical industry Focus on upgradation of technology: Many upstream petrochemicals and almost the entire downstream plastics processing industry needs major technological upgradation in areas such as scale of operations, core processing machinery, finishing equipment, etc to meet the emerging global and domestic demand.

Focus on R&D: At present, the R&D expenditure in the sector is less than 1 per cent of the industry turnover. Efforts need to be undertaken to increase this gradually to 2-3 per cent. In spite of abundance of trained manpower, insufficient R&D infrastructure is a barrier to attracting investments towards innovation in the country. This is limiting the ability of the Indian industry to compete in the highly competitive global polymer and plastic markets. The future R&D vision of the Indian petrochemicals industry needs to provide a strong and long-term commitment for R&D investments and efforts for innovation in areas such as: R Raw material usage R Energy-efficiency R Process/operations improvements R Technology forecasting and adoption of emerging technologies R New processing technologies for high performance polymers (green processes, etc) R Focus on areas such as bio-/nano-sciences as enablers Focus on leveraging integrated production in Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs): PCPIRs are aimed at providing an integrated production environment with the scope of extracting synergies from common infrastructure and services. This can help the Indian petrochemical industry overcome the inherent feedstock disadvantage through cost-competitive and energyefficient production.

Source: Deepak Mahurkar, Associate Director – Oil & Gas Practice, PwC India

July 2011 | Chemical World

51

INDUSTRY UPDATE

The petrochemical industry is witnessing the emergence of gas-based production. Huge investments have taken place in the Middle East to unlock the potential of gas-based feedstock, which has proven to be hugely cost-competitive in the face of conventional feedstock like naphtha.

Ujjal De Senior VP, Head - Marketing & Business Development, HPL 50 per cent of that is released from process heaters, 35 per cent from fluid catalytic crackers (FCC) & hydrogen plants, and the rest from steam & power systems. Optimising the energy-efficiency in each step can help develop winning strategies towards sustainability.

Gradually, the petrochemical industry is taking cognisance of this fact. “There are two macro trends that I would like to focus on – one, recycling and two, being efficiency.

Plastics recycling has already gained a foothold in most areas of the world, but this is something that needs to be given even more attention in the future.

As crude oil production approaches a peak and demand continues to grow, it is inevitable that crude prices will go higher in the long haul. In such an environment, petrochemicals will become an expensive resource and managing the products over their lifecycle through recycling is going to become even more important.” opines Achanta.

He adds, “As all forms of energy get expensive, use of less energy/material in the production of petrochemicals is gaining prominence. This is true not

only to reduce costs of production but also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an important consideration for the future.” Such a futuristic thought process is well-appreciated and efforts are being made to translate this into a practical phenomenon.

Directing R&D Petrochemicals are hydrocarbons, which are valuable non-renewable resources and constitute vital raw materials for industrial development. Thus, development of environment- friendly and economical green catalytic processes will be at the hub of this sector. “Waste minimisation should be achieved in terms of raw material usage and energy consumption. Process intensification, recycling technologies and development of recycled products assume significance in R&D. New types of active and selective catalysts, which could be retrofitted into the existing processes will be ideal,” elaborates Dr Yadav. The nextgen of R&D in petrochemicals is hugely intensive, coherently focussed towards development of highly specific technologies.

The future will witness biorefineries, which will use biomass as feedstock. Unlike petroleum as feedstock where functionalisation is achieved, in biorefineries defunctionalisation of biomass will be required to create new types of feedstocks for secondary and tertiary products.

Dr G D Yadav Vice-Chancellor, Institute of Chemical Technology

52

Chemical World | July 2011

Opportunities for saving There are multiple opportunities for energy savings & controlling emissions across the various refinery operations.

“Harnessing IT and automation in the right direction by improved monitoring, operation and control, exploring better heat recovery strategies, using advanced process & production technologies, in line with sustainable measures, are the areas to be identified and worked upon. Achieving cost savings along with increased production are not two competing objectives. One can realise both at the same time, ie, reduce cost, save energy and achieve higher production. Typically, this involves upgradation of the technology employed to produce the same products,” says Achanta.

Players like Honeywell’s UOP offer technologies that are a significant step ahead from where things were in the past. Over the last several years, UOP has come up with many innovations in catalysts, adsorbents and product technology, which the company claims can help refineries to realise as much as a 25 per cent reduction in energy usage per year – amounting to potentially more than $ 20 million in energy savings.

Towards a cleaner future The entire length and breadth of the industry is involved in developing and harnessing sustainable technologies for a secure future. As Dr Yadav adds on the areas of further research, “Process technologies for high performance polymers, advanced polymers and composites will be needed, where thrust will be on new platforms such as biotechnology & nanosciences as enablers. One of the major areas of research will be alkane activation for valorisation of the feedstock.”

With the emphasis on research and the desire to bring about a visible change imbibed in the minds of the industry, the day is not far when efforts of this industry are lauded the world over.

MARKET SCOPE

Polymers

The changing market dynamics The FMCG, packaging and manufacturing sectors are literally fuelling the demand for petrochemicals. The Indian petrochemical industry is surging ahead by leveraging on the opportunities and translating the market potential into growth avenues.

Deepak Mahurkar

T

he Indian petrochemical industry is witnessing a boom due to a strong growth in the demand for polymers, fibre intermediates, synthetic fibres and elastomers. This can be attributed to the size and asset optimisation capabilities at the various refineries & production units for petrochemicals.

Ethylene and xylene capacities are critical indicators of the petrochemical market scenario in a country. India at present has three naphthabased and three gas-based cracker complexes, with a combined ethylene capacity of 2.9 million metric tonne per annum (MMTA). In addition to these, there are four aromatic complexes, with xylene capacity of 2.9 million tonne per annum (MTPA). The overall growth in capacity has been relatively flat over the past couple of years, but is expected to increase significantly over the next three to four years, with many planned capacity additions coming online. To put the size of the

Indian industry in perspective, the world ethylene capacity in 2010 was approximately 140 MTPA. However, India is one of the largest demand centres for petrochemicals in the world.

Production graph Polymers form over 60 per cent of the production of major petrochemicals in India.

The total production of major petrochemicals in India was estimated at 8.3 MTPA in 2009-10 and 4.3 MTPA up to September 2010 (for 201011). The overall CAGR for major petrochemicals production from 2005-06 to 2009-10 was 2.64 per cent. However, the growth during 200910 over 2008-09 was only 1.15 per cent. This slowdown in production was on account of global economic recession, and the trend is expected to improve, with the global industry

Table 1: Trend in production (in ‘000 MT) of major petrochemicals

Sub-group

Production

1906 4768 110 556 127

2250 5183 101 556 133

2524 5304 106 585 157

2343 5060 96 552 141

2601 4791 106 618 172

2010-11 up to September 1362 2486 51 302 78

7467

8223

8676

8192

8288

4279

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Synthetic fibres Polymers Elastomers Synthetic detergents Performance plastics Total major petrochemicals

2008-09

2009-10

2009-10/ 2008-09 11.01 -5.32 10.42 11.96 21.99

CAGR 2009-10/ 2005-06 8.08 0.12 -0.92 2.68 7.88

1.15

2.64 Source: PwC India

54

Chemical World | July 2011

MARKET SCOPE

gradually coming out of the impact of recession towards mid-2011.

Started less than 40 years ago, the petrochemical industry in India is relatively at a nascent stage. However, the growth of the industry was constrained by strict government control till mid-nineties and the industry started moving ahead on a high growth trajectory only towards the end of the twentieth century. The petrochemical industry in India has exhibited robust growth over the last 10-15 years and has been among the fastest growing sectors in the country.

The growth of the sector has been driven by consistently high economic growth in the last decade coupled with strong demand from sectors such as infrastructure, automotive, consumer goods and retail.

The petrochemical industry is witnessing a plethora of changes in consumer dynamics, and is moulding itself accordingly to enhance the output. The demand drivers attributing to the growth of this industry include: Strong economic growth fuelling the demand from end-use sectors: The strong growth in GDP of the country coupled with rising private consumption is a major driver for the demand of petrochemicals in India. The boom in infrastructure sector is expected to translate into a major impetus that will accelerate the demand for petrochemicals in the country. The strong economic growth has also resulted in rapid expansion in sectors such as automotive, retail and consumer goods, which form significant end-users of petrochemical products. This will push the demand for petrochemicals in India even further.

Strong scope for substitution of traditional materials with petrochemical products: The present consumption level of petrochemical products in India is significantly lower than the world average as well as less than that of China. This indicates a significant potential of substituting the materials being used traditionally with petrochemical products. The per capita

Table 2: Evolution of installed capacity of major petrochemicals (2001-02 to 2009-10)

Sub-group

Synthetic fibres Polymers Elastomers Synthetic detergents Performance plastics Total major petrochemicals

Capacity (‘000 MTPA) CAGR 2009-10/ 2001-02 2009-10 2001-02 (per cent) 2071 3511 6.8 4252 6170 4.8 145 186 3.2 409 637 5.7 88 202 10.9 6964 10706 5.5 Source: PwC India

consumption growth of petrochemical products in India is one of the highest in the world, and this augurs well for the industry.

Strong growth in the refining industry: India is well on its way to becoming a global refining hub, with the total refining capacity expected to increase from 177.97 MT in 2009-10 to 240.96 MMT by the end of 2011-12.

This implies an increase in availability of naphtha, which is expected to drive the growth of naphtha-based petrochemical products.

Government policies: The government has taken several important steps to drive the growth of the sector including allowing 100 per cent FDI into the sector and setting up of special Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs) that are expected to provide a push to the growth of the sector.

Emerging trends Apart from the demand drivers, the following emerging trends need to be leveraged upon by the Indian petrochemical industry to ensure a robust growth in future: Sustained growth in domestic demand: The Indian economy is expected to continue on its high growth trajectory. This will continue to drive the domestic demand. The industry must focus on capacity expansions both through domestic and foreign investments. The low levels of domestic petrochemicals products expansion represent great potential for the industry in the future.

Demand for green and valueadded products: The demand for green and value-added products such as engineering plastics, bio-/photodegradable products is expanding both domestically and globally. It is, therefore, important for the Indian players to expand its capabilities for manufacturing value-added products in order to compete in these markets.

Strong global demand: With the Indian markets constrained by availability of feedstock and bottlenecks related to technology & policy/ fiscal incentives, the petrochemical manufacturers can look to expand in global markets either on their own or through JVs/partnerships.

Bright prospects The future seems bright for the petrochemical industry in India. New and high investments towards greenfield as well as capacity expansions, being planned by IOC, Essar, RIL, OPaL, etc, spell good news for the industry. India is at the threshold of growth in consumption of petrochemicals, and thus the industry is all set to accommodate the dynamic phase.

Deepak Mahurkar is the Associate Director - Oil & Gas Practice, PwC India.

During his 22 years of professional career, he has gained diverse experience in the areas of consulting, technical, marketing, commercial and sales in the petroleum, distributed utility generation & marine industries.

Email: deepak.mahurkar@in.pwc.com

July 2011 | Chemical World

55

RESEARCH ZONE

R&D in chemical industry

Catalyst to score high on innovation India has the potential to become a strong player in global research & development (R&D) over the next two decades. Much will depend on whether the government can successfully implement a strong education policy and continue to attract & expand foreign investment, as well as build domestic & international R&D capabilities.

Dr Surendra Kulkarni

C

hemicals form an intrinsic part of peoples’ lives in many different ways, whether it is the furniture they use, the garments they wear or the medicines they consume, everything is inseparably linked to chemicals. From the current contribution of 6.7 per cent to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the projected 12.1 per cent, the Indian chemical industry is slated to grow at a fast pace in near future.

Emerging intellectual capital, manufacturing assets, improvement in safety, health and environmental standards, increase in investment levels in India, extensive use of information technology (IT) and the growth in R&D are some of the key factors that currently drive development in the Indian chemical industry. Among the mentioned drivers, growth in R&D is the catalyst that has enhanced productivity patterns in the Indian chemical industry. However, as compared to global standards, an aggressive growth strategy for R&D initiatives needs to be adopted by the domestic industry.

Current R&D situation According to independent studies, India is an emerging destination for R&D as companies invest more than 8 per cent of sales back into research and are increasingly seeking opportunities to enhance their research capacities. During the last decade, several major global industries have set up R&D centres, resulting in 45 per cent of Fortune 500 companies establishing their R&D presence in India with substantial representation from the chemical

56

Chemical World | July 2011

industry. Several important factors are working in India’s favour. One of the most important is its strong basic research capacity. In addition, the country has one of the highest numbers of expatriate scientists & engineers and if tapped into, to a greater extent through joint research projects, can make an enormous contribution to India’s knowledge base.

The chemical industry is a key contributor to the country’s economy with significant investments in R&D and knowledge-based production. In India, basic, specialty and knowledge chemicals have seen demand growth in the last decade, boosted by international demand & consumption by end-user sectors. In general, basic chemicals require limited R&D spend and are largely application-oriented; specialty chemicals need higher investments in R&D to develop new products & applications; and knowledge chemicals rely extensively on R&D for new products. Most of the R&D applied for knowledge chemicals is capital-intensive and requires scale of operations to provide financial strength and access to international markets.

RESEARCH ZONE

Role of research in development R&D plays a vital role in the growth and development of both firms and nations.

Firms sustain research and innovation (by extension, competitive advantage) by relentless improvement. The most innovative firms engage in a continual search for better products, services and strategies for doing things in a better manner. They try to continuously upgrade their internal capabilities and other resources to increase productivity.

With studies finding a direct effective link between growth and research, developing economies such as India essentially need to increase focus on R&D to drive growth and build a brand for itself in the global arena.

India: An outsourcing hub As mentioned earlier, India is gradually emerging as an important hub for R&D and outsourcing. All major companies in the business of technology, financial services are rushing to India to set up R&D facilities or back office centres. This is due to the fact that it has advantages such as availability of large talent pool, presence of quality infrastructure in important metropolitan cities and enabling government policies. India is one of the countries that have maximum researchers in the world.

R&D leading economic growth Following are some of the emerging trends that link R&D and development in economies such as India: R Continued R&D investment enable emerging markets to penetrate new sectors, allow product diversification and low-cost placements R Increase in use of electronics, search for alternative fuel sources & greater fuel efficiency, and the convergence of technologies provide an impetus to productivity R Changing view of developing economies as strategic partners focussed on innovation rather than sustenance and maintenance of existing products

According to India’s National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the country is home to more than 12 million science and engineering graduates – of which 2 million are postgraduates and 1,00,000 hold PhD degree. Also, unlike some other countries that is made up of declining and aging population, it has a young & dynamic workforce. The only drawback is that only 17 per cent of India’s workforce has secondary education, which in the long term will hinder technology-led growth and innovation. Thus, the potential of the workforce over the long term will be negatively affected, unless more opportunities are made available for India’s future workforce to receive quality secondary and higher education.

Challenges faced by companies Considering the unprecedented growth in job opportunities for scientists & engineers in the area of chemical sciences, there is likelihood of shortage of trained manpower. On one side, due to the sudden boom in fields like IT, financial services, management etc, most students opt for streams like computers, electronics, telecommunication, finance and management among others.

Core subjects like chemistry, chemical engineering, etc have become less attractive these days.

On the other, ready availability of jobs after bachelors/masters degrees may serve as disincentive for going for higher

studies. This raises a key question, whether there will be sufficient talent to fill in the jobs for the chemical industry. As such, the enrolment for chemistry/chemical engineering streams in India has been declining during the last two decades.

Additionally, some of these qualified people are attracted to IT industry, where they see better scope. There is a dire need to project the good aspects & prospects in chemical industry in India, and attractive job opportunities in this area.

A silver lining on the dark cloud is the recent trend of Indian students studying abroad, who are increasingly willing to return to India for jobs, given the newly available opportunities and world-class facilities. While India produces 13,237 PhDs a year (4,574 in science streams), US produces 25,000 PhDs, of which a sizeable part is in science/engineering streams. From this lot, a considerable fraction is students of Indian origin, willing to relocate to India. This is a huge resource, from the point of talent available for the chemical industry.

Government support for enhancing R&D With the Indian economy growing to position itself on the global map, the government should provide adequate supporting structures and a progressive environment. Strong Intellectual Property (IP) regulations to boost innovation and progressive regulatory framework would encourage emerging sectors such

July 2011 | Chemical World

57

RESEARCH ZONE

as the chemical industry in India. The government will play an important role in providing funding for public R&D programmes as part of its industrial policies or development strategy. Various government agencies like Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) strive to provide scientific & industrial R&D that maximises economic, environmental and societal benefits for the country. Enhanced funding at government-run labs (NCL, IICT etc), as well as, liberal R&D funds provided to various universities and institutions (IITs, IISc etc), have greatly helped the country to take a quantum jump in upgrading its R&D output. Initiatives like starting Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) that go a long way in modernising science education, will create a future pool of scientists in the country.

Apart from funding, the government can play a pivotal role in creating supportive infrastructure, conducive environment and talent pool to encourage R&D in various sectors. As they are the key drivers of funds, foreign investments and growth in domestic markets, government plays a critical role in promotion of research and innovation in any country.

Emerging R&D strategy Indian companies like Reliance, Dr Reddy’s, Lupin, Tata, and many others are investing increasingly in R&D in India.

Dr Reddy, Tata, Sun Pharmaceuticals and BHEL have already invested $ 84 million, $ 246 million, $ 71 million and $ 115 million, respectively. Large multinational

58

Chemical World | July 2011

companies are expanding or opening their R&D centres, an activity especially accelerated during the last 10-15 years.

They are involved in developing products and processes for global customers as well as local needs, and utilising local resources like raw materials & skill-sets, keeping in mind the needs of local customers.

Nearly double-digit growth in Asia provides innumerable opportunities for local innovations, which can eventually be globalised. These efforts will substantially enlarge the nation’s science & technology

Facts and figures R Consultants A T Kearney found

that in 2007, India rose to be the second most likely destination for foreign R&D investment, behind China and just ahead of the US. More than 300 multinational corporations already have set up R&D and technical centres in India, including over 125 Fortune 500 companies.

R A survey by Booz Allen Hamilton states that more than 75 per cent of the new R&D centres that global companies expect to open in the next three years will be in India or China. base, ultimately helping the Indian chemical industry in terms of availability of trained technical manpower.

In order to provide for future availability of trained technical manpower, it is necessary to enhance the collaboration between industry and academia. Indian industry can play key a role in this direction. In addition to simply funding industrial projects at academic institutions, a closer relation and interaction to benefit from each other’s expertise, and deeper involvement in education and training of young talent, will be critical, for developing a skilled manpower base needed for attaining the projected growth of the chemical industry.

Innovative future India is a growing economy with a high development projection in the future.

With the increase in GDP, the challenge lies in successfully increasing government expenditure in the R&D sector along with policies that allow higher international investment from companies.

Additionally, as a nation India needs to focus on building its scientific talent pool through a strong education system and check brain drain by creating new opportunities in the country. Only through collaborative efforts of the academia, government and aligned industries, India can grow into a dynamic economy based on technology & innovation.

References 1. A paper on ‘The role of R&D and innovation in US economy as a benchmark for Turkish economy’ by Sadi Koray Demircan, student of Michigan State University 2. Standard Chartered Industry Report 11/09 3. http://www.in.kpmg.com/TL_Files/ Pictures/KPMG_Chemtech_Report.pdf 4. http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/ tectran/index.php?idp=46 5. http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/07/ General-science-engineering-Report-Indialeads-growth-in-global-engineering-R-D/ 6. h t t p : / / w w w . a l l b u s i n e s s . c o m/ economy-economic-indicators/economicconditions-growth/10591880-1.html

Dr Surendra Kulkarni is the Senior Director, R&D, and Chief Technology Officer at Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd, based at the company’s global R&D centre in Pune. He has more than 27 years of experience in industrial R&D and has published 45 research papers in international journals and co-authored 10 US & European patents. His broad experience across industries encompasses commercialising products in the fields of pharma, agrochemicals, dyes, performance chemicals and polymers. For details, contact Roysten D’mello on email: rdmello@dow.com

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Blowdown condensate

Opportunity to optimise energy utilisation Suspended and dissolved solid particles present in the water used in a boiler can hamper its operation in the long run, as these impurities can lead to scale formation and corrosion. Continuous blowdown, along with chemical treatment, is commonly used to eliminate solids.

However, to maintain the efficiency of a steam generation system, it is important to pay due attention to cost of blowdown.

Courtesy: Forbes Marshall

Suhas C Mekhe

E

veryone concerned with a steam-using plant will keep some sort of record of fuel, labour and water utilised, which constitute the major costs in steam generation. Many will know the basic costs of their feed water treatment materials. But how many will know what blowdown is costing them? These can be high, and many a time people are fooled into thinking that because there is a waste heat recovery system in place, it is costing nothing to blowdown.

Hundred percent recovery is not always possible, and there are many other hidden snags.

Then there is the cost of corrosion. Nobody knows it is there until it shows up, usually in an expensive way. Feed treatment, blowdown and corrosion can be closely associated with fuel savings.

Improving steam distribution One of the critical questions before any company is: How can it increase the efficiency of a steam distribution system? There is ample evidence among steam users and those closely associated with them that, in the average modern plant

for providing steam for process and heating purposes, corrosion is on the rise. In particular, this concerns thousands of plants, which are served by shell-type boilers operating between 7 bar to 17.5 bar (g) pressure.

Has it something to do with the modern type of boiler? Should one spend money on feed treatment to ensure scale free surfaces and acceptable conditions within the boiler without sufficient thought about what happens outside the boiler? In one boiler house, for example, a team investigating corrosion found that the boiler feed water was regularly monitored as having a pH of 11.5 or thereabouts. A sample of condensate taken from the steam header in the boiler house had a PH of 4.3; this rapid change to an acid condition was attributed to a combination of chemical reaction and carry over from the boiler.

Does one too often overlook the reason for having a boiler? It is there to produce steam as a heat carrying medium for process requirements.

The quantity of steam delivered by the boiler is therefore of vital importance to the efficient operation of processing or heating plants. Let us look at some of the basic facts.

July 2011 | Chemical World

59

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Water condition and basic design All raw water contains salts, chemicals, solids, etc, which can generally be grouped under the heading ‘impurities’. The composition of these impurities and the quantity of each will vary widely depending on the basic source of water supply. They can and often vary in many cases from day to day as the water supply authority changes the point of origin.

These impurities can be present in two forms – dissolved solids and suspended solids. Both are of equal importance so far as boiler feed water is concerned. Often, the emphasis is made on the limitation of totally dissolved solids (TDS) but one wellknown boiler manufacturer who took the trouble to research and find out what happens inside a boiler proved that both dissolved & suspended solids play an important role in the quality of steam delivered by present package type boilers.

The enterprising boiler manufacturer found, in fact, that water having very low dissolved solid contents but high suspended solid content produced just as poor quality steam as did water of high dissolved solid contents but low suspended solid contents.

Most water contain some kind of scale forming salts, the most common

perhaps being calcium carbonate, and, on heating, this type of impurity will deposit out as scale. Any of the other non-scale forming impurities will remain as dissolved or suspended solids in the water. In a steam boiler, water is continually evaporated off, leaving the solids behind in an ever-increasing concentration.

Feed treatment

Scale is indeed a bad thing to have in a boiler because: R It will seriously reduce the heat transfer rate R If allowed to build up on the heat transfer surface, it can cause hot spots and deterioration of metal surfaces such as the burning of the tube walls So, every endeavour must be made to prevent scale deposition. This is generally done by treatment of boiler feed water, the simplest method being to change the scale forming salts into sludge, an exchange process, which takes place on heating generally within the boiler. In many cases, therefore, the action taken to prevent scale increases the solid contents of the water. The high temperature of the heating surface passing through a high concentration of solids within the boiler will cause some of the solids to bake onto the heating surface, having a similar effect to a layer of scale.

A high concentration of solids in the water under the turbulent conditions, which exist inside the boiler, will also cause foaming or frothing and would result in poor steam quality due to carry over. Under these circumstances not only the steam is wet due to carry over of water particles, but these water particles also carry with them some of the solids, which will later deposit Source: Forbes Marshall on the heat transfer faces Figure 1: Schematic representation of a boiler in the steam using plants,

60

Chemical World | July 2011

thus slowing down the production rate.

It is with ample evidence that these carry over of solids in steam system interferes with satisfactory operation of steam traps, control valves, reducing valves, heat exchangers, etc.

Corrosion challenge All the aforementioned factors add to the problem of corrosion. The simplest methods of producing chemical change to prevent scale are often the cause of the release of large quantities of CO2, which is the most common known cause of corrosion in steam and condensate systems.

There is a growing increase in the use of base exchange softening as a simple means of producing water of a quality suitable for many of the modern types of shell boilers and steam generators.

But the question must be asked, is this form of treatment always suitable; what about after-effects?

In passing water through a solidbased zeolite, such as contained in the average base exchange softener, the calcium and magnesium salts etc, will be exchanged for equivalent sodium salts as a result of which sodium carbonate is usually predominant.

On heating within the boiler, sodium carbonate will decompose during which it would give off a fair amount of CO2, which every steam engineer knows is perhaps the most common cause of corrosion in steam and condensate pipe systems. One has to remember that if water supply has percolated through stratum of natural zeolite it will have similar characteristics.

Blowdown control Referring to the question of maximum permissible solids content to the boiler water, the most common way of controlling this is by continuous or frequent intermittent blowdown.

Broadly speaking, to prevent a predetermined maximum level of solids from being exceeded, water of high solid content is drawn off from the boiler and is replaced by an equal

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

quantity of water of low solids content – simply diluting the boiler contents.

This, if done in a controlled manner, is an effective way of controlling the level of dissolved solids in the boiler drum.

But manual blowdown is prone to several disadvantages. Too much blowdown is sheer energy wastage and monetary loss; while allowing build up of high TDS levels results in poor steam quality. Manual dependence has no method to ascertain exactly what happens in the boiler; it is purely guesswork. In fact, uncontrolled blowdown may result in boiler pressure drop, thus causing steam starvation affecting the plant production. The boiler operators generally do not understand the technical aspects and business complexities. Hence, it is best to avoid manual dependence and opt for an automatic mechanism.

Hidden cost This argument is not intended to decry heat recovery from blowdown. Since blowdown is the only practical way of obtaining control of the solid contents of boiler water, it is common sense to recover as much heat as possible. One should not, however, be under the misconception that there are no losses since all the heat is being recovered – it is not; far from it. The proportion of heat recoverable will depend upon the operating conditions and the resultant waste of fuel, water, etc will vary directly with the amount of blowdown.

An imperfect system of water treatment or a good system badly operated or maintained can pour excess chemical into water, thus increasing the solid contents. Nobody will be aware of this because the system takes care of the change in boiler water condition by increasing the amount of blowdown with a relative increase in waste.

Such a system may look after the conditions inside the boiler but it often aggravates corrosion problem in the rest of the distributed system. This is a serious problem which seems to be spreading

rapidly with the growth in use of the present time modern packaged type of boiler.

Understanding the economics Let us take a closer look at the economics of this system. Take for example a boiler operating at a pressure of 9 b_g and evaporating at a rate of 5,000 kg/hr. Partial condensate recovery enables the feed water temperature to be maintained at 70°C. So, the total heat input required to raise 5,000 kg/hr steam is 29,65,000 Kcal. To maintain an acceptable level of solids, continuous blowdown is now introduced at the rate of 10 per cent. So 500 kg of water per hour approximately at boiling point is discharged to waste and has to be replaced with an equal quantity of make-

It is recommended to further extract heat from the blowdown condensate by recovering flash steam and heat recovery through a plate heat exchangerbased system. up, which can be assumed at 25°C. The additional heat demand brought about by the blowdown is 78,000 Kcal, an increase in fuel usage of 2.9 per cent which on this size of plant working 24 X 7, would entail an increase of about 145 tonne of coal or 18,000 gallons of oil per year.

One need not, however, waste all this heat. For every drop of water blown down from the boiler an equal amount of fresh water must be introduced. Here is an excellent opportunity for waste heat recovery. But how much can be recovered? The simplest, cheapest way of making use of the heat is by flash recovery. For example, 500 kg of water approximately at boiling point is taken from the boiler. It will have a sensible heat content of 181 Kcal per kg x 500 = 90,500 Kcal.

If this is discharged to a pressure of 0.5 b_g, then the maximum sensible heat content will be 111 Kcal/kg x 500 = 55,500 Kcal. So, the latent heat available in flash will be 90,500-55,000 = 35,000 Kcal from which will be obtained 70 kg of flash steam.

Recovering 70 kg of flash steam in the feed tank will reduce the demand for make-up water from 500 to 430 kg.

So, the feed water initially at 70°C will be cooled by the addition of make-up water at 25°C to approximately 70°C into which 70 kg of flash steam is utilised, raising the feed water temperature up to 82°C and a total heat recovery of approximately 73,600 Kcal. Allowing for heat losses in this recovery system, in this particular case, about 42 per cent of the heat in the blowdown can be recovered with simple heat recovery system, and this will result in payback in a comparatively short period.

Furthermore, this is based on the recovery from blowdown having high total dissolved solid content and does not take into account blowdown for sludge removal from the bottom of the boiler, the heat from which is not normally recoverable. In some cases, there is the additional cost of cooling the residual blowdown water before it can be accepted by the local authority into their system.

Hence, it is recommended to further extract heat from the blowdown condensate by recovering flash steam and heat recovery through a plate heat exchanger-based system, and then send it to the effluent treatment plant (ETP).

Suhas C Mekhe is heading the Specials, Packages and Engineered Systems (SPES) Division under the umbrella of Spirax Marshall, a Forbes Marshall Group company.

Through SPES, Forbes Marshall offers customised heat exchange packages and monitoring & control solutions, with the ultimate objective of energy conservation.

For details, contact Belinda Gaikwad on email: bgaikwad@forbesmarshall.com

July 2011 | Chemical World

63

Product Inquiry Card

5

EASY STEPS TO GET PRODUCT INFO

Product Sourcing Just Got Simpler

1 See the index page in this issue. Every product carries a number.

2 Choose products of your choice from the list.

3 Write their serial numbers (as per the index page) of your chosen product/s one-by-one in the boxes.

4 Fill in your complete contact details.

5 Send it to us at the address printed overleaf.

-1 TIPIN THE BDOUXCETS

UR O L FIL TH PR OF YO D WI ER/S EN S ND MB NU OICE A CH

-2 TIP SE ENSUILRLEIN Name:___________________________________________________Designation:_________________________________________ Company:_______________________________________________________________________________________________

F A PLE T YOU ETAILS THA THE D RED ALL REQUI

Address:_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Tel:________________________________________Mob:_______________________________Fax:_________________________ Email:__________________________________________________Web:_______________________________________________

07/2011

City:_________________________________________Pin:_______________________State:__________________________

POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE

Business Reply Inland Permit No. 555 Bhavani Shankar Post Office, Mumbai 400 028.

Special Projects INFOMEDIA 18 LIMITED Ruby House,1st Floor J K Sawant Marg Dadar (W), Mumbai 400 028 INDIA

NO POSTAGE STAMP NECESSARY IF POSTED IN INDIA

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Workplace protection

Donning the safety harness Addressing the safety & health concerns, posing a huge threat to people and environment at large, is vital in chemical plants for enhancing productivity and gaining an edge in the competitive world. It is essential to inculcate safety culture and create consciousness on health & environment aspects among personnel in an organisation. Moreover, understanding the hazards inherent in all operations and adopting precautionary & emergency measures can go a long way in ensuring safety at chemical plants.

Courtesy: 3M India

Shrikant Kulkarni

W

ith the market size pegged close to $ 84 billion, the Indian chemical industry is witnessing a steep growth curve. However, on the flip side, this is causing a growing concern about the workplace safety and security of people. This is the result of lack of concrete environmental regulations that can monitor the various hazard scenarios likely to occur in chemical plants.

There have been numerous incidents of unexpected release of toxic, reactive or flammable liquids, and gas leaks with catastrophic effects in many places. Such mishaps are common in industries that use highly hazardous chemicals, most of it going unreported. The impact of such accidents could vary from chronic diseases like lung problem, chemical burns, etc, to disastrous consequences, with the potential of having a ripple effect for generations.

Major chemical disasters like the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the October 1989 Phillips Petroleum Company fire and explosion disaster, Pasadena, Texas; the July 1990 BASF fatal fire

64

Chemical World | July 2011

incident, Cincinnati, Ohio; the May 1991 IMC incident, Sterlington, Los Angeles, etc, have set a danger alarm to the entire human race. At this juncture, it is imperative to revisit the human safety regulation act and take adequate steps to prevent such hazards in chemical plants. Let us delve deeper into the root of such accidents and how these can be avoided.

Focus areas Safety can be broadly divided into three categories, namely process safety, personal safety on the job and personal safety off the job. In a chemical plant, hazards can occur during the following processes: R Handling of dangerous materials R Hazards of pressure vessels R Hazardous chemical reactions R Hazardous unit operations R Flammable gases, vapours and dust hazards R Hazards due to corrosion R Entry into confined spaces R Working with pipelines R Plant alteration and modification R Sampling and gauging R Hazards due to instrument failures

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

In terms of regulatory provisions, various statutes covering Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) have been notified in India since independence. These include Mines Act 1952, Factories Act 1948, Dock Workers Act 1986, Dangerous Machine (Regulation) Act 1983, Insecticides Act 1968, Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 notified under Environment (Protection) Act 1986, etc.

OHS falls under the purview of the Ministry of Labour, Government of India. The Ministry of Labour & Labour Departments of the States and Union Territories are responsible for the health & safety of workers. The Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) and Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institute (DGFASLI) assist the Ministry of Labour in monitoring occupational health & safety aspects of workers in mines, factories and ports. However, the need of the hour is to have separate regulations and

acts for individual industries, eg, Act for Chemical Industry, Act for Pharmaceutical Industry, etc.

Every chemical plant should have a separate procedure for selection and maintenance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for protection of workers, be it respiratory or eye protection, body/head protection, hearing protection and spill control. This is not all, the use of safety gears while working at height and during welding also needs to be emphasised. Here let us take a detailed look at some of these most important aspects.

hygienist to understand the level of exposure to workers during normal plant operation, and in case of emergency, at each & every plant location. Based on the survey, the level of protection required should be identified and proper PPE can be selected based on the protection factors. Products such as maintenancefree respirators, reusable cartridge type respirators, power air purifying respirators, supplied air line systems and self-contained breathing apparatus system may be selected for each area within a chemical plant.

Eye protection Respiratory protection The employer is expected to develop and implement a respiratory protection programme, with required worksitespecific procedures & elements for required respirator use. Before selection of appropriate PPE for respiratory protection, field evaluation should be carried out by a certified industrial

Depending on the likely exposure of workers’ eyes to chemicals, selection of spectacles or goggles should be done.

However, it needs to be ensured that safety glasses should be lightweight and comfortable to wear. In addition, depending on the area of operation, it should have anti-fog, hard coat or chemical resistance property. The

July 2011 | Chemical World

65

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Safety strategies Each chemical plant should have project site specific health and safety plan, which includes the following key points: R Hazard identification R Implementation of health and

safety culture at site R Incident & accident investigation

and reporting method R On-site

emergency procedure in case of fire, earthquake, chemical spills, gas leakage, etc

R Safety audit programme at site

eyewear should also be tested for impact resistance.

Body protection The main types of protective clothing include those that shield against mechanical risks, heat & fire, chemical risks, inclemency of weather, biological risks, radiation (ionising and nonionising). Then there is the high visibility protective clothing and the ones that protect against electrical risks (anti-static protective clothing).

can also estimate the exposure or dose experienced by an employee during a workday. This also enables proper selection of hearing protectors.

Depending on the level of exposure, hearing protectors can be selected. Some of the products available in this area include ear plugs (disposable or reusable) and ear muffs.

When communication systems such as walkie talkie or mobile phones are used at chemical industry sites, ear muffs are advisable. Moreover, ear muffs can be easily integrated with walkie talkies/ mobile phones to enable clear & effective communication, besides protecting the user from high levels of noise.

It is essential to conduct an effective hearing conservation programme at workplace. It should include preemployment and periodical auditory surveys on workers exposed to noise

When communication systems such as walkie talkie or mobile phones are used at chemical industry sites, ear muffs are advisable.

Head protection Safety gears for head protection are used extensively in chemical industries. The hard hats used should be approved as per BIS Standard (IS 2925). They should have Quadra Lock System for better locking and must be RohS (restriction of hazardous substances) certified for sweat band & chin strap for irritant resistant protection. In addition, they should have head top cushion for increased user comfort over long working hours and must be available in ratchet or pin lock option.

Hearing protection The Indian Factories Act 1948 says ‘Noise level at workplace should be less than 90 dBA’. There should be workplace noise monitoring to determine whether the noise exposure is at or above the permissible level. Noise monitoring

66

Chemical World | July 2011

levels exceeding the permissible levels. In addition, rehabilitation of such workers needs to be undertaken, either by reducing the exposure to the noise levels or by transferring them to areas where noise levels are relatively less, among other measures.

Welding protection Welding fumes are fine, solid particles of metal oxides that form during the welding process. The specific substances and the amount of hazardous substances a welder inhales depends on the welding method, conditions under which the welding takes place, and the types of metals being welded.

Many types of metals may be found in welding fumes, including arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel,

silicates, selenium, vanadium and zinc.

Gases commonly associated with welding are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, fluorine compounds and phosgene. These gases may be present as a result of: R Combustion of flux shielding R Ultraviolet radiation interaction with shielding gases, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and solvents R Burning metal coatings Some respiratory health effects linked to welding contaminants include irritation of the respiratory tract, metal fume fever, siderosis, systemic toxicity, manganism and lung cancer. Exposure to arc radiation (ultraviolet/infrared light) is another major concern during welding operation.

Personal protective equipment that should be used during welding operation include safety glasses, face shields, welding helmets & hand shields (fixed shade glasses or auto darkening helmets), respirators (maintenancefree respirators, reusable respirators, powered air purifying or supplied air line respirators), hearing protectors, and hand & body protectors.

On a safer note Accidents such as the recent leakage of radioactive components from Japan’s nuclear plants are unavoidable, but adequate protective gears and safety measures can save millions of lives.

At a macro level, these environmental regulatory policies preserve the ecological balance. But industries fail to realise that right down to the micro level, it would ensure safety of the employees and increase their productivity by providing a smooth hazard-free environment.

Shrikant Kulkarni is the General Manager of the Occupational Health and Environmental Safety Division of 3M India. He has been with 3M for over 12 years, with a total experience of 20 years in the industry. Shrikant is a B.Tech from ISM Dhanbad, followed by MBA from IIM-Bangalore.

Email: kshrikant1@mmm.com

TECH TRACK

Water treatment market

Giving a ‘Finnish’ing touch With the Indian water and wastewater treatment sector booming, Finnish companies are sharpening their focus to tap this market with their cutting-edge technologies.

Rakesh Rao

N

okia might be losing its marketshare in India, but more & more Finnish companies are evincing interest in the country, especially in the water & wastewater treatment market. Known for their innovative water management technologies, Finnish manufacturers are looking to tap markets, where there are huge challenges related to water and related infrastructure.

“Chemical sector, which is one of the major industries in Finland, has taken many proactive steps to enhance sustainability and develop new raw materials & technologies. Water technology can be one of the areas of cooperation between India and Finland, as we have an expertise in providing cutting-edge solutions for water treatment,” says Timo Leppa, Director General, Chemical Industry Federation of Finland.

Back to the roots To clean the country’s polluted water bodies, the practical enforcement of the Water Act began in 1962, and Finland set out on the journey to being a forerunner in the water field. In order to promote Finnish water sector’s capabilities in international forums & projects, Finnish Water Forum (FWF) was formed in 2009. The forum, a joint network of the Finnish private and public water sectors, serves as a platform through which commercial enterprises, government and non-government organisations, scientific institutions and water-related associations can consolidate their water knowledge to find solutions for global water challenges. “Global water challenges are becoming more & more serious, and Finnish companies can offer answer to these challenges as we have solid know-how on water resources management, holistic design & consultation, and different technical solutions,” opines Saija Vuola, Project Manager, FWF.

Courtesy: Kemira Group

FWF can offer a broad spectrum of waterrelated expertise such as good governance, expertise on water legislation, capacity building, research, education, consultancy, technology, technological products, chemicals and combinations of all these.

According to FWF officials, during his recent visit to Helsinki, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh reportedly showed interest in Finnish water technology, particularly related to arsenic removal and energy from wastewater.

Next destination: India The raw water quality available in India varies significantly, resulting in modifications to the

July 2011 | Chemical World

67

TECH TRACK

conventional water treatment scheme consisting of aeration, chemical coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection. The backwash water and sludge generation from water treatment plants pose environmental concern in terms of disposal. In addition, burgeoning industrial sector and rapid urbanisation have exerted pressure on the potable water demand, which requires exploration of raw water sources, developing treatment and distribution systems.

As a result of these factors, experts opine that water treatment market is likely to witness robust demand in near future. And probably this is one of the main reasons why Finnish companies are showing interest in developing Indiaspecific plans. One such firm is Kemira, a global Euro 2-billion chemical company that is focussed on serving customers in water-intensive industries. The company offers water quality and quantity management that improves customers’ energy, water and raw material efficiency.

“We help our customers improve performance of their water-intensive processes through chemistry applications and products. Of the total water industry (estimated to be in the range of $ 500700 billion), the potential market for Kemira is $ 26 billion ($ 16 billion in raw water, wastewater & process water treatment, and $ 10 billion in process & product enhancement in water-intensive processes),” says Harri Kerminen, President

& CEO, Kemira Group. He adds, “India, China and Indonesia are the potential growth markets for us in the Asia-Pacific region. The market potential in India for the company is $ 300 million. Our main customers in India are industrial, especially from paper, textile, petrochemical, metal, mining and food sectors.”

Viikinmäki underground wastewater To further strengthen treatment plant in Helsinki its presence in the country, Courtesy: Olli Häkämies 2010/HSY Kemira has formed a joint venture with IVRCL Ltd to set up a water planning to enter the Indian market. It treatment chemical manufacturing unit supplies equipment particularly designed near Visakhapatnam. Once operational, for water & wastewater treatment and the company is also planning to establish sludge dewatering,” observes Esa Raivio, a R&D centre in the country. “Water Vice President, Econet Group.

Similarly, PAC-Solution Ltd, which quality and treatment differ from country to country. Hence, having a R&D centre offers purification solution for waste in India is a possibility in near future,” and utility water, is keen to explore the municipal and industrial water purification says Kerminen.

Several Finnish companies planning market in India. “We can offer costto enter or expand their engineering effective and efficient solution for water solutions business in the water segment purification. The PACS system does not in India. For example, Pöyry, which leave any chemical residues in the water provides engineering and consulting and no toxic compounds are formed services for effective wastewater disposal when it destroys microbes. It is versatile and treatment operations, has bagged and can be used in water recycling,” a number of projects in recent times. informs Heikki Tallgren, Export Director, “We have been receiving good response PAC-Solution Ltd. Further, to facilitate business for our services in India and we expect to more than double our sales in the collaboration between the two countries, country this year,” says Markku Oksanen, FinNode, a part of the Finnish innovation President, Business Area network, started its operation in February Finland and Asia, Water 2011 in India. It aims to connect experts Water scarcity dynamics & Environment Business and knowledge between India and Finland to create innovations as well as Group, Pöyry. scale-up these innovations to reach both Demand management Supply management For a clean future developed & emerging markets. The main R Tariffs R Desalination A slew of other Finnish focus areas of FinNode India include R Leakage R Rainfall/reservoirs firms are planning to cleantech – renewable energy & clean R Water rights R Water rights venture into India, one water, education & learning, healthcare R Water efficiency R Water efficiency of the fastest growing & wellbeing, and innovations for base-ofmarkets for water and the-pyramid markets.

R Scope R Availability wastewater treatment.

Water treatment market offers R Institutional issues R Affordability “Oy Slamex Ab, a part of immense scope for growth, and Finnish R Political issues R Political issues Econet Group and which companies can play a bigger role in this Source: Kemira Group has presence in China segment by offering more sustainable Figure 1: Solution to lower water stress and scarcity and Vietnam in Asia, is water treatment solutions.

68

Chemical World | July 2011

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

Supplier and partner focus

Enabling improvement, recognising performance Organisations have long acquiesced that their employees partner them in their growth and success. But another truth that has dawned is – this mantra goes beyond just employees. Sustainable growth and market leadership are achieved with the contribution of another crucial facet – suppliers and business partners, who have in the recent past become the backbone for any company’s plans to head north.

Suresh Lulla

A

s companies expand into new markets and geographies, the emphasis is to focus on their core competencies. This has resulted in a number of services being outsourced to third party entities. Companies that work towards consistently evaluating their partners find that they have a better understanding of who they are dealing with, appreciate the cost drivers and factors better, develop a better de-risking strategy and eventually gain tremendous competitive advantage by reducing supply chain cycle times. This has a direct positive impact on productivity and profitability.

Defining metrics for evaluating and enabling improvement Practically speaking, associates work as the back-end and front-end in enabling an organisation to achieve its goals. The term ‘associate’ denotes ‘supplier’ and/or ‘partner’ here. Over the years, organisations have

invested time and effort in developing metrics and tools to evaluate & measure performance.

While statistical models and tools have become critical in assessing the throughput of a firm’s associates, more often than not, most companies do not fully leverage their performance evaluation systems or are doing minimal evaluation.

Technology has also paved the way for several effective evaluation and performance measurement tools. While most of the applications can be customised to suit organisational needs, there may be some qualitative aspects that could go a long way in improving not only performance, but relationships as well. These aspects are described below.

Identifying ‘how many associates to work with’: De-risking, Plans A and B are a common phenomenon in most work environments today. Companies without backup strategies do not exist in reality. This lends its way to associates as well, especially on the supplier side of the business. Market demands

July 2011 | Chemical World

69

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

and a surge in production numbers have accentuated the need for an increased supplier base. But these empanelled parties are not always, or necessarily, optimally utilised. The time, effort and cost of managing a large number of inactive associates can be a huge task by itself. Not to mention the opportunity lost in utilising the effort in assessing and developing stronger relationships with those associates who actually contribute to the company’s performance.

Aligning associates to organisation’s business goals and plans & vice versa: For many large, growing companies, associates are third-party organisations with their individual business plans and mission.

While Reward & Recognition (R&R) schemes act as a short-term catalyst to elicit optimal or super-optimal

performance, long-term relationships and reliance comes from initiating associates to the company’s long-term goals and plans, while assisting them in achieving their own. Front-line managers and representatives play a crucial role in this area as they are the direct interface of the company. They can make or break a relationship.

Helping emerging associates to develop their growth roadmaps & sales plans; working on new strategies; and sharing best practices in the industry strengthens the bond that will go beyond numbers & profitability.

Identifying key performance indicators – ‘what to measure’: There may be several factors or drivers that contribute towards an optimal or sub-optimal performance. It is therefore imperative to identify and measure those drivers that impact

the most. Often, in today’s data age, there is such an overload of information that assimilating ‘what is important’ and ‘what is relevant’ have become an exercise by itself.

Managers today are inundated with reports of every form and nature.

While it feels good to be able to assess associates at a micro level, the basic question is, does it serve the purpose? Are we deriving effective, relevant inputs that aid us in taking the right decisions? Standardising the KPIs and measurement metrics (or tool) across locations & geographies makes the performance evaluation seamless and smooth.

Agreeing on what to measure – collaborative understanding: Most companies have a complex Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) tool that measures and updates associate

The industry perspective: Turning a new leaf Toyota – Just In Time: In the 1950s, Toyota developed and implemented the Toyota Production System (TPS) based on the philosophy of Just In Time (JIT). Toyota has over the years refined this system and has gained the reverence of its competitors – the automotive sector and the industry in general. TPS worked on the principle of demandbased inventory. Therefore, Toyota was able to derive huge savings by cutting holding costs in the manufacturing process, starting from the preprocessing stage to the final finished product. Storage costs were brought down drastically as well, since there were no cars idling in warehouses, awaiting customers. While companies using the JIT technique focus on improving productivity and reducing warehousing & inventory stocks intrinsically, Toyota went one step ahead and integrated the vendors & suppliers into the TPS fold. It was noticed that suppliers working with Toyota found it easier to fulfil large orders over a period of time, but in small shipments. This was no doubt less demanding for partners.

70

Chemical World | July 2011

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF): Better known as Amul, it has today grown into a large congregation of farmers and unions with over 5 lakh retailers & more than 4,000 distributors.

The supply chain consists of farmers who are part of a network, which is linked to a milk collection centre. Several milk collection centres then become part of a union. Since Amul’s products are perishable, and have a short shelf-life, efficiency in the supply chain process was paramount. The nature of the supply chain, and, more importantly, the literacy levels & backgrounds of the end-supplier made it imperative for Amul to bring in professionals in vendor/supplier management to improve the efficiency of the supply chain process. Amul recognised that the core competency of unions was milk collection and manufacture of dairy products. Hence, Amul handled the entire branding and marketing activity, while decentralising the manufacture and supply of dairy products to unions.

GCMMF’s board plays the role of a coordinator between the suppliers and the distributors/retailers.

ITC’s Agri Business Division (ABD): ITC’s ABD is recognised as a reliable global supplier in the agricommodities market. Having entered this market, ITC recognised the importance of building a sustainable supply chain for procurement. The company also realised that the suppliers were small to mid-sized farmers largely in the underserved or untapped agricultural zones of the country. This led to the launch of the ‘e-Chaupal’ initiative by ITC in 2000. This initiative, the first-of-its-kind by any corporate entity, started as a CSR initiative, but has today become a shining illustration of sustainable rural supply chain management. ITC set up information centres and Internet kiosks, which provided farmers information on global commodity prices, weather forecasts and agricultural best practices. While this has made the role of middlemen redundant, farmers are now making informed decisions. Farmers are able to buy agricultural equipment and hybrid seeds from stores launched by ITC in collaboration with farmers. This has resulted in high quality produce and better yield.

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

performance. But in many cases, this is a shielded one-sided process with the associate unaware of the criteria of evaluation, assessment or performance. A performance appraisal or evaluation system moves to the next level only if it is transparent.

This next level is that of a mature, long-lasting relationship of trust and understanding. This is achieved when the organisation truly works with the associate as an equal, and the parameters of measurement & performance are discussed, debated & agreed upon by both parties.

Cognisance and, therefore, the business impact of the parameters of assessment will not only provide clarity on what is being measured but also integrate the business partner into the organisation’s system of working.

The old adage ‘You cannot manage what you cannot measure’ has just been modified. It now reads ‘You cannot manage what you cannot measure and comprehend’.

So the next time the company releases the quarterly performance reports, associates will not only see their ranking but also have insights on how these rankings were arrived at. Companies like HP and Agilent Technologies, for instance, have developed the TQRDCE technique, which, briefly put, measures Technology, Quality, Responsiveness, Delivery, Cost and Environment & Social Responsibility. While the tool may be the same, weightage points vary between both organisations.

These have been identified and firmedup after many iterations & discussions with internal and external partners.

Retain the best, engage the rest: Given today’s fast-paced business environment and work schedules, organisations tend to focus on best performing associates. Companies sometimes follow the 80/20 principle or Pareto’s Law – where 20 per cent of the supplier group accounts for 80 per cent of business. But in doing so, companies sometimes work towards

keeping the best performing associates happy, while not really doing much about the others.

Emerging partners or those partners who have been servicing the company and its competitor could become some of the best partners in the future. A small change in this category could be a positive turn of events for the company.

Application of industry best practices: Industry best practices provide a reality check on the existing work processes in any organisation.

Most organisations look at best practices as improvement measures intrinsically.

Today, with companies going the

Building a world-class supplier and partner management system has become one of the most important activities for any organisation. e-sourcing or outsourcing way, extending the industry and company best practices to associates who play an important role in the company’s success has become a necessity. Improving partner processes, conducting partner site visits and implementation of best practices at the associate work environment will help companies achieve not just a competitive edge in the marketplace but also prove to be one of the best de-risking strategies.

GE Healthcare, for instance, has stringent on-site inspection reviews with its associates. These reviews go beyond work audits and compliance issues.

Especially in developing countries, where GE is looking at developing new businesses and partners, the

review programmes also include culture building, improving processes and systems, and training employees of associates. GE has imparted training to its suppliers over the last couple of years through ‘Train the Trainer’ and classroom sessions. GE has conducted general training sessions for over 1,000 associates and specific compliancerelated sessions for over 500 associates in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

The essential exercise Associates today are key value chain participants. They affect the overall performance of any organisation.

Therefore, building a world-class supplier and partner management system has become one of the most important activities for any organisation. This exercise is dynamic, continuous & intense, evolving and improving with time.

Suresh Lulla is Founder & Managing Director of Qimpro Consultants; Founder & Director of BestPrax Club Pvt Ltd, and Chairman of the IMC Quality Awards Committee – IMC RBNQA; IMC Juran Medal. He is Regional Coordinator - Western India, Quality Council of India; and Director - Membership Retention and Engagement, Global Benchmarking Network.

He is also a Member, Governing Board, Institute of Health Management Research.

Email: info@qimpro.com

July 2011 | Chemical World

71

Network with Engineering Expo Exhibitors Now you can meet and discuss business with Engineering Expo’s exhibitors, much prior to the actual exhibition.

Just let us know about the exhibitor that you want to get in touch with and we will fix the meeting for you.

Contact us on 09819552270

UPDATE 2 Rudrapur 23-26 September, 2011 Gandhi Park

Ahmedabad 14-17 October, 2011 Gujarat Univesity Exhibition hall

Pune 18-21 November, 2011 Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre

Advanced Micro Services Pvt Ltd Products: Repair Services & Retrofitting For CNC Machines; Industrial Automation, Control Systems W: www.amsindia.net Participating in: Pune

Arhan Technologies Pvt Ltd Products: Total Automated Assembly Lines, VMCs, HMCs, Turning Centres W: www.arhan.co.in Partici pating in: Rudrapur, Aurangabad

Bearing & Tool Centre Products: Measuring Instruments, Testing Instruments, Surface Plates, Thread Gauges, Plain Gauges W: www.bearingtoolcentre.com Participating in: Ahmedabad

Best Quality Fasteners Products: Fastners, Nuts, Screws, Washers W: www.rkctrades.com Participating in: Rudrapur, Aurangabad

Chennai 8-11 December, 2011 Chennai Trade Centre

Bhagwati Filters Pvt Ltd Products: Hydraulic And Lubricating Oil Filters, Filters W: www.bhagwati-filters.com Participating in: Ahmedabad, Aurangabad

Indore 6-9 January, 2012 Poddar Plaza, MG Road

Aurangabad 17-20 February, 2012 Garware Stadium

Book Your Stall Now Contact www.engg-expo.com T: 09819552270 E: engexpo@infomedia18.in SMS: EXPO to 51818

Calitron Calibration Laboratory Products: Calibration Facility For Pressure, Temperature, Mass, Volume & Electrotechnical Parameter W: www.calitroncalibration.com Participating in: Pune

Compucare Products: Fingerprint And Card-Based Time And Attendance Systems, Access Control Systems, CCTV Solutions W: www.compucareindia.com Participating in: Ahmedabad

CTR Manufacturing Industries Ltd Products: Pallet Trucks, Electric Pallet Trucks, Forklift Trucks, Scissor Lifts, Diesel Engine Telescopic Horizontal Lifts, Hydraulic Trolley Jacks, Forklift Truck Jacks, Floor Cranes Servicing, Scissor Platforms W: www.ctr.in Participating in: Rudrapur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Indore, Aurangabad

Dijet Industrial Co Ltd Products: Modular Head, Indexable Tools, End Mills, Drills, Turning Inserts, Wear & Impact Resistant Tools, Cabide Blanks, Carbide Tools W: www.dijet.com Participating in: Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Indore

Elesa-Ganter India Pvt Ltd Products: Fixed Handles, Revolving Handles, Safety Fold-away Handles, Control Elements, Rotary Controls, Indexing Elements, Joints, Levelling Elements, Hinges, Latches, Hooks, Toggle & Power Clamps, Tube Clamp Connectors, Castors & Wheels W: www.elesa-ganter.com Participating in: Pune

Garg Machines Products: Cleaning Machines, Floor Polishing Machines, Floor Grinding Machines, Vacuum Cleaner, Floor Cleaning Machines W: www.gargmachines.net Participating in: Rudrapur

Himanshu Enterprise Products: V-belts, Roller Taper Roller Bearings, Pillow Block Bearings W: www.flir.com Participating in: Ahmedabad

HMB International Products: Carbide Cutting Tools, End Mills, Drills, Reamers, Special Tools W: www.kelten.co.in Participating in: Rudrapur, Chennai

Igus India Pvt Ltd Products: Cable Carriers, Cable Connectors, Connectors, Bearings, Chains W: www.igus.in Participating in: Ahmedabad

Intech Surface Coating Pvt Ltd Products: Powder Coating Plants, Paint Shops, Liquid Painting Plants, Spray Pre-treatment Plants, Dip Pre-treatment Plants W: www.intechfinishing.com Participating in: Rudrapur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Indore, Aurangabad

K Engg Products Products: Machine Tools Accessories, CNC Tooling Systems, Hydraulic Tapping Machines, Air Tapping Machines, Drill End Mill Protable Machines, ER Collets, Stanny Fine Boring W: www.kenggproducts.com Participating in: Indore, Aurangabad

Mass Engineers & Supplier Products: Fat Monitor, Weighing Scales, BP Monitors W: www.massengineers.co.in Participating in: Pune, Aurangabad

N B Technologies Products: Hydraulics & Pneumatics, SPMs, Test Equipment Development, Power Packs, Cylinders & Accumulators, Plant Automation W: www.nbtindia.in Participating in: Pune

Omron Automation Pvt Ltd Products: Industrial Control & Sensing Devices, Relays, Timers, Counters & Power Supplies, Temperature Controllers, Level Controllers, Sensors, Encoders, Safety Light Curtains, RFID, PLCs, Inverters/Variable Frequency Drives W: www.omron-ap.com Participating in: Pune

Samson Controls sets up new plant in Pune

G

ermany-based valve manufacturer Samson Controls Pvt. Ltd. has set up a plant at Ranjangaon in Pune.

It will manufacture products such as globe control valves, conventional positioners; self operated pressure and temperature regulators. The company has invested `225 crore to expand its business in India. Speaking on this, Atul Raje, managing director, Samson Controls said, “We will be focusing on growing Indian and Asian markets for the products and service that we offer. The company will be making huge investment to develop new technology and equipments. Offering customised solutions to our customers has always been our prime focus.” The company has shifted its base from Thane to Ranjangaon and has completely refurnished as green field facility.

It is operational in India since 1991. Over 200 people are employed for this plant.

–Courtesy: Business Standard

GKN Driveline continues expansion with new Pune facility

C

ontinuing its growth trajectory, GKN Driveline will invest `130 crore to set up a 600,000 per annum sideshaft manufacturing facility in Pune

by August next year that will also make trans-axle solutions.

The 8000 sq. meter facility will employ more than 200 people.

Apart from sideshafts, the plant will also manufacture differentials from GKN Driveline’s transaxle solutions product range.

“This new facility positions GKN Driveline strongly to meet the continued rapid growth of India’s automotive industry. It is the next step in our mission to remain close and accessible to our customers in west India,” said Marc Vuarchex, Managing Director, GKN Driveline AsiaPacific.

– Courtesy : Business Standard

Nissan clocks 1 lakh Micra production at Chennai facility

W

ithin a year of its launch in India, Japanese auto maker Nissan has clocked production of one lakh Micra from their manufacturing facility near Chennai.

The first hatchback Micra was launched in India last July and about 15,000 units have been sold, while nearly 70,000 units were shipped to overseas markets. “I am very proud of the effort that our Chennai staff, supported by our suppliers, have put in order to produce 100,000 Micras in such a short period of time. Nissan Motor India Managing Director and CEO (Chennai plant) Kou Kimura said. The Chennai plant has a capacity of two lakh units which would be ramped upto four lakh units. –Courtesy: PTI

Peugeot Citroen to set up `4,000 crore unit in Tamil Nadu

F

rance-based automobile manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen (PSA) is finalising plans to set up its first car manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu at an investment of `4,000 crore. With this facility, PSA Peugeot Citroen joins the list of automobile manufacturers like BMW, Hyundai, Ford and RenaultNissan that have already set up a plant near Chennai.

According to an official release, PSA has identified land at Sriperumbudur to set up a plant with an initial capacity of three lakh cars per year, catering to the domestic and overseas market. The company would provide direct and indirect employment to 20,000 people at the facility, also attracting a large number of auto-component manufacturers from France.

Courtesy : PTI

P K Transmission Products Pvt Ltd Products: V-Belts, Auto Fan Belts, Industrial Chain & Engineering Products, Lubricating & Engineering Tools, Hacksaw Blades, Files & Drills, Hand Tools W: www.pktraders.co.in Participating in: Ahmedabad

Phoenix Contact India Pvt Ltd Products: Industrial Connectors, PCB Terminal Blocks, Plug Connectors, Solutions For High Power And Signal Quality, Signal Converters, Sensors, Components And Systems Automation W: www.phoenixcontact.co.in Participating in: Ahmedabad, Pune

Power Tech Marine Welding & Cutting Products: Welding & Cutting Machines, Stick (SMAW), TIG (HTAW), Plasma Cutter, Saw, Stud Welding, MIG (GMAW) W: www.weld-ptws.com Participating in: Aurangabad

Precimac Solutions Products: Spindle, Clamping Systems, Tool Holders W: www.precimac.com Participating in: Rudrapur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai

Production Aids & Consultant Pvt Ltd Products: Milling & Grinding Machines, Lathe Machines, Radial Drilling Machines, Digital Readouts, Presses, Bending & Shearing Machines, Laser Cutting Machines, Gear Hobbing Machines, Gear Shapers, Gear Shaving Machines, Gear Grinder Machines, Hypoid Testers, Injection Moulding, Pressure Die-Casting Machines W: www.pacindia.net Participating in: Rudrapur, Indore

Raj Nut Bolts Products: Industrial Bolts, High-Tensile Hex Bolts, SS Bolts, Screws & Allen Key Bolts, High-Tensile Allen Bolts, High-Tensile Nuts W: www.rajnutbolts.com Participating in: Pune

Rajendra Kumar & Company Products: Screws, Nuts, Bolts, Hex Key Wrenches, Spring Washers, Spring Dowell Pins, Circlips, Self-drilling Screws, Blind Rivets W: www.rkctraders.com Participating in: Pune, Chennai

Ravi-Raj Anodisers Products: Electronic Micro Products, Name Plates W: www.ravirajanodisers.com Participating in: Ahmedabad

S&T Engineers Pvt Ltd Products: CNC Machines, Convention Precision Machines, Machine Tools Accessories, EDMs W: www.stengineers.com Participating in: Rudrapur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Aurangabad

Sahil Technocrats Products: CNCs, VMCs, Profile Projectors, DROs, 2D Height Master, Rotary Unions, Spindles W: www.sahiltechnocrats.com Participating in: Pune

Samtec Tools & Accessories Pvt Ltd Products: Threading Tools, Hole Finishing Tools, Hole Making Tools, Grooving Tools, Die & Mould Tools, Machine Tool Accessories, ZX Tool Systems, Deburring Tools, Shopfloor Accessories, Carbide Products W: www.samtectools.com Participating in: Rudrapur, Chennai, Indore

Seventh International Products: Magnet Chucks, Magnet Lifters, Magnet Filters, V-blocks, Hopper-Grates, Sinebar Chucks, Dial Stands, Instruments, Separators, Welding Positioners, Electromagnetic Chucks, Demagnetisers W: www.sevox.co.in Participating in: Rudrapur

Shivani Engineers Products: CNC Cylindrical Grinding Machines, Hydraulic Cylindrical Grinding Machines, Centreless Grinding Machines W: www.shivaniengineers.com Participating in: Aurangabad

Suvik Electronics Pvt. Ltd. Products: Voltage Stabilisers, Static Stabilisers, Ultra Isolation Transformers, Online UPS Systems, AC Drives, MV Motors, Small Motors & Gearboxes, Battery Chargers, Customised Products W: www.suvik.com Participating in: Ahmedabad

Swift Industrial Corporation Products: SMC/DMC Insulators, Wiring Accessories W: www.swiftindustrial.in Participating in: Aurangabad

Trident Products Pvt Ltd Products: Hydraulics, Pumps, Valves, Seals, Hoses, Hydraulic Cylinders W: www.hydrauliccylinder.co.in, www.trident-precision.com Participating in: Rudrapur

Universal Instruments Products: Calibration Services W: www.universalinstruments.co.in Participating in: Pune

Venus Enterprises Products: Castors & Wheels, Polishing Rolls, Mops, Sleeves, Belts, V-belts, Pressure Gauges, DP Test Cleaners, Welding Electrodes & Accessories, Bearings, Safety Items, Hand Tools, Cutting Tools, Toggle Clamps Participating in: Pune

VI Automation Pvt Ltd Products: Data Loggers, Data Acqusition Systems, Vision Inspection Systems, PLCs, SCADA, Control Panels, Sensors, Instrumentation, Relays, Power Supplies, Energy Monitoring Systems, Software W: www.viapl.com Participating in: Rudrapur, Ahmedabad

Vinayak Industries Products: Power Tools, Non-Ferrous Foundry Participating in: Pune

Gujarat to host Asia’s largest solar energy park in two years

G

ujarat would house the largest solar energy park in Asia in two years, with a power production capacity of 500 MW. This would be set up with an investment of around `8,000 crore flowing from companies such as GMR and Lanco, which have been assigned generation capacities under the Gujarat Solar Mission. The park, on the lines of an industrial estate, is being developed by Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd (GCPL), as the sectoral nodal agency, on around 2,000 hectares of wasteland bordering the Rann of Kutch, in Patan district.

When commissioned, the project would provide 800 million units of power. In the first phase, 15 solar power generation companies would produce 176 MW and Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation would set up a power pooling station.

– Courtesy: Business Standard

Alstom, HCC win `1,843 crore hydro power contract in Uttarakhand

A

lstom, in consortium with Hindustan Construction Company, has been awarded a contract worth over `1,843

by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation to install a 1000 MW variable speed pumped storage hydro power plant on the river Bhagirathi in the state of Uttarakhand. It will be India’s first pumped storage power plant to use variable speed technology. Alstom’s share of the contract is worth around `1,164 crore. Alstom will supply four 250 MW variable speed turbine & generator units and other equipments including main inlet valves and control and protection systems.

–Courtesy: Economic Times

EVENTS CALENDAR

National RUDRAPUR: Uttarakhand, Sept 23-26, 2011, Gandhi Park

Enviro Tech India 2011

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat, Nov 14-17, 2011, Gujarat University Exhibition Hall

Expo on environment-friendly technologies and systems including solar panels, hybrid solutions, wastewater management, effluent treatment plants and solutions; November 14-27, 2011; at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

PUNE: Maharashtra, Nov 18-21, 2011, Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre CHENNAI : Tamil Nadu, Dec 8-11, 2011, Chennai Trade Centre INDORE: Madhya Pradesh, Jan 6-9, 2012, Poddar Plaza, Nr Gandhi Hall AURANGABAD: Maharashtra, Feb 17-20, 2012, Garware Stadium India’s premier industrial trade fair on products and technologies related to Machine Tools, Hydraulics & Pneumatics, Process Machinery & Equipment, Automation Instrumentation, Packaging & Auxiliaries, IT Products, Electrical & Electronics, Material Handling and Safety Equipment.

For details Infomedia 18 Ltd Ruby House, 1st Floor, J K Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai 400 028.

• Tel: +91 98195 52270 • Fax: +91 022-3003 4499 • Email: engexpo@infomedia18.in

IORS 2011 Symposium and international exhibition for oil & gas industry; September 08-09, 2011; at Taj Lands End, Mumbai For details contact: Oil Asia Publications Pvt Ltd 530, Laxmi Plaza 5th Floor, Laxmi Industrial Estate New Link Road, Andheri (West) Mumbai 400 053 Tel: 022-4050 4900, Fax: 022-2636 7676 Email: oilasia@vsnl.com

Automation 2011 International exhibition & conference dedicated to process automation, instrumentation & controls, factory automation, robotics, power plant automation, drives automation, bus & wireless technology, building automation, hydraulics and pneumatics; September 20-23, 2011; at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai

Fax: 022-4046 1477 Email: conferences-india@ubm.com

Analytica-Anacon 2011 International trade fair and conference for analytical instrumentation, laboratory technology and services; October 12-14, 2011; in Mumbai For details contact: Imag Am Messesee 2, 81829 Munich, Germany Tel: +49 (0) 89 949 22 121 Fax: +49 (0) 89 949 22 350 Email: info@imag.de

India Chem Gujarat 2011 Event focussing on specialty chemicals, fine chemicals, agrochemicals, colorants, dyes & dye intermediates with special emphasis on environment and green technology; October 13-15, 2011; at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar

For details contact: IED Communications Ltd 64 Mahendra Chambers D N Road, Mumbai 400 001 Tel: 022-2207 9567, Fax: 022-2207 4516 Email: ied@vsnl.in

For details contact: FICCI Mumbai 33/B, Krisnamai Building Pochakanwala Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 030 Tel: 022-2496 8000, 2496 6633/39 Fax: 022-2496 6631/32 Email: vishal.ganju@ficci.com

Informex India

IPVS 2011

Forum focussed specifically on the Indian specialty chemicals industry; September 22-23, 2011; at Holiday Inn, Mumbai

Industrial trade fair for pumps, valves and systems; November 11-13, 2011; at the Gujarat University Hall, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

For details contact: UBM India Pvt Ltd Sagar Tech Plaza A, 615-617 Andheri Kurla Road, Saki Naka Andheri (E), Mumbai 400 072 Tel: 022-4046 1466

For details contact: Orbitz Exhibitions Pvt Ltd 101, Navyug Industrial Estate Sewri (W), Mumbai 400 015 Tel: 022-2410 2801/02, Fax: 022-2410 2805 Email: info@ipvs.in

76

Chemical World | July 2011

For details contact: ITPO (India Trade Promotion Organisation) Pragati Maidan New Delhi 110 001 Tel: 011-2337 1725, Fax: 011-2337 8464 Email: rkmaggo@itpo-online.com

CPhI INDIA 2011 International exhibition on pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates; December 01-03, 2011; at NSE Exhibition Complex, Mumbai For details contact: CMP India (UBM India Pvt Ltd) Sagar Tech Plaza, A, 615-617, 6th Floor SakiNaka Junction, Andheri-Kurla Road Andheri (E), Mumbai 400 072 Tel: 022-6612 2600, Fax: 022-6612 2626 Email: deepalim@ubmindia.com

Hannover India Event showcasing process automation, material handling and renewable energy technologies; December 06-09, 2011; at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bengaluru For details contact: Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt Ltd 603/604, Samarpan Complex New Link Road, Chakala Next to Mirador Hotel Andheri (E), Mumbai 400 099 Tel: 022-4005 0681/82 Fax: 022-4005 0683 Email: info@hmf-india.com

PLASTINDIA 2012 International plastics exhibition & conference; February 01-06, 2012; at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi For details contact: Plastindia Foundation 401, Landmark B, Suren Road Off Andheri Kurla Road Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 093 Tel: 022-2683 2911-14 Fax: 022- 2684 5861 Email: plastindia@vsnl.com

EVENTS CALENDAR

International Dye+Chem Bangladesh 2011

OIL & GAS LIBYA 2011

Exhibition focussing on all kinds of dyes and fine & specialty chemicals; July 20-23, 2011; at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh

International exhibition and conference on petroleum exploration, production, refining and petrochemicals; October 17-20, 2011, Tripoli International Fairground, Tripoli

For details contact: CEMS Bangladesh House # 119, Unit-A3 Road-1, Banani Block-F Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh Tel: +880 2 8812713 Fax: +880 2 9894573

For details contact: Dar Alarab Tel: +218 21 333 9141, Fax: +218 21 333 9142 Email: exhibitions@alarab.co.uk

ChemInnovations Event focussing on chemical apparatus & plant installation, process technology, maintenance & QC; September 13-15, 2011; at George R Brown Convention Centre, Houston, USA For details contact: The TradeFair Group Inc 11000 Richmond, Suite Houston, The US Tel: +1-214-3585359 Fax: +1-(832)-2421971 Email: efreer@che.com

CO2 Expo 2011

Exhibition dedicated to the climate and greenhouse emissions; September 14-16, 2011; at Fiera di Roma, Rome, Italy For details contact: Artenergy Publishing srl Via Antonio Gramsci, 57 20032 Cormano (MI), Italy Tel: +39 0266306866 Fax: +39 0266305510 Email: artenergy@zeroemission.eu

PEPP 2011 A business forum dedicated to polyethylene & polypropylene (PEPP) products, technologies and market; September 20-22, 2011; at Swiss么tel Zurich, Switzerland For details contact: Maack Business Services Moosacherstrasse 14 CH-8804 Au/Zurich Switzerland Tel: +41 1 781 30 40, Fax: +41 1 781 15 69 Email: mbspolymer@aol.com

ChemMash-Pumps 2011

chemicals, petroleum/energy etc; November 22-25, 2011; at Suntec, Singapore For details contact: Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd No. 1 Jalan Kilang Timor #09-02 Pacific Tech Centre Singapore 159303 Tel: +65 62336638 Tel: +65 62336633 Email: events@sesallworld.com

A trade fair on chemical engineering and pumps; October 24-27, 2011; at Expocentre Krasnaya Presnya Fairgrounds, Moscow

Chemspec Middle East 2011

For details contact: ZAO Expocentr 1A Sokolnicheski Val Moscow 123100, Russia Tel: +7 (495) 255 37 23/33 Fax: +7 (495) 205 80 55 Email: centr@expocentr.ru

For details contact: Dmg World Media (UK) Ltd Westgate House 120/130 Station Road Redhill, Surrey RH1 1ET The UK Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0)1737 855475 Email: webmaster@ca.dmgworldmedia.com

INCHEM Tokyo 2011 Trade fair showing latest developments in chemical engineering; November 16-18, 2011; at Tokyo International Exhibition Center, Japan For details contact: Japan Management Association (JMA) 3-1-22, Shibakoen Minato-ku, Tokyo 105, Japan Tel: +81 (0)3 3434 0093 Fax: +81 (0)3 3434 8076 Email: convention@jma.or.jp

Saudi Petrochem 2011 International exhibition for chemicals and chemical technology industry; November 21-24, 2011; at Riyadh International Exhibition Centre, Saudi Arabia For details contact: Riyadh Exhibitions Co Ltd Olaya Road Postfach P O Box 56010 SA - 11554 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Tel: +966 1 454 1448 Fax: +966 1 454 4846 Email: esales@recexpo.com

CIA 2011 An event focussing on latest progress on process control and automation in

Exhibition for performance and fine chemicals; November 28-29, 2011; at Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE

Digital Plant 2011 A plant lifecycle conference for the chemicals, power, oil & gas, offshore, and pharmaceuticals industries; December 05-07, 2011; at Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre, Houston, USA For details contact: Daratech Inc 255 Bent Street Cambridge, MA 02141 The US Tel: +1 (617) 354-2339 Email: daratech@daratech.com

Chemical Process Plant and Machinery Middle East 2011 Exhibition and seminar for the chemical, petrochemical, chemical process technology and corrosion control industries; December 07-08, 2011; at Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE For details contact: International Expo-Consults LLC PO Box 50006, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 (4) 343 5777 Fax: +971 (4) 343 6115 Email: iec@emirates.net.ae

The information published in this section is as per the details furnished by the respective organiser.

In any case, it does not represent the views of Chemical World

July 2011 | Chemical World

77

An invite that rewards as well...

Dear Reader, ‘Chemical World’ solicits original, well-written, application-oriented, unpublished articles that reflect your valuable experience and expertise in the chemical process industry.

You can send us Technical Articles, Case Studies and Product Write-ups. The length of the article should not exceed 3000 words, while that of a product write-up should not exceed 200 words.

The articles should preferably reach us in soft copy (either E-mail or a CD). The text should be in MS Word format and images in 300 DPI resolution & JPG format.

The final decision regarding the selection and publication of the articles shall rest solely with ‘Chemical World’. Authors whose articles are published will receive a complimentary copy of that particular issue and an honorarium cheque.

Published by Infomedia 18 Ltd, ‘Chemical World’ is the leading monthly magazine exclusively meant for producers and user fraternities of the chemical process industry (CPI). Well supported by a national readership of over 80,000 and our strong network of 26 branch offices across India, this magazine reaches out to key decision makers among the Indian CPI. Moreover, it offers a broader platform facilitating effective interaction among several fraternities of these industries by enabling them in reaching out to their prospective buyers & sellers through better trade contacts and more business opportunities.

So get going and rush your articles, write-ups, etc…

Thanking you, Yours sincerely,

Manas R Bastia Editor Infomedia 18 Limited ‘A’ Wing, Ruby House, J K Sawant Marg, Dadar (W) Mumbai 400 028 India

T +91 22 3024 5000 D +91 22 3003 4669 F +91 22 3003 4499 E manas@infomedia18.in W www.infomedia18.in

` `

`

`

`

`

`

PRODUCT UPDATE

Diaphragm vacuum pump

Top tank reactor sampler

Acmevac Sales offers diaphragm vacuum pump.

It can be used either as vacuum pumps or oilfree compressors. This is specifically designed for delivering uncontaminated air, gases and vapours. It is suitable for producing oilfree compressed air or vacuum. Heads are made of aluminium alloy casting. Diaphragms are made of neoprene rubber or other elastomer material. Specially designed motors are available in single-phase and three-phase constructions. Pump is mounted on rubber pads for silent and vibration-free running. Due to compact design, this pump is ideal for laboratories and original equipment manufacturers. It finds application in pollution monitoring equipment, chemical analysers, laminating press, material handling equipment, labelling machines, plastic welding machines, gas welding machines, soldering iron, agitation of chemicals in tanks and aeration.

Industrial EquipWash offers top tank reactor liquid sampler for bulk drugs/Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API). The sampler is equipped with aseptic valves, controllers, piping and container for sample collection. The system requires vacuum line for sample extraction and nitrogen line for purging. The unit mounted on top of the reactor extracts liquid sample from reactor through dip pipe under vacuum or pressure of reactor. All wetted parts are made of Stainless Steel (SS) 316 & elastomer chemical resistant Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM). The design is aseptic with no product contamination and the end connection can be triclamped or flanged. The system is equipped with a control panel. It finds application in chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries.

Acmevac Sales Pvt Ltd Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-2837 5837, Fax: 022-2836 4977 Mob: 092233 88105 Email: acmevac@vsnl.com

Industrial EquipWash Inc Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-2679 7941, Fax: 022-2679 2936 Mob: 098692 31815 Email: iewi@mtnl.net.in

Agitated nutsche filter dryer

Bottom discharge centrifuge

Alpha Process Engineers offers agitated nutsche filter dryer. The main function of this dryer is to separate solid from liquid. The agitated nutsche filter dryer is also known as Filter Expression Dryer (FED). It is the latest version of the agitated nutsche filter dryer. This has excellent separating qualities in aid with good medium filtration products and optimum filtration. If this dryer is used only for filtration application, then it gives the lowest residual moisture in the cake when compared to other similar systems. It finds application in chemicals (including toxic), agricultural chemicals (including insecticides, pesticides), dyes & intermediates, pharmaceuticals and food as these industries need absolute hygienic working condition.

Stainless steel and carbon steel material is used for constructing the filter dryer.

United Engineering offers bottom discharge centrifuge with bag lifting arrangement for chemical and process industry. The lifting ring and cake in the filter bag is lifted out from the machine with a hoist. The cake is then easily discharged through the central opening at the lower end of the bag. This results in reduction of manual labour, less cake handling and uniform cake washing. The centrifuge can be offered in vapour tight construction with nitrogen blanketing from hazardous chemicals.

The CIP design, with in-built cleaning nozzles, enables prevention of product cross-contamination. The centrifuge, offered in MS, SS at point of contacts and complete SS, is available with batch capacities, which ranges from 10 kg to 600 kg.

Alpha Process Engineers Chennai - Tamil Nadu Tel: 044-2811 1351, Fax: 044-2811 2371 Email: apeepa@vsnl.com

United Engineering Enterprises Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-2308 3990 Fax: 022-2308 9445 Email: uenggent@gmail.com

July 2011 | Chemical World

81

PRODUCT UPDATE

Cable float switch

Titanium thermowell

Cristal Instruments offers cable float switch. It is simple in design, easy to install, a reliable liquid level detecting device, which ensures troublefree operation for long term.

The unit consists of three major components. First, PP float that is embedded with micro-switch as switching 1 NO + 1 NC contacts of 15 A at 240V AC. Second, three-cored cable that is made of synthetic rubber/PVC of different standard lengths of 2/3/5/10 mtr. This is directly moulded to micro-switch assembly inside the float chamber. Third, stabilising dead weight, which is made of moulded PP, can be fixed at any point on the cable using ‘O’ ring. The micro-switch assembly inside the float changes contact according to the float’s position. The actuation is via a roller ball and micro-switch arrangement within the switch. This low-cost switch is available in a wide variety of applications such as control of submersible pumps. This can be used in fresh water, sea water, sewerage and industrial effluents.

Ti Anode Fabricators offers titanium thermowell. It is manufactured inhouse from traceable exotic metals and precision made to the highest standards.

A variety of thermowells are constructed by using the materials of tantalum, titanium, niobium, nickel, zirconium, hastelloy, duplex steel, monel, inconel and molybdenum. The oxide layer coating on sleeves is for preventing the crevice corrosion. The quality of the thermowell is controlled by using in-plant provision of ASME IX coded welding, gun drill facility to ASTMA 182 or BS 503, NACE heat treatment MR-01-75, computerised corrosion database and material traceability. The hydrostatic pressure test on thermowell is up to 300 kg/cm2, pneumatic test on sleeves is up to 30 kg/cm2 for 2 hours and dye penetrant and radiography test is conducted as & when required. It finds application in all chemical industries and in instrumentation engineering.

Cristal Instruments Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-2569 3893, Fax: 022-2560 3474 Email: cristal@roltanet.com

Ti Anode Fabricators Pvt Ltd Chennai - Tamil Nadu Tel: 044-2278 1148, Fax: 044-2278 1362 Email: info@tianode.com

Electromagnetic flowmeter

Acmevac Sales offers rotary vacuum pump BKV series. The pump is formed with monoblock design, therefore it is compact.

Carbon fibre vanes are used instead of steel vanes.

Continuous oil filtration at separate oil reservoir keeps the pump free of contamination. The non-return valve prevents the oil from entering into the system.

The exhaust gas is free of oil mist. The pump utilises less than 10 per cent of oil as compared to oil immersed pumps. It has features such as vibration-free, noiseless and fan-cooled. The complete unit with motor and base plate is suitable for mounting inside the equipment.

Flowtech Instruments Services offers electromagnetic flowmeter. It is used for measuring flow of electrically conductive liquid in closed pipe lines. The magnetic flux permeates the entire cross-sectional area of the liquid flow. It measures electromotive force to determine liquid velocity using Faraday’s Law of electromagnetic induction and compute the flowrate using the equation of conductivity. It operates with electrically conductive liquids having minimum conductivity of 5 micro siemens/cm.

This is relatively immune to the effects of temperature, pressure, viscosity and density of the flowing liquid.

Acmevac Sales Pvt Ltd Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-2837 5837, Fax: 022-2836 4977 Mob: 092233 88105 Email: acmevac@vsnl.com

Flowtech Instrument Services Vadodara - Gujarat Tel: 0265-650 8171, Fax: 0265-263 6795 Mob: 098240 49988 Email: flowtechinstruments@yahoo.com

Rotary vacuum pump

82

Chemical World | July 2011

PRODUCT UPDATE

In-line colloid mill Machinomatic Engineers offers in-line colloid mill Supraton from BWS Technologies GmbH, Germany. This energysaving machine can grind, disperse, mix, dissolve, emulsify, homogenise solids and liquids, liquids and gases or even different liquids which is otherwise difficult to mix. It consists of a set of stator and rotor rings running at a high speed with extremely fine & accurate clearances, which can perform the desired function.

Different designs of stators and rotors are provided for performing different duties. Reduction of chemical reaction time results in increase in productivity as this is one of the important merits of in-line colloid mill. It is capable of handling inlet particle size up to 20 mm; this equipment can deliver particle sizes even smaller than 3 microns. A magnetic drive version is also available. It finds application in various processes in chemical industry.

Machinomatic Engineers Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-2204 4766, Fax: 022-2282 2397 Mob: 098200 35943 Email: praveer@symachgroup.com

Metal tube rotameter Flowtech Instruments Services offers metal tube rotameter.

This is used in application where high pressure, temperature or corrosive conditions prevent the use of conventional glass tube.

The metal tube rotameter is designed to measure flow rate of liquids, gases & steam under critical conditions. It consists of a tapered metal tube, an indicating assembly and a float. A magnet encapsulated in float couples with rotating magnets, which is connected to an indicating pointer. Therefore, the movement of the float is accurately indicated in terms of flowrate. Permanent magnetic link is provided between metering float and motion position transmitter. Guide cartridges can be easily removed for the cleaning purpose.

Flowtech Instrument Services Vadodara - Gujarat Tel: 0265-650 8171, Fax: 0265-263 6795 Mob: 098240 49988 Email: flowtechinstruments@yahoo.com

July 2011 | Chemical World

83

PRODUCT UPDATE

Axial flow fan

Turbojet cleaner

Vacunair Engineering offers an axial flow fan. To achieve high efficiency, this axial flow fan has a defined hub ratio of 71 to 25 for a given capacity, pressure and speed. This is available in 22 sizes, which range from 225 to 2500 mm in each type. Drive is available for direct mounting/vee belt drive. The impeller blades are adjustable type and rest at designed angle to suit capacity & in-series for higher pressure. The impellers or aerofoil profile are made of cast aluminium alloy. Bifurcated type fan is available for handling corrosive gases. The range covers fans in capacity up to 3,00,000 m3/hr and pressure up to 100 mm of WG.

Industrial EquipWash offers turbojet cleaner. It is a fully automatic, high-impact, cleaning system and achieves fast & quality cleaning. The heart of the turbojet cleaner is an internal hydraulic motor powered by the cleaning fluid, which makes the nozzles perform a geared rotation around the horizontal and vertical axis automatically. Density of spray is gradually increased as a full spray pattern is laid in the final cycle. The numbers of cycles required for proper cleaning usually depends on the cleaning distance, cleaning procedure and cleaning agent.

The speed of the turbine is directly proportional to the flow rate of the machine. The higher flow rate will result in higher speed.

The tank cleaning system is designed for large volumetric tanks in the pharma, food, distilleries, beverage, dairies, chemicals and other process industries.

Vacunair Engineering Co Pvt Ltd Ahmedabad - Gujarat Tel: 079-2291 0771, Fax: 079-2291 0770 Mob: 098240 36375 Email: info@vacunair.com

High-vacuum oil-seal rotary pump Joyam Engineers & Consultants offers high-vacuum oil-seal rotary pumps. These are oilimmersed, rotary vane type pumps. The inbuilt non-return valve prevents the back flow of air. Manufactured from graded material, all moving parts are precisely machined, ground and assembled with close tolerances. This results in increased efficiency and long trouble-free operation. These pumps develop maximum vacuum of 0.05 mm of Hg in single-stage and 0.005 mm of Hg in doublestage. Pumps operate at 500 rpm with the help of ‘V’ belt. These pumps are widely used in solvent extraction & recovery, sugar, oil refineries, distilleries, food processing, chemical, pharmaceutical, fertiliser, paper, textile, tube light & general lighting, printing etc. These pumps are suitable for various processes like vacuum filtration, distillation, vacuum crystallisation, vacuum impregnation, vacuum metallurgy, thin film coating, vacuum drying, dehydration, evaporation, deodorisation, de-gassing, moisture extraction, vacuum condensation, conveying, venting, etc. They have simple & rugged construction, trouble-free operation and require low maintenance. Capacity ranges from 3 m3/hr (50 ltr/min) to 600 m3/hr (10,000 ltr/min).

Joyam Engineers & Consultants Ahmedabad - Gujarat Tel: 079-2656 9533, Fax: 079-2656 2777 Email: joyam@joyamvactech.com

84

Chemical World | July 2011

Industrial EquipWash Inc Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-2679 7941, Fax: 022-2679 2936 Mob: 098692 31815 Email: iewi@mtnl.net.in

Multi-level inverter Suvik Electronics offers H bridge multi-level inverter N 5000 for medium-voltage and highpower AC motor drives. Main features of this inverter are as follows: reduction of harmonic injection into the utility by means of specially designed multi-winding transformers, generation of near sinusoidal voltages with only low frequency switching, almost no common mode voltage, low dv/dt at output voltage, no significant over voltage on motor terminal even if the distance between inverter and motor is long. Its application lies in power plants, incineration plants, sewage water treatment plants, oil pumping stations, etc. Main features are motorfriendly, power source-friendly, directly drive medium voltage AC motor, high performance, high reliability, high efficiency/high power factor, user-friendly maintenance, powerful and easy-touse operation and full range line-up.

Suvik Electronics Pvt Ltd Gandhinagar - Gujarat Tel: 079-2321 2001, Fax: 079-2321 2006 Email: info@suvik.com

PRODUCT UPDATE

Fluid bed dryer Aero Therm System offers fluid bed dryer and has a batch capacity, which ranges from 15 kg to 500 kg. It comes with a digital temperature controller to give accurate temperature and the accuracy can be on/off or PID as required. The heating is done either by electrical/thermic fluid or steam radiator/oil fired hot air generator.

The materials used to construct the dryers are MS, aluminium, SS 316, SS 304 or as per one’s requirement. Flame proof and spark proof dryers are also available.

Aero Therm Systems Pvt Ltd Ahmedabad - Gujarat Tel: 079-2589 0158 Fax: 079-2583 4987 Mob: 098250 08720 Email: contact@aerothermsystems.com

The information published in this section is as per the details furnished by the respective manufacturer/ distributor. In any case, it does not represent the views of Chemical World

July 2011 | Chemical World

85

PRODUCT INDEX Engineering Expo Sl. No.

Product

Pg. No.

E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 E13 E14 E15 E16 E17 E18 E19 E20 E21 E22 E23 E24 E25 E26 E27 E28 E29 E30 E31 E32 E33 E34 E35 E36 E37 E38 E39 E40 E41 E42 E43 E44 E45 E46 E47 E48 E49 E50 E51 E52 E53 E54 E55 E56 E57 E58 E59 E60 E61 E62 E63 E64 E65 E66 E67 E68

2D height master................. 74 AC drives .............................. 75 Access control systems ..............72 Accessories for hydraulic systems ....73 Air tapping machines ................73 Auto fan belts...........................74 B P monitors ........................ 73 Battery chargers ........................75 Bearings ............................. 73, 74 Belts..........................................75 Bending machines.....................74 Blind rivets ................................74 Bolts..........................................74 Cabide blanks ...................... 72 Cable carriers ............................73 Cable connectors.......................73 Calibration facility for pressure ..72 Calibration services....................75 Carbide cutting tools.................73 Carbide products.......................75 Carbide tools.............................72 Castors......................................75 Castors & wheels.......................73 CCTV solutions ..........................72 Centreless grinding machines ....75 Chains.......................................73 Circlips ......................................74 Clamping systems .....................74 Cleaning machines ....................73 CNC cylindrical grinding machines ..75 CNC machines...........................74 CNC tooling systems .................73 Components & systems automation ...74 Connectors................................73 Control elements.......................73 Control panels...........................75 Convention precision machines....74 Counters & power supplies .......73 Customised products.................75 Cutting tools .............................75 Cylinder & accumulators ...........73 Data acqusition systems...... 75 Data loggers .............................75 Deburring tools .........................75 Demagnetisers...........................75 Developers ................................75 Dial stands ................................75 Die & mould tools.....................75 Diesel engine telescopic horizontal lifts.. 72 Digital readouts.........................74 Dip pre-treatment plants...........73 DP test cleaners ........................75 Drill end mill protable machines......73 Drills .................................. 72, 73 DROs.........................................74 EDMs ................................... 74 Electric pallet trucks ..................72 Electromagnetic chucks .............75 Electronic micro products..........74 Encoders ...................................73 End mills ............................ 72, 73 Energy monitoring systems .......75 ER collets ..................................73 Fastners ................................ 72 Fat monitors .............................73 Files & drills...............................74 Filters ........................................72 Fingerprint/card-based time & attendance systems ...................72 E69 Fixed handles ............................73 E70 Flap wheels ...............................75 E71 Floor cleaning machines............73 E72 Floor cranes servicing ................72 E73 Floor grinding machines............73 E74 Floor polishing machines...........73 E75 Forklift truck jacks .....................72 E76 Forklift trucks ............................72 E77 Gear grinder machines ........ 74 E78 Gear hobbing machines ............74 E79 Gear shapers .............................74 E80 Gear shaving machines .............74 E81 Grinding machines ....................74

86

Chemical World | July 2011

Sl. No.

E82 E83 E84 E85 E86 E87 E88 E89 E90 E91 E92 E93 E94 E95 E96 E97 E98 E99 E100 E101 E102 E103 E104 E105 E106 E107 E108 E109 E110 E111 E112 E113 E114 E115 E116 E117 E118 E119 E120 E121 E122 E123 E124 E125 E126 E127 E128 E129 E130 E131 E132 E133 E134 E135 E136 E137 E138 E139 E140 E141 E142 E143 E144 E145 E146 E147 E148 E149 E150 E151 E152 E153 E154 E155 E156 E157 E158 E159 E160 E161

Product

Pg. No.

Grinding wheels ........................75 Grooving tools ..........................75 Hacksaw blades ................... 74 Hand tools ......................... 74, 75 Hardware ..................................75 Hex key wrenches .....................74 High-tensile Allen bolts .............74 High-tensile hex bolts................74 High-tensile nuts .......................74 Hinges.......................................73 HMCs........................................72 Hole finishing tools ...................75 Hole making tools.....................75 Hooks .......................................73 Hopper-grates ...........................75 Hoses ........................................75 Hydraulic & lubricating oil filters .....72 Hydraulic cylinders ....................75 Hydraulic cylindrical grinding machines...................................75 Hydraulic tapping machines ......73 Hydraulic trolley jacks................72 Hydraulics .................................75 Hydraulics & pneumatics ...........73 Hypoid testers ...........................74 Indexable tools .................... 72 Indexing elements .....................73 Industrial bolts ..........................74 Industrial chain & engineering products ...................................74 Industrial connectors.................74 Industrial control & sensing devices...73 Injection molding ......................74 Instrumentation ........................75 Instruments...............................75 Inverters/variable frequency drives ...73 Joints .................................... 73 Laser cutting machines........ 74 Latches......................................73 Lathe machines .........................74 Level controllers ........................73 Levelling elements .....................73 Liquid painting plants ...............73 Lubricating & engineering tools ...74 Machine elements................ 73 Machine tool accessories.... 73, 74, 75 Magnet chucks .........................75 Magnet filters ...........................75 Magnet lifters ...........................75 Measuring & monitoring relays .......73 Measuring instruments..............72 MIG (GMAW)............................74 Milling machines .......................74 Modular heads..........................72 Mops ........................................75 MV motors ...............................75 Name plates ......................... 74 Non-ferrous foundry .................75 Nuts................................... 72, 74 Online UPS systems ............. 75 Paint shops .......................... 73 Pallet trucks ..............................72 PCB terminal blocks...................74 Penetrants .................................75 Photoelectric sensors .................73 Pillow block bearings ................73 Plain gauges..............................72 Plant automation ......................73 Plasma cutters...........................74 PLCs ..........................................75 Plug connectors ........................74 Polishing rolls............................75 Powder coating plants ..............73 Power packs..............................73 Power supplies ..........................75 Power tools...............................75 Presses ......................................74 Pressure die casting machines ...74 Pressure gauges ........................75 Profile projectors .......................74 Programmable logic controllers.......73 Proximity sensors.......................73

Sl. No.

E162 E163 E164 E165 E166 E167 E168 E169 E170 E171 E172 E173 E174 E175 E176 E177 E178 E179 E180 E181 E182 E183 E184 E185 E186 E187 E188 E189 E190 E191 E192 E193 E194 E195 E196 E197 E198 E199 E200 E201 E202 E203 E204 E205 E206 E207 E208 E209 E210 E211 E212 E213 E214 E215 E216 E217 E218 E219 E220 E221 E222 E223 E224 E225 E226 E227 E228 E229 E230 E231 E232 E233 E234 E235 E236 E237 E238 E239 E240

Product

Pg. No.

Pumps.......................................75 Radial drilling machines ...... 74 Reamers ....................................73 Relays........................................75 Repair & retrofitting services .....72 Retaining magnets ....................73 Revolving handles .....................73 RFIDs.........................................73 Roller tapper roller bearings ......73 Rotary controls..........................73 Rotary unions............................74 Safety fold-away handles .... 73 Safety items ..............................75 Safety light curtains ..................73 Saw...........................................74 SCADA ......................................75 Scissor lifts ................................72 Scissor platforms .......................72 Screws ............................... 72, 74 Screws & Allen key bolts ...........74 Seals .........................................75 Self-drilling screws ....................74 Sensors .............................. 74, 75 Separators.................................75 Shearing machines ....................74 Shopfloor accessories ................75 Signal converters.......................74 Sinebar chucks ..........................75 Sleeves ......................................75 Small motors & gearboxes ........75 SMC/DMC insulatros .................75 Software ...................................75 Solutions for high power & signal quality.............................74 Special tools..............................73 Spindles ....................................74 SPMs.........................................73 Spray pre-treatment plants........73 Spring dowell pins ....................74 Spring washers..........................74 SS bolts.....................................74 Stanny fine boring ....................73 Static stabilisers.........................75 Stick (SMAW)............................74 Stud welding ............................74 Surface plates ...........................72 Switching relays ........................73 Temperature controllers ...... 73 Test equipment development ....73 Testing instruments...................72 Thread gauges ..........................72 Threading tools .........................75 TIG (HTAW)...............................74 Timers .......................................73 Toggle & power clamps ............73 Toggle clamps...........................75 Tool holders ..............................74 Total automated assembly lines 72 Trolley wheels ...........................75 Tube clamp connectors .............73 Turning centres .........................72 Turning inserts ..........................72 Ultra isolation transformers ......75 Vacuum cleaners.................. 73 Valves .......................................75 V-belts ......................... 73, 74, 75 V-blocks ....................................75 Vision inspection systems ..........75 Vision sensors ...........................73 VMCs ................................. 72, 74 Voltage stabilisers .....................75 Volume & electrotechnical parameters................................72 Washers................................ 72 Wear & impact resistant tools ...72 Weighing scales .......................73 Welding & cutting machines .....74 Welding electrodes & accessories ....75 Welding positioners ..................75 Wiring accessories .....................75 ZX tool systems ................... 75

PRODUCT INDEX Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Product

Pg. No.

Acoustic hood ................................. 25 Actuated butterfly valve........................ 83 Actuated valve...................................... 83 Agitated nutsche filter dryer ................. 81 Air blower ............................................ 25 Air pollution control equipment ........... 23 Air receiver ........................................... 23 Air-conditioner ..................................... 21 Air-cooled heat exchanger.................... 53 Air-cooled steam condenser ................. 53 Analytical instrumentation ................... BIC APFC panel........................................... 21 Automatic and contained discharge ..... 19 Automatic condensate transfer pump ..... FIC Axial flow fan.................................83, 84 Ball valve ......................................... 83 Ball valve-teflon lined ............................. 5 Bellow & dip-pipe................................... 5 Bellow seal valve.................................. FIC Blower.................................................. 25 Blower fan............................................ 83 Bottom discharge centrifuge ................ 81 Brake motor ......................................... 17 Butterfly valve-teflon lined ...................... 5 Cable................................................ 17 Cable float switch................................. 82 Cake pressing ....................................... 19 Centrifugal air blower........................... 83 Check valve-teflon lined.......................... 5 Chemical pump ..............................49, 85 Chemical tank ...................................... 85 Chlorine valve globe type ..................... 83 Columns & chemistries ........................ BIC Compressor .......................................... 83 Condenser ............................................ 23 Cone screw mixer ................................. 23 Conical screw dryer ................................ 3 Container ............................................. 85 Continuous or batch filtration .............. 19 Conveying blower................................. 83 Cooling tower ...................................... 53 Crane duty motor................................. 17 Custom assemblies ............................... 33 Custom moulding................................. 85 Dairy equipment ............................. 23 Damper ................................................ 23 Diaphragm vacuum pump.................... 81 Disc check valve................................... FIC Distribution transformer ....................... 21 Drawer magnet .................................... 85 Drum & carboy..................................... 85 Drum type magnetic separator ............. 85 Dust collector system............................ 83 Electrical operating & discharge rod ...6 Electromagnetic flowmeter ................... 82 Empower............................................. BIC E-safe fibre glass ladder.......................... 6 Exhibition - Engineering Expo ..........27-28 Exhibition - Powtech 2011 ................... 45 Extended stem ball valve ...................... 83

Sl. No. 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

Product

Pg. No.

Finishing machine ........................... 85 Flange motor........................................ 17 Float trap ............................................ FIC Fluid coupling....................................... 10 Fluid bed dryer ..................................... 85 Flush bottom ball valve ........................ 83 Flush bottom plug valve ....................... 83 Flush bottom ram valve........................ 83 Foot mounting motor........................... 17 Forged steel valve ................................. 83 FRP underground fuel tank................... 85 Fuel burner........................................... 83 Gate globe & check valve-flanged end..... 83 Gear ..................................................... 10 Gear box ........................................10, BC Gear motor .......................................... 10 Gear pump.....................................37, 49 Geared & flexible coupling ................... 10 Geared motor....................................... BC General purpose grade ......................... 40 GMP heat exchanger .............................. 3 GMP reactor ........................................... 3 Heat exchanger .........................15, 23 High intensity roller type magnetic separator ...85 High-vacuum oil-seal rotary pump........ 84 HPLC ................................................... BIC Hydrogenator/autoclave.......................... 3 Industrial pump .............................. 32 Informatics .......................................... BIC Ink quality control carbon black ........... 40 In-line colloid mill................................. 83 In-line magnetic separator.................... 85 Insulated box........................................ 85 Isolation transformer ............................ 21 Jacket ball valve .............................. 83 Jet black grade carbon black ................ 40 Kamlok & drylok coupling .............. 32 Lined valve & pipe fitting ................. 5 Liquid ring vacuum pump .................... 83 Loading arm......................................... 32 Magnetic drum pulley .................... 85 Material handling container.................. 85 Mechanical vibratory feeder.................. 85 Metal tube rotameter ........................... 83 Monoblock pump................................. 85 Motor................................................... 17 Multi-desk vibrating screening machine ...85 Multi-level inverter................................ 84 Multi-stage cake washing ..................... 19 Multi-stage centrifugal air blower......... 83 Non-metallic pump ......................... 85 Non-return valve..................................... 5 Non-slam check valves-spring loaded ... 83 Nozzle .................................................. 32 Oil/gas firing equipment................. 83 Online B2B marketplace ...................9, 87 Over band type magnetic separator ..... 85 Pallet................................................ 85 PET resin technology ............................ 11 Petrochemical ....................................... 41

Sl. No.

Product

Pg. No.

121 Pigment quality carbon black ............... 40 122 Pneumatic conveying system ................ 83 123 Pneumatically actuated & gear operated knife gate valve .................................... 83 124 Polypropylene process pump ................ 85 125 Portable loader ..................................... 83 126 Power saver device ............................... 21 127 Pressure and vacuum filtration ............. 19 128 Pressure reducing station..................... FIC 129 Process heat exchanger .......................... 3 130 Process reactor ....................................... 3 131 PTFE lined valve & pipe fitting ................ 5 132 Pump ......................................... 37,83,85 133 Pumping filtering unit ......................... 83 134 PVDF pump .......................................... 85 135 Reactor ............................................ 23 136 Receptacle system................................. 32 137 Rotary gear pump ..........................37, 85 138 Rotary vacuum dryer .............................. 3 139 Rotary vacuum pump ........................... 82 140 Rotocone dryer ....................................... 3 141 Sampling valve - Teflon lined ........... 5 142 Self-priming mud pump ....................... 85 143 Self-priming sewage pump................... 85 144 Servo stabiliser (air cooled) ................... 21 145 Servo stabiliser (oil cooled) ................... 21 146 Side channel blower ............................. 83 147 Sight flow meter .................................. 32 148 Silicon carbide heat exchanger ............... 3 149 Sleek series air dryer ............................... 8 150 Spherical paddle chopper dryer .............. 3 151 Spiral cum helical gear box .................. 10 152 Spray dryer project ............................... 23 153 Steam flow meter................................ FIC 154 Strainer-teflon lined................................ 5 155 Suspension magnet .............................. 85 156 Swivel................................................... 32 157 Teflon lined valve & pipe fitting ...... 5 158 Tefzel HHS isotactic PP material............ 12 159 Thermoplastic valve & piping system ... 12 160 Titanium thermowell ............................ 82 161 Top tank reactor sampler ..................... 81 162 Trap magnet ........................................ 85 163 Trim handling system ........................... 83 164 Turbojet cleaner ................................... 84 165 Turnkey project....................................... 3 166 Turnkey project (energy) ....................... 21 167 UPLC ...............................................BIC 168 UPS ...................................................... 21 169 Vacuum or hot gas drying ............. 19 170 Vane damper........................................ 83 171 Vertical glandless pump ....................... 85 172 Vibration motor.................................... 85 173 Wafer type check valve................... 83 174 Water ring vacuum pump .................... 83 175 Water soluble grade carbon black ........ 40 176 Water treatment plant.......................... 65 177 Worm gear........................................... 10

BC - Back Cover, BIC - Back Inside Cover, FIC - Front Inside Cover

July 2011 | Chemical World

87

ADVERTISERS’ LIST

Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details

Ani Engineers T: +91-2752-241479 E: anivarya@sancharnet.in W: www.anivaryapumps.com

Pg No

Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details

Pg No

37

Fluid Energy Controls Inc T: +91-44-42083536 E: sales@fecindia.com W: www.fecindia.com

32

BHS-Sonthofen (India) Pvt. Ltd. 19 T: +91-40-23315341 E: neelesh@bhs-sonthofen.in W: www.bhs-sonthofen.in

Gem Equipments Ltd T: +91-422 -2363800 E: Sales@gemindia.com W: www.gemindia.com

Carbon India T: +91-11-23236666 E: carbonindia@eth.net

40

General Engineering Consortium 83 T: +91-80-23541808 E: gec1@vsnl.com W: www.gecvalves.com

Concepts India Pvt Ltd T: +91-22-27758873 E: conceptsindia@vsnl.com

65

Dev Engineers T: +91-79-26403839 E: info@devpumps.com W: www.devpumps.com

85

Dipesh Engineering Works T: +91-22-26743719 E: sales@dipeshengg.net

3

Elecon Engineering Company Ltd 10 T: +91-2692-236469 E: infogear@elecon.com W: www.elecon.com Engineering Expo T: +91-9819552270 E: engexpo@infomedia18.in W: www.engg-expo.com Ercon Composites T: +91-291-2741263 E: ercon@ercon-india.com W: www.ercon-india.com Everest Blower Systems T: +91-11-45457777 E: info@everestblowers.com W: www.everestblowers.com

27-28

6

25

Exhiference Media Pvt Limited 4 T: +91-79-40039444 E: mmarketing@exhiferencemedia.com W: www.exhiferencemedia.com

Havells India Ltd. T: +1800-11-0303 E: marketing@havells.com W: www.havells.com

8

17

Pg No

Raj Process Eqpts & Systems(P) Ltd 23 T: +91-20-40710010 E: sales@rajprocessequipment.com W: www.rajprocessequipment.com Servomax India Ltd. T: +91-40-44436666 E: dharmesh@servomax.net W: www.servomax.net Siemens Ltd W: www.seimens.com/chemicals Sintex Industries Ltd T: +91-2764-253500 E: icontainers@sintex.co.in W: www.sintex-plastics.com

21

7 85

Swagelok Manufacturing Company 33 W: www.swagelok.com/ customsoutions

HI-Tech Applicator T: +91-79-25833040 E: hitech@ptfeindia.com W: www.ptfeindia.com HRS Process Systems Ltd T: +91-20-66047894 E: info@hrsasia.co.in W: www.hrsasia.co.in

Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details

5

15

Thermax Ltd FIC T: +91-20-66155577 E: info.c&hservices@thermaxindia.com W: www.thermaxindia.com Uhde India Private Ltd T: +91-22-676800 E: udhein@thyssenkrupp.com W: www.udheindia.com

41

IndiaMART InterMESH Limited 9, 87 T: +1800-200-4444 E: pr@indiamart.com W: www.indiamart.com

Uhde Inventa Fisher Ltd. 11 T: +49-30-435675 E: marketing@udhe-inventa-fisher.com W: www.udhe-inventa-fisher.com

Jaykrishna Magnetics Pvt Ltd T: +91-79-22870071 E: info@jkmagnetics.com W: www.jkmagnetics.com

UNP Polyvalves India Pvt Ltd T: +91-265-2649248 E: mktg@polyvalve.com W: www.polyvalve.com

12

Vacunair Engineering Co Pvt Ltd T: +91-79-22910771 E: info@vacunair.com W: www.vacunair.com

83

85

NürnbergMesse GmbH 45 T: +49-911-8606-4944 E: visitorservice@nuernbergmesse.de W: www.powtech.de Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd T: +91-33-24792050 E: pctccu@paharpur.com W: www.paharpur.com

53

Premium Transmision T: +91-20-66314100

BC

W: www.premiumtransmission.com

Waters (India) Pvt Ltd T: +91-80-28371900 E: waters_india@waters.com W: www.waters.com Witte Pumps & Technologies T: +91-11-41613643 E: witte@goddiesons.com W: www.witte-pumps.de

BIC

49

Our consistent advertisers

SOURCE PROCESS PLANT MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT @ www.engg-expo.com

88

Chemical World | July 2011