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Chemical & Process World
June 2013
Editorial
Emerging
stronger with M&As
Editorial Advisory Board Dr Kishore Shah
Chairman and Managing Director, Sauradip Chemical Industries Pvt Ltd
Dr P D Samudra
Executive Director - Sales and Member of the Board, Uhde India Pvt Ltd
Pratik Kadakia
Principal, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants Pvt Ltd
Ravi Kapoor
The global chemical industry, with close to levels have been lower than the levels seen in $ 3-trillion business, has been growing at a good 2007 and 2008, significant M&A activity is still pace for more than five decades. However, the underway and forms an important element of year gone by witnessed slackening of demand today’s chemical industry. To elaborate, specialty chemicals, commodity owing to various macroeconomic reasons such as manufacturing slowdown, struggling Eurozone, and chemicals, agrochemicals, fine chemicals, sluggish activity in China and the US. While this petrochemicals, paint and coatings segments situation may not drastically improve immediately, have successfully sought interest from strategic the chemical industry is likely to show a better investors. However, as per this report, there has performance this year, based on gradual recovery been a slowdown in deal activity (in the Indian chemical sector) with the number of deals coming of the US economy and an upturn in Chinese down to 30 in FY12, from 37 in FY11 and manufacturing activities as well as demand. 53 in FY10. In terms of the For the chemical industry As the need for investing aggregate disclosed deal value, in particular, mega trends in high-growth emerging it has dropped to $ 845 million such as new markets, shale nations gets stronger, the in FY12 from $ 1,314 million gas discoveries, and advanced in FY11. Indian space is expected to materials systems seem to Going forward, the be driving the growth and get richer with higher inbound M&A landscape in India giving shape to Mergers and investments. may see better numbers. As Acquisitions (M&A) across an array of segments. Besides, many companies the need for investing in high-growth emerging are pursuing portfolio realignment strategies and nations gets stronger, the Indian space is expected consolidating their operations as they establish their to get richer with higher inbound investments. After all, successful M&As, the world over, footprint in new markets and product categories. In the light of this, the recently released report have led to robust revenue growth and healthier by Deloitte offers several useful insights not only cost-efficiencies in the drive to add value to business. Before signing off, here is a quick update on into the current trends but also the road ahead. The first in a series, this report ‘2013 Global what is new in this edition. We are introducing chemical industry mergers and acquisitions ‘Cover Story’, ‘User-industry Monitor’, outlook’ focusses on the three most important ‘Sustainability Mantras’ and ‘Beyond Business’ as regions of the world (North America, Europe and part of our ongoing initiatives to add value to the China) from the viewpoint of M&A investments. content, and thereby empower our readers to take According to this, although recent M&A activity better informed decisions.
Managing Director, Heubach Colour Pvt Ltd, and Chairman – Gujarat Chapter, Indian Chemical Council
Sunil Chaudhari
Country Manager - South Asia, AspenTech India
Manas R Bastia manas@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 7
Contents Cover Story........................................................................................................
Indian chemical industry : The emerging investment hotspot for global majors!
22
All eyes are now on India. Call it demographics or buying behaviour, or simply, a conducive financial environment, everyone wants to be part of the growth story that is India. Most chemical majors are considering India as one of their top ten focus markets. This is reflected by the recent, post-slowdown investments by way of FDIs as well as FIIs in India.
In Conversation With
Cover illustration: Sachin Pandit
Editorial....................................................... 7
Emerging stronger with M&As
News, Views & Analysis................................ 12 Technology & Innovation................................ 18 Technology Transfer............................... 19 Projects.................................................... 71
20
“At present, there are only few MNCs in the masterbatch manufacturing segment in India� S Mannar Manan
Country Head - India, A Schulman Plastics India (Pvt) Ltd
User-industry Monitor................................... 58 Personal care products: Ingraining functional ingredients for a fair gain
Event List.................................................. 73
Automation Trends....................................... 60 Plant health monitoring: Wireless technology improving asset uptime
Products............................................. 76
Sustainability Mantras.................................. 62 Eco-friendly manufacturing: Clean processing for a green tomorrow
Tenders..................................................... 72 Book Review............................................... 75
Jonas Berge, Director - Applied Technology, Emerson Process Management
List of Products..................................... 85
Policies & Regulations.................................. 64 Investment allowance to manufacturers: Will it provide a booster dose to the Indian chemical industry?
70
Strategy.................................................... 65 Young managers: Bridging the gap with older generation
List of Advertisers.................................. 86
Tips & Tricks.............................................. 67 Industrial pumps: Simple steps to achieve best efficiency point Steve Stilliard Vice President & Managing Director,
Indian Subcontinent, Huntsman Corporation
8 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Event Preview............................................. 74 ARC India Forum 2013: Offering insights into the latest trends in process automation
Contents Facility Visit.......................................................................................................
Engineering quality solutions for challenging applications
25
40
43
Special Focus
Insight & Outlook
Indian EPC market ..............................26
Zero liquid discharge system..................44
Proactive policy, the key to kickstart growth
Recovering valuable resources, reducing pollution
Global EPC industry..............................28
Effluent treatment................................46
Scaling new heights on the petrochemical boom
Parameters to consider before ZLD adoption
EPC strategies....................................30
Pollution control norms.........................50
Eliminating time and cost overruns to stay competitive
Is India doing enough for environment protection?
Capital projects...................................32
Interface – K R Desai............................52
Engineering, Procurement & Construction
Effective delivery imperative to ensure profitability
Interface - Ashish Gharpure....................36 Director - Marketing and Operations, Aker Powergas Pvt Ltd
Pollution Control
CEO, Narmada Clean Tech Ltd
“Value additions at FETP reduce treatment charges”
Safety enhancement.............................54
“The future of oil & gas sector worldwide lies in deep water exploration”
Preventing mishaps through hazard surveillance
Interface - John H Cable........................37
Supply chain management......................56
Director, Project Management Center for Excellence, A James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland
“Successful project managers have excellent people skills”
Roundtable........................................38 EPC or EPCM: The way forward for the chemical industry?
Highlights of Next Edition Special Focus: Supply Chain Management for Chemicals Insight & Outlook: Petrochemicals
K N K Murthy, Consultant
Driving cost-efficiency through right strategy Hitesh Athawasya, Zonal Business Head – South, Drive India Enterprise Solutions Ltd
Trade exposition on chemical & process industry Details on : page no. 68-69, 73
Note: ` stands for Indian rupee, $ stands for US dollar and £ stands for UK pound, unless mentioned otherwise
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 9
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June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 11
News, Views & Analysis
CHLOR-ALKALI BUSINESS
Aditya Birla Chemicals acquires Solaris Chemtech’s division Tata Chemicals signs MoU with ICT Tata Chemicals signed an MoU with the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, for creating an endowment chair - Tata Chemicals Darbari Seth Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering. Tata Chemicals will be donating ` 3.5 crore as an endowment fund to help set up the chair professor’s position.
Eastman to invest $ 1.6 billion in the US Eastman Chemical Company has announced a major economic development project referred to as Project Inspire. As part of this project, over the next seven years, Eastman will invest $ 1.6 billion in its Kingsport site, USA. This comprehensive effort will enable the company to invest in, among other things, new growth opportunities, safety and environmental projects, increased warehouse capacity, building renovations, and expansion of its corporate campus.
Clariant launches eco-friendly optical brighteners Clariant, one of the leaders in specialty chemicals, recently launched a highly-concentrated, urea-free liquid optical brightening agent (OBA) for printing & writing papers. The company claims that the new disulphonated Leucophor ACK contains no environmentally harmful additives, decreases OBA requirements for papermakers, and lowers transport costs.
Aditya Birla Chemicals India Ltd (ABCIL), a company of the Aditya Birla Group, has acquired the Chlor-alkali & Phosphoric Acid Division (CA&P Division) of Solaris Chemtech Industries Ltd (SCIL) for a cash consideration of ` 153 crore. This transaction will enable ABCIL’s entry into the southern Indian market as well as the addition of phosphoric acid to its current product portfolio. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said, “This strategic acquisition further strengthens our position in the chloralkali business and take it to a higher growth trajectory. It marks our entry into a new market segment of phosphoric acid. The acquisition
bolsters caustic soda supply, which is a critical input for both our aluminium and Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) businesses.” Lalit Naik, Business Head for Chemicals, Aditya Birla Group, added, “This is a strategic acquisition in the southern region, which provides growth opportunities in the caustic business as well as a leadership position in phosphoric acid.” CA&P Division has a caustic soda manufacturing facility with an installed capacity of approximately 60,000 tpa and phosphoric acid plant with an installed capacity of approximately 24,000 tpa, both located in Karwar, Karnataka, and 3,000 acre of salt works in Gujarat.
MARKET FORECAST
End-user industries boosting caprolactam consumption in Asia The growing textiles and packaging markets in Asia are driving the demand for caprolactam. “The global caprolactam market is expected to increase to 5,992,732 tonne by 2020, with Asia-Pacific continuing to account for the majority of demand (69.5 per cent), followed by Europe with 16.6 per cent,” said Ganesh Dabholkar, Analyst, GBI Research. Global demand for caprolactam is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1 per cent from 2011-2020, to reach 5,992,732 tonne in 2020. Anticipated capacity additions in Asian regions are likely to increase caprolactam production, which will grow at a CAGR of 4.1 per cent throughout 20112020, to reach 5,883,896 tonne in 2020. Dabholkar added, “The demand in Ganesh Dabholkar China is driving the Asia-Pacific market’s demand for caprolactam. South Korea, India, Thailand, Malaysia and other Asia-Pacific countries are also seeing a huge rise in demand for caprolactam. The same trend is expected to continue in the near future.” Rakesh Rao
NEW FACILITY
A. Schulman inaugurates masterbatch facility in Vadodara A. Schulman Inc inaugurated its new plastics masterbatch manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat, to cater to India’s growing flexible packaging, appliance and consumer products markets. Initially, its annual capacity is projected to be approximately 10,000 metric tonne. The area of this plant is 45,000 sq m, and it is strategically located near A. Schulman’s customers’ manufacturing facilities in western India, and near the coast line of the Arabian Sea, which will facilitate the shipment of raw materials for production. “This plant will be dedicated to providing innovative masterbatch solutions to meet the needs of flexible packaging, white goods and cosmetics manufacturers in India,” said Derek Bristow, Vice President & General Manager - Asia-Pacific Region, A. Schulman. Adding to it, S Mannar Mannan, General Manager - India, A. Schulman, said, “By opening this new plant in Vadodara, we are strengthening our position to serve our growing customer base in this attractive market.”
12 | CHEMICAL & PROCESS WORLD | June 2013
Avani Jain
News, Views & Analysis
HYDRAULICS RETAIL
Parker Hannifin India expands in Chennai
L-R: Viren Patel and Arijit Sen, Country Managing Director, Parker Hannifin India Pvt Ltd
Parker Hannifin, one of the leaders in motion and control technologies, has expanded its network in India with the opening of a new ParkerStore by FEC India Pvt Ltd. Based in Chennai, the new
ParkerStore will offer a wide range of pneumatic, hydraulic, seals and filtration products and components. Viren Patel, President, FEC India Pvt Ltd, explained, “Representing Parker as an exciting new venture will enable us to expand our existing services for low & high pressure hoses and couplings with a complementary business unit. This, we believe, will open up many new opportunities in the future.” Sankar Vishwanath, Business Development Manager, ParkerStore in India, added, “The ParkerStore
programme offers all our distribution partners a proven business model that they can develop for use in their local areas. It offers real value both to the store operators and to their customers, bringing Parker technology and expertise within easy reach of everybody involved in the field of motion and control.” With annual sales exceeding $ 12 billion, Parker Hannifin is one of the leading diversified manufacturers of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precisionengineered solutions.
PERSONAL CARE
New product categories boosting specialty chemical demands As lines between various product categories blur, and new innovative launches happen almost on a weekly basis in the personal care segment, the demand for specialty chemicals is poised to grow. Himesh Joshi, Country Manager – Surface Chemistry, Akzo Nobel India Ltd, said, “Consumers are looking for premium products and hence, companies in the FMCG sector are advancing towards high-end and masstige segments from a typical mass market concentration.” According to him, low-cost conditioning will see rise in demand. “Earlier, guar was sourced as an ingredient for conditioning. Now, owing to the rising prices of guar, which also finds use in shale gas, alternatives are being demanded,” he added. He also predicted growth of categories such as powder shampoos and products that offer salon-like haircare at home. For skincare range, he bets on the growth of day makeup category and sunscreens in India. Mahua Roy
ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
LyondellBasell to shut down HDPE unit in Germany LyondellBasell will shut down a high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit in Wesseling, Germany in the third quarter of 2013. The 100 KT per year unit is among the smallest and least efficient of the LyondellBasell HDPE units in Europe.
Linde strengthens petrochemical hub in the US The Linde Group will invest more than $ 200 million to build a large, state-of-the-art air separation unit (ASU), a new gasification train and supporting equipment and facilities in La Porte, Texas. The new plants are scheduled to come on-stream in the course of 2015. The ASU will be the largest operated by Linde in the US and the addition of a new gasification plant will create the world’s largest natural gas based partial oxidation complex for the production of syngas products for petrochemicals.
Tata Chemicals celebrates World Environment Day
Tata Chemicals tree plantation activity
This World Environment Day, Tata Chemicals explored the opportunity to spread awareness about environment protection, sustenance and eco-conscious growth. The company organised various
initiatives involving its manufacturing plants at Mithapur, Babrala and Haldia as well as other office locations. Some of the activities conducted include tree plantation, environment awareness rally, and knowledge sharing session on energy conservation & management. The company saw participation of over 3,000 people who volunteered to play an active role in protecting environment. Sanjay Choudhary, Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer, said, “Tata Chemicals is committed to responsible care for the environment from which it draws its resource for its LIFE (Living, Industry, and Farm Essentials) product portfolio.”
Ferro to increase dibenzoates capacity Ferro Corporation will add significantly to its plasticiser product offerings by installing new dibenzoates production capability at its operations in Antwerp, Belgium. The Antwerp project is designed to provide annual production capacity of 28,000 metric tonne of dibenzoates, a non-phthalate, fast-fusing plasticiser.
June 2013 | CHEMICAL & PROCESS WORLD | 13
News, Views & Analysis
APPOINTMENT
ETAD re-elects Ravi Kapoor as President TÜV SÜD launches certification marks for carbon neutrality TÜV SÜD announced the launch of its carbon-related certification marks for Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) 2060, 2050 and ISO 14064. The company will now issue certifications to businesses after vigilantly auditing and verifying GHG assessment reports relevant to these standards.
Human and organisational errors majorly cause accidents One in five accidents caused by equipment failures in the chemical process industry are the result of human and organisational errors, as per a recent study – jointly undertaken by Aalto University in Finland and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The study also identified the equipment most likely to fail and cause accidents.
Ashland receives Innovation Award Ashland Specialty Ingredients, recently received a Ringier 2013 Coatings Technology Innovation Award for its breakthrough Natrosol Performax paint thickening technology. It is the third consecutive year Ashland has won the innovation award. This new range of hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) thickeners allows paint manufacturers to add HEC in a dry form at any point in the paint production process by rapidly dispersing in waterbased medium without lumps.
Ecological and Toxicological Association of Dyes concluded Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit has and Organic Pigments Manufacturers (ETAD), witnessed signing of MoU between ETAD & an international consortium of specialty chemical state government, wherein ETAD will work companies, has unanimously re-elected Ravi in close co-operation with Government of Kapoor, Managing Director of the VadodaraGujarat to promote sustainable practices in dyes based Heubach Colour Pvt Ltd, as & pigment industry as well as assist President of the organisation for the in bringing technologies for waste current financial year. The decision treatment.” to re-elect Kapoor was unanimously Speaking on ETAD’s global taken by members of ETAD board agenda for the current year, he said, “On at the recently concluded General behalf of global dyes/pigment industry, Assembly at Istanbul, Turkey. ETAD has regular representation in Kapoor said, “ETAD has played a countries’ policy-making initiatives Ravi Kapoor proactive role in creating awareness by towards Environment, Health & organising seminars in Gujarat to sensitise dyes Safety (EHS) regulations. The success of ETAD’s & pigment industries on ecology & toxicology projects and activities is based on the practical issues, chemical testing and sustainability & approach, the experience and the dedication of responsible care initiatives. ETAD has played ETAD member companies working together, an important role in setting up Environmental and this is what is also needed for the future Sustainability Committee, under the aegis of work as a responsible association.” Avani Jain Gujarat Government. Further, the recently BUSINESS STRATEGY
BASF to invest about Euro 10 billion in Asia-Pacific BASF is implementing its global ‘We create chemistry’ strategy in Asia Pacific with a set of ambitious targets and a focus on sustainability. To achieve sales of Euro 25 billion in the region by 2020, BASF’s Asia-Pacific strategy ‘grow smartly’ outlines investments of Euro 10 billion, around 9,000 new jobs, and annual savings of Euro 1 billion. Around 25 per cent of BASF’s global R&D will be conducted in Asia-Pacific by 2020, to develop innovative solutions that address the region’s challenges of resource efficiency, food and nutrition, and quality of life. “In the next decade, Asia-Pacific will face huge challenges while remaining the fastest growing market for the chemical industry. With our Asia-Pacific strategy, we are positioning BASF as the leading provider of sustainable solutions for the Asia-Pacific region,” said Dr Martin Brudermüller, Vice Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, responsible for Asia-Pacific. AUTOMATION TREND
Honeywell launches OneWireless Terminal Solution for terminal operations Honeywell has introduced new OneWireless Terminal Solution, which brings together a portfolio of wireless-enabled products, services and productivity tools tailored for terminal operators. It enables operators of oil and gas terminals to increase their productivity while also complying with stringent Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) regulations, all at significantly lower cost than wired technology. “There is constant pressure on terminal operators and owners to improve productivity, efficiency, safety and security with limited capital and operating budgets. OneWireless Terminal Solution can enable customers to achieve these goals within their budgets,” said Ray Rogowski, Global Marketing Director, Honeywell Process Solutions.
14 | CHEMICAL & PROCESS WORLD | June 2013
News, Views & Analysis
IT SOLUTIONS
Aspen Technology launches series of new products Technip receives contract in Iraq Technip, a reputed company in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry, was awarded a contract by the Oil Projects Company (SCOP) for the construction of the Karbala Refinery, Iraq.
Damco’s revenue up by 6 per cent in Q1 Damco, one of the world’s leading freight forwarding and logistics service providers, reported a 6 per cent increase in Q1 net revenue with a total of $ 773 million, compared to $ 728 million in 2012. EBIT ended up at $ 9 million for the first quarter, compared to $ 13 million in 2012.
Aspen Technology Inc (AspenTech), a leading provider of software and services to the process industries, launched a series of products such as aspenONE Exchange, Aspen PIMS Platinum, at OPTIMIZE 2013 - a conference organised by AspenTech – in Boston, USA. The new aspenONE is a web-based user interface that allows process industry professionals to work with aspenONE software anytime, anywhere. Working from one display, users can work with AspenTech products as easily as accessing a web page and with the simplicity of multi-touch gestures. Enterprises can now empower the broadest
range of users to tap the power of AspenTech software – all without specialised product training or desktop installation. Similarly, Aspen PIMS Platinum software provides refinery planners with an intuitive, web-based interface that allows planners to evaluate multiple scenarios quickly. Version 8.2 of Aspen PIMS Platinum adds the ability to run planning cases and modify data directly in flowsheet views to easily identify market opportunities. Planners can now visualise constraints, evaluate economics, and see the immediate impact of adjustments to the plan to make more profitable decisions.
ENERGY STORAGE
EnerG2 uses Mastersizer 3000 for developing nanostructured carbon EnerG2, which is working on developing nanostructured carbons for energy storage, is using a Mastersizer 3000 laser diffraction particle size analyser from Malvern Instruments to measure and characterise its high performance products. Particle size distribution directly impacts the energy storage characteristics of the carbon and the Mastersizer 3000’s high resolution sizing capability allows designers to manufacture materials to exactly meet stringent customer requirements. “The benefits of Mastersizer 3000 have exceeded our expectations and have helped us achieve our goals in creating precise, stable particle size distributions across all our product lines,” said Chad Goodwin, Research Engineer, EnerG2.
16 | CHEMICAL & PROCESS WORLD | June 2013
Technology & Innovation
Invensys enhances usability of SimSci-Esscor simulation software Invensys Operations Management, a global provider of technology systems, has released SimSci Suite 2013, a DVD catalogue that provides a single source for all of its current SimSci-Esscor design, operator training, simulation and optimisation software. The DVD includes software updates that use common components to enhance the user experience. “Combining these software updates onto a single DVD makes it easier for our customers to recognise and deploy more current versions of our software more quickly,” said Tobias Scheele, Vice President, Advanced Applications, Invensys. SimSci Suite 2013 updates SimSci-Esscor products such as PRO/II 9.2, VISUAL FLOW 5.5, INPLANT 4.3, HEXTRAN 9.2 etc, which support the full plant lifecycle from process design to operator training and simulation to process optimisation. The SimSci Suite DVD will be updated every 12 to 18 months with the most recent versions of the products. In addition to the current release, individual product patches or service packs will also be released as needed, providing an even more structured software deployment and maintenance for users.
Fusion4 MSC-A from Honeywell Enraf enables precise blending of petrochemical products
Honeywell Enraf introduced the Fusion4 MSC-A, a highly advanced, yet easy-to-use controller that uses intuitive technology similar to today’s mobile phone apps to help ensure more efficient and safer petrochemical handling operations. The Fusion4 MSCA’s interface makes it simple to use. The controller is operated using intuitive, on-screen icons, which reduce training
time and improve accuracy. The interface delivers detailed process data, resulting in superior operational monitoring. “The Fusion4 MSC-A puts the control of operation back in the hands of the users. We have used a smart interface to give rich, clear information on the transfer operation. This new controller is more precise, secure and safe, and provides superior traceability,” said Richard Thompson, General Manager, Honeywell Enraf. The Fusion4 MSC-A offers the most advanced functionality of any additive controller available. According to Thompson, it is the only device in the world capable of live data transfer in hazardous areas. Safe, secure two-way data communication with the handheld Fusion4 local access device allows rapid transfer of transaction data, configuration files and calibration records, etc. It can be supplied as a standalone device or coupled with additive injection hardware for a complete off-the-shelf additive solution.
18 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
METTLER TOLEDO’s new pipettes offer reliability
METTLER TOLEDO has come out with its next generation Rainin multichannel pipettes. The manual Rainin Pipet-Lite XLS+ and electronic Rainin E4 XLS+ offer users durable, lightweight liquid ends and new mechanical designs that eliminate hand strain while ensuring the highest channel-to-channel consistency. This combination of improved ergonomic comfort and exceptional performance are the hallmark of Rainin multichannels that help pipette operators work comfortably and reduce the risk of error and potentially expensive rework. Experiment costs also go down as throughput accuracy increases. Whether a research team’s objective is to be ‘first to publish’ or ‘first to market’, the Rainin XLS+ multichannel pipettes represent an intelligent advancement in both performance and ergonomics. Enhanced reliability ensures data integrity. And operators concerned about cross-contamination will appreciate its reduced stiction (piston stickiness), which helps to eliminate splash-up.
Technology Transfer
Technology Offered As part of our endeavour to spread the technology culture, this section provides a means to promote and facilitate exchange of select technologies. We strive to bring together suppliers of such technologies with suitable users for negotiations and industrial collaboration. Activated carbon An Iranian firm is willing to offer activated carbon from coconut shells.
Areas of application
Food processing, pharmaceuticals, etc
Forms of transfer
Technology licensing
Ethanol An Iranian company is offering ethanol from molasses using the fermentation of sacharomyces cerevisiae. Ethyl alcohol is widely used for making many
organic chemicals.
Forms of transfer
Areas of application Chemical and energy industries
Consultancy, technical technology licensing
Technology licensing
Transformer oil unit
Forms of transfer
Furfuryl alcohol technology An Indian firm offers technology for producing furfuryl alcohol from furfural by liquid hydrogenation.
Areas of application
Furan polymers, sealants & cements, urea-formaldehyde, and phenolic resins
services,
An Indian company is willing to offer consultancy for making a transformer oil unit with domestic coal from its waste.
Areas of application Transformers
Forms of transfer Consultancy, technical services
Technology Requested Activated carbon and sodium silicate
A company from Thailand requires technology for manufacturing activated carbon and sodium silicate from rice husk & rice husk ash.
Areas of application
Manufacturing and construction industry
Forms of transfer Others
Glyoxal An Indian company is looking to
switch the production technique for manufacturing 40 per cent glyoxal from its existing acetaldehyde-based method.
Areas of application Pharma & textile
Forms of transfer
Areas of application Chemical industry
Forms of transfer Others
Lime
Others
Inorganic chemicals An Indian company is interested in seeking the technology and process know-how for production of potassium nitrate, chromium acetate.
An Indian company seeks new costeffective technologies that can reduce carbon emissions for lime manufacturing.
Areas of application
Quick lime and hydrated lime
Forms of transfer Others
Information courtesy: Dr Krishnan S Raghavan, In-Charge, Technology Transfer Services Group, Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), APCTT Building, C-2, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110 016, Tel: 011-3097 3758 (Direct), 3097 3710 (Board), Fax: 011-2685 6274, E-mail: srinivasaraghavan@un.org, Web: www.apctt.org, For more information on technology offers and requests, please log on to www.technology4sme.net and register with your contact details. This is a free of cost platform provided by APCTT for facilitating interaction between buyers and seekers of technologies across the globe. After submitting technology offer or request to this website, you are requested to wait for at least two weeks for receiving a response from a prospective buyer/seeker through this website, before contacting APCTT for further assistance.
Share and Solicit Technology
The mission of Chemical & Process World is to spread the technology culture. Here is an opportunity to be a part of this endeavour by sending your technology on offer or technology requirements. If you belong to any of these two categories, you are invited to furnish the techno-commercial details for publication. The write-up needs to be as per the format of this section with information about the particular technology offered or requested, its areas of application and forms of transfer. Contact us: Chemical & Process World, Network18 Media & Investments Ltd, ‘A’ Wing, Ruby House, J K Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai 400 028 Tel: 022-3024 5000, 3003 4672, Fax: 022-3003 4499, Email: chemedit@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 19
In Conversation With | S Mannar Manan
At present, there are only few MNCs in the masterbatch manufacturing segment in India
Photo: Saloni Agarwal
...says S Mannar Manan, Country HeadIndia, A Schulman Plastics India (Pvt) Ltd. In an interaction with Avani Jain, he informs that the demand for masterbatches in India is continuously increasing. He also highlights the challenges faced by multinationals in the segment as well as the company’s growth plans.
20 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
S Mannar Manan
How is the global as well as Indian plastic masterbatch industry faring? Since the last couple of years, the global masterbatch manufacturing industry is facing slowdown. The European market is facing a slump. The American market is stable, but not witnessing any growth. However, the Asian market has shown positive signs and is growing. In Asia, countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, etc, are considered to be the emerging markets and constantly growing. If we talk about India, in particular, in terms of volume, the masterbatch manufacturing industry is producing more than three lakh tonne per year. Moreover, the industry is growing at the rate of 16-18 per cent CAGR. This growth is likely to increase in future.
What are the leading innovations making headway globally? Masterbatches can be used in any industry. At present, most of the Indian masterbatch manufacturers focus on filler grade masterbatches, which are used in manufacturing woven sack bags in which cement, fertilisers etc are packed. Mostly commodity masterbatches are produced by manufacturers as the formulations are easy. There is no inclination from manufacturers to produce value-added masterbatches like permanent anti-statics as they require high technology and formulations. Hence, no real innovation is seen. However, Schulman always focusses on innovations. We have products like anti-microbial masterbatches etc to cater to the different demands of customers. At present, the new innovations include additives for solar energy usage industry.
What prompted the company to set up its first manufacturing facility in Gujarat, India? There are many reasons behind opening the first manufacturing facility in India. First, the Indian market is growing at a fast pace, so it was ideal to start a manufacturing plant in the country. Second, it is always better to come closer
Up close and personal What motivates you the most in your life?
I often read books on self-improvement and management. They motivate me most of the times.
How do you deal with a tough situation?
I believe that discussions with a good and hardworking team can help solve any problem. I am thankful that I have supporting colleagues working with me at all times.
What is it that you ensure before signing a deal or starting something new?
I always keep my company’s interests at the top. I also emphasise on being ethical and qualityconscious. Further, maintaining standards in whatever you do is important.
What would be your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?
One should not be too emotional while taking major decisions. Being practical and logical is important. One should always keep cool, no matter whatever is the situation. Also, undivided focus on whatever you want to achieve holds the key to success. to the customers. Third, earlier, we were mainly exporting the products but then when you export, you cannot cater to a large number of customers. Fourth, there are not many multinational companies (MNCs) in India manufacturing masterbatches, so there is huge scope for growth for us. Fifth, we chose Gujarat, in particular, as it is the only state that boasts of surplus electricity. Last but not the least, proximity to suppliers, customers and ports is also the main reason for establishing a plant there.
Can you brief us about the challenges faced by the industry? At present, there are only few MNCs in the masterbatch manufacturing segment; but there are many SMEs and unorganised players in the segment. Hence, quality is an issue, as it is difficult for the customers to test the masterbatches. It is nearly impossible for the customers to identify what the product contains. This gives opportunities to the SMEs to alter the recipes and produce low-quality products. The manufacturers might say that they have used ‘X’ material in their product, but instead they might have used another product that is a cheaper supplement to the material ‘X’. Hence, they are able
to sell at low prices. This is the biggest challenge for companies like us. Selling good quality products at lower prices becomes difficult for us.
How is the outlook for the masterbatch industry in India? There is huge scope for growth in the country, with many raw materials manufacturing companies already present here. Also, new projects are coming up. This will have a direct impact on the growth of masterbatch manufacturing industry in India.
What are the growth plans of the company? We are currently manufacturing white and additive masterbatches. In additive masterbatch category, we have two segments – value-added masterbatches that involve high technology and formulation; and normal commodity masterbatches. At present, we are only focussing on flexible plastic packaging market, but in the coming years, we will also expand our horizons in personal care & hygiene and medical sector. In future, we want to manufacture hi-tech and coloured masterbatches. Email: avani.jain@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 21
Cover Story | Indian chemical industry
The emerging investment hotspot for global majors! Mahua Roy
All eyes are now on India. Call it demographics or buying behaviour, or simply, a conducive financial environment, everyone wants to be part of the growth story that is India. Most chemical majors are considering India as one of their top ten focus markets. This is reflected by the recent, post-slowdown investments by way of FDIs as well as FIIs in India. The last financial year witnessed as high as 30 M&A deals in the Indian chemical sector, with value amounting to an estimated $ 845 million. The inbound deals constituted almost $ 75 billion investment, as per a report by Ernst & Young. On further extrapolation, it is seen that the inbound M&A deal value increased more than 10 times between FY 11 and FY 12. Seeking consolidation of businesses, and access to the strategic Indian market led to this figure. When the larger picture is viewed, geographically most deal activity was centered around Asia, with more than 43 per cent marketshare in the M&A deal value. This was majorly on
account of the continued domestic consolidation in the highly fragmented Asian markets. Overall, the chemical sector attracted cumulative FDI of $ 2,690.2 million in 2010-11. FDI inflows to the chemical industry had increased during the period 2010-11 to 2011-12 due to strong economic growth of India and high value inbound M&A deals.
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Not love at first sight On the exterior, the India story does not quite make much of an impression. It has been constantly compared with China, and why not. The neighbouring country overtook the US in 2010 to fetch the title of being the biggest market for chemicals, while India ranked eighth on that scale. Both India and China have been growing at a rapid pace in recent times compared to other BRICS countries, making them markets with similar consumer trends as well. Their capital expenditure and labour cost advantages too are more or less the same. As a result, China has seen a rapid rise in investments from chemical majors across the globe. Also, India has no feedstock advantages, a crucial factor that lures inbound investments. Of the five Petroleum, Chemicals & Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs) announced by the Department of Chemicals &
Savan Godiawala
Senior Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd
The M&A activity in 2013-14 will see marginal growth in the chemical industry as against a declining trend for over past three years.
22 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Indian chemical industry
Fertilisers in India, only the one located at Dahej has made significant progress. Power shortages and logistical challenges are aplenty. Moreover, India’s chemical sector is highly fragmented. It is flooded with SMEs and some being longstanding family business ventures. On rare occasions when such business houses consider selling, the negotiations run over several years.
Presenting the India advantage Now however, the past two to three years have seen rise in investments in the chemical sector in India. The Indian Chemical Council expects that growth of India’s chemical industry will clock 7-9 per cent in 2013, which is more than the GDP of the country. The Indian specialty chemicals segment, in particular, is in fact expected to grow at a rate of 11-12 per cent in 2013. The rising per capita income in the country has led to a growing demand in the premiumisation of products. The burgeoning end-user segments are reporting a rise in demands, and thus the complementary chemical sectors are registering high growth. As per industry data, the Indian middle class could increase from 46 million households in 2010 to 148 million households by 2030, thus quadrupling consumption. This puts India on the same strategic map of multinational chemical majors. As India does not have a clear feedstock advantage, there have been fewer big ticket investments in multimillion petrochemical deals as compared to other Asian economies. On the other hand, the investments in mid-cap specialty chemicals have seen a rise, as there are higher returns in this sector. The government’s ambitious PCPIR Deal value of M&As in the Indian chemical industry ($ million) FY10 FY11 FY12 Inbound 226 6 75 Domestic 223 63 315 Outbound 170 1246 455 Total 619 1315 845
Source: Thomson One Banker and Ernst & Young analysis
projects have seen huge investments from global majors. BASF is planning to utilise the infrastructure at Dahej PCPIR to build additional manufacturing capacity to meet rising demand. The company announced that it would spend $ 202 million to build a manufacturing site, which will be focussed on specialty chemicals. It also announced plans to start production of precious metal-based fine chemical catalysts at the company’s manufacturing site at Mangalore. On a similar note, Momentive Specialty Chemicals expanded its manufacturing facility and application development centre in Chennai. The facility, opened in 2009, focusses on manufacturing high-end specialty silicones to serve the growing needs of customers in India, the Middle East, and South Asia. “Even as economic weakness continues to hamper industrial growth in Europe and the US, investors from these countries will look to India for M&As. The M&A activity in 2013-14 will see marginal growth in the chemical industry as against a declining trend for over past three years,” states Savan Godiawala, Senior Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.
Here comes the inflection point “The real potential of opportunities that India can provide is becoming visible to the multinational players in the chemical industry. That is the reason we first saw a host of them setting up manufacturing centres in the country, and now they are even actively investing in R&D set-ups too,” adds Steve Stilliard, Vice President and Managing Director - Indian Subcontinent, Huntsman Corporation. Making India an R&D hub puts the country on a knowledge-intensive framework. Momentive Specialty Chemicals, Wacker Chemie, Clariant, Solvay, Ashland – all have recently made huge investments in R&D set-ups in India. India offers prime factors for steady growth in the chemical sector. The specialty chemicals segment in particular has high margins and has demonstrated
te
The
u o r PE
The trend in Private Equity (PE) activity for the chemical sector was robust over the last year or so. The rapid expansion by mid-sized chemical companies, driven by strong domestic and export demand, led the PE investors to register keen interest in the sector. 2010: Bain Capital invested in Himadri Chemicals and Industries. Citigroup’s private equity arm Citigroup Venture Capital International also invested ` 1,027.85 million for 14.23 per cent stake in Himadri in October 2006. IFC, private equity arm of the World Bank, had also invested $ 35 million in this company. 2011: Standard Chartered PE invested ` 85 crore in Privi Organics. The infusion was used to expand Privi’s manufacturing facility at Mahad in Maharashtra and support key backward integration projects. 2011: Carlyle invested $ 25 million in emulsion manufacturer Visen. The funds were used to expand Visen’s manufacturing capacity in India and abroad. 2011: Sequoia Capital picked up 1.82 per cent stake in PI Industries Ltd, an agri-input and custom synthesis firm, for ` 24.2 crore. revenue growth of about 13 per cent per annum during the past five years. It caters to various end-use markets such as consumer durables and personal care that are non-cyclical in nature. “In the chemical industry, agrochemicals and coatings segments will witness increased M&A activity in 2013-14 as against a decline in past couple of years. Other sectors such as pharmaceuticals and engineering will also see good amount of acquisitions in 201314,” observes Godiawala. Organic growth remains the strategy for some, but inorganic growth is being considered as a vital piece in the success story that is India. “The global majors are thus seeing healthy growth avenues and returns prospects in the Indian market.
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 23
Indian chemical industry
Steve Stilliard They have successfully identified intellectual property protection Vice President and Managing Director - Indian the attractive acquisition framework in India have created Subcontinent, Huntsman Corporation opportunities that are available strong R&D capabilities as has in India’s small-sized specialty been demonstrated recently Global majors have successfully chemical companies, which with emergence of Indiaidentified the attractive acquisition lack the know-how to scale based global R&D centres opportunities that are available up operations. Besides, access of several chemical MNCs. in India’s small-sized specialty to right technology and other Wacker Chemie expanded its chemical companies. resources is a major bottleneck technical centre in Mumbai to for them. This presents a win-win include laboratories, applications situation,” asserts Stilliard. Also, technology and test equipment biggest strategic considerations during the in certain sectors, companies face direct for polymer dispersions for coatings and evaluation of M&A deals. Acquisition of competition from neighbouring Asian paint applications. Solvay opened an an existing company with a supplementary economies, China in particular. To increase R&D centre for polymers in Gujarat, or complementary product portfolio is a their competitiveness, the Indian companies with an investment of ` 40 crore. Clariant preferred way to expand presence. One in this space are increasingly seeking Chemicals invested in a new laboratory of the interesting developments in this investments that will finance product for research on crop protection chemicals. sector was Huntsman’s acquisition of improvements through intensive R&D. Addressing concurrent issues: Laffans Petrochemicals’ ethylene oxide Another advantage is the speed to Companies that establish green derivatives business in 2010, which market, which is mastered by the local leadership would have a distinct first helped establish the buyer’s presence in players in this sector. Large domestic and mover advantage over their competitors. a business complementary to its amineglobal manufacturers have thus opted for “Green transformation is becoming based international product portfolio. The the M&A route to acquire these small a mantra of increasing significance for sustenance of these technologies with players, thereby gaining faster access to chemical companies in a business with bigger and better investments can pave the new and emerging markets. Additionally, unprecedented levels of awareness way to a secure future in this ever-evolving an integrated value chain development for sustainable growth. An integrated market scenario. completes the perfect picture of conducive approach across the value chain – Becoming glocal: Customised environment for M&A lucrativeness. “It including procurement, product design, application development for India is obvious that new products will have manufacturing process and marketing brings out the seriousness of an MNC a much higher gestation period and along with adequate reporting and risk player about its Indian investment. The require intensive R&D investments. The management – at each stage is becoming companies that are identifying India’s local, already established players have a critical. Companies could not only create unique needs strategically and turning better understanding of the local market value through simply green product increasingly glocal are those with a clear demands and have a bouquet of an development or process innovation advantage. BASF contributed significantly already established portfolio of products,” but also generate end-consumer pull towards development of Tata Nano, the says Stilliard. A sustainable model for through ingredient branding in such cheapest car in the world, by developing backward integration for feedstock sources green products,” says Dr Deepak Parikh, solutions for specialty polymers and and forward integration for downstream Managing Director and Vice Chairman, adhesives required by Tata Motors. opportunities can create huge value. Clariant Chemicals India Ltd. R&D development: A large pool As global majors acquire assets in MNCs getting serious about India of qualified scientists and supportive Indian companies, their emphasis on The monetary investments global issues is visible with Dr Deepak Parikh from global chemical majors are their significant investments Managing Director and Vice Chairman, heavily backed with strategic in changing the mindset and Clariant Chemicals India Ltd decisions, which can transform business processes, turning the Indian chemical industry, them more sustainable. This Green transformation is becoming making it all the more globalised way the issue of sustainable a mantra of increasing significance and competitive. Some of these development across the for chemical companies in a strategies include: value chain of the chemical business with unprecedented levels Technology acquisition and industry can be addressed to a of awareness for sustainable growth. sustenance: Product portfolio large extent. Email: mahua.roy@network18publishing.com rationalisation is one of the 24 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Special Focus
Engineering, Procurement & Construction
Photo courtesy: Essar Projects
Globally, Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) industry has been going through a tough time for quite some time with slowing economic growth across countries. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. While shale gas boom in the US has prompted global chemical majors to announce multi-billion petrochemical projects, growing markets in Asia are seeing a stream of investments in chemicals & specialty chemicals segments. In India, slow growth rate and high interest rates have led to postponement or cancelling of projects in recent times. However, EPC industry sees silver lining in upstream and downstream industries, which saw announcement of some new projects by PSUs. With India’s GDP growth expected to grow at more than five percentage points in 2013-14, EPC companies are hoping for better times ahead.
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 25
Special Focus | Indian EPC market
Proactive policy, the ey to kickstart growth Rakesh Rao
In 2012-13, India registered its lowest GDP growth rate of the decade at 5 per cent. Slowing economy does not sound good news for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies as this leads to decrease in investment for new projects. But, things may look better in 2013-14. Few years back, when a leading global specialty chemicals company was scouting for a location to establish its rubber chemical project, worth millions of dollars, it had India in mind as one of the possible site for this project. But due to lack of feedstock availability and adequate logistics facilities in the country, it decided to set up the new plant in Singapore. While it is a known fact that feedstock shortage and inadequate infrastructure in India are two major stumbling blocks for establishing mega chemical projects, the current economic slowdown has further hindered investment in new projects in the country in the recent times.
some level of certainty,” observes Pothen Paul, Former Chairman, Aker Powergas Pvt Ltd. The economic uncertainty is also affecting engineering services sector. “Current slowdown has affected our Engineering Services business. However, our Manpower Deputation business has grown well and we have increased the number of offerings as Manpower Deputation services in various fields,” says Jaydev Sanghavi, Executive Director, Aarvi Encon Pvt Ltd – which offers total engineering services such as basic engineering, procurement, construction supervision, commissioning etc.
Facing the tough times
External factors
standing out as the most affected region with a number of its member countries being in serious difficulties. Resultant demand shrinkage and consequential issues such as declining commodity prices have affected the fortunes of EPC industry across the globe.” But, India has its own set of challenges. He opines, “India is somewhat unique in that it is not only affected by global problems, but also internal issues such as high budget and foreign trade deficits, high rates of inflation & interest rates, poor governance and political leadership vacuum. Because of these as also high cost of finance, declining value of Rupee and infrastructure & power projects getting delayed for want of resolution of roadblocks, investors, both domestic and foreign, seem to prefer to wait for the environment to improve.”
Though the 5 per cent GDP growth for The global economy, especially the 2012-13 (lowest in a decade) did not developed markets such as Europe, has come as a surprise, the current economic been going through low-growth rate uncertainty is creating confusion among phase for quite some time now. Paul says, Hit the wall chemical manufacturers. This has “It is a fact that at the global level, the Delay in project approvals due to resulted in far fewer projects for EPC downturn has impacted every economy in environmental and other administrative companies to compete. “The EPC some fashion, with the European Union issues are further putting industry, in general, and its Pothen Paul hurdles in the way. Sanghavi member segment (which deals Former Chairman, Aker Powergas Pvt Ltd opines, “Challenges faced by with process industry projects), engineering service providers in particular, are truly in a bad are pollution and environmental shape, at present. Though it is We are unlikely to see any significant control approvals, which are no stranger to cyclic downturns, improvements during this financial delaying the projects by one to what is unique this time is that year. But hopefully, we might see some two years and clients are not the many external and internal changes around mid 2014 depending ready to pay extra for the delay. factors causing this downturn on the election outcome. Small clients who are putting make it impossible for anyone up projects of about ` 10 crore to predict its trajectory with
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Indian EPC market
Jaydev Sanghavi take part services, ie civil and Finance Minister to drum up Executive Director, Aarvi Encon Pvt Ltd architectural from one consultant FDI are unlikely to yield the and detailed engineering from desired results. However, interest another consultant. Procurement rate cuts by RBI could be of With large investments coming up in is generally done themselves. some value. In short, I fail to see petrochemical as well as oil exploration Another challenge faced by enough positive signals to hope projects, there is good future for EPC consultant is delay in receiving for an improvement in growth companies. Economy is showing signs payment from client.” momentum in the near term,” of better growth in 2013. Shortage of skilled says Paul. manpower may delay project But, Sanghavi sees silver delivery time. “Well-managed lining in upstream and its chemical and petrochemical sector. EPC companies plan and make financial downstream industries. He says, “We see “Their world-scale, export-focussed provisions for getting through rainy good opportunity in pipeline projects and production facilities are able to undercut days such as now because in the Indian LPG gas distribution projects in the city. our manufacturing sector through context, asking employees, other than With large investments coming up in frequent product innovations, appropriate non-performers, to leave can have an petrochemical as well as oil exploration quality & finish, and aggressive pricing. adverse impact on one’s reputation as an projects, there is good future for EPC Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions, employer. An equal challenge is making companies. Economy is showing signs of and so continuing imports of endsure that valuable talent is not lost during better growth prospects in 2013.” products in large scale will prevent our such difficult times,” says Paul. EPC companies are also exploring chemical and petrochemical sectors from export markets for better prospects. Promising sectors attaining their full potential for some Sanghavi discloses, “A growth plan for It is an unfortunate fact that massive more years,” observes Paul. our company is to open offices worldwide. imports of consumer goods and durables It is surprising that in spite of its We have already tied up for Qatar, UAE from China and, to some extent, South size and scale, India still does not have and Saudi Arabia. We have offices all East Asia, are not only affecting India’s any world-scale production facilities over India, but establishing international trade balance, but also the growth of for chemicals such as polycarbonate, offices will be more profitable.” polysilicon and butyl rubber. He adds, “In Taking a long-term view the downstream process sector, industries Though the current economic environment somewhat unaffected by this problem are To kickstart investment cycles, some does not augur well for the EPC industry, oil refining and fertiliser in the megaexperts have been urging the RBI to reduce companies are betting on India’s longscale category, and bulk drugs (to some interest rate. But, others are sceptical of term growth potential. Sanghavi opines, extent) and formulations, paints and this move. Sanghavi observes, “Lowering “EPC industry will grow as number of coatings, lube oil and industrial gases in of interest rate by RBI does not have much petrochemical and refinery projects are the medium segment.” impact on chemical projects; it may help coming up. At the same time, business From EPC companies’ perspective, housing and other infrastructure projects.” for large EPC is growing worldwide.” petroleum refinery and oil & gas sectors RBI has already slashed the repo Paul adds, “As it stands, burdened by far appear to be the most promising with a rate by 125 basis points during the past too many negative issues, we are unlikely slew of mega investment announcements 12 months and CRR by 200 points. to see any significant improvements being made in the last few months. “Though inflation is showing some during this financial year. But hopefully, signs of softening, in the absence of any A silver lining we might see some changes around mid decisive actions by the government to As mentioned earlier, the Indian economy 2014 depending on the election outcome.” trim the budget deficit, RBI might not be is affected by a number of external and Experts believe that rather than inclined to cut the interest rate in a hurry internal factors. Though decisive actions worrying about what the Reserve Bank for fear of stoking inflation. Any interest by the government to bring budget deficit of India (RBI) will do, the government rate cut will have a favourable impact under control would have sent a positive should take proactive measures to on the consumption story, and demand signal to the investment community, step up investment, which is the only growth for the likes of cars, motor bikes political compulsions, in general, and way to reinvigorate the economy, and etc will translate to demand for polymers, the upcoming national election, in thus opening up growth prospects for synthetic rubber and the likes,” says Paul. particular, make it unlikely. “Under the EPC industry. Email: rakesh.rao@network18publishing.com circumstances, the valiant efforts of the
Rate cuts: Will it help?
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 27
Special Focus | Global EPC industry
Scaling new heights on the
petrochemical boom The worst is behind us!
Rakesh Rao
The shale gas boom in North America and thriving Asian countries are providing ample growth opportunities for the global EPC companies. As economic environment improves in other regions, the industry can expect better prospects in the coming years.
Photo courtesy: Essar Projects
About $ 20 trillion of new plant investment is expected in the global chemicals (including commodities, specialties, fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals) industry over the next 20 years, according to Accenture. This represents a gold mine of opportunities for the global Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) industry. While investment in Europe is likely to be subdued, one can expect mega chemical projects in North America (due to shale gas boom) and Asia (due to growing consumption of chemicals). “Europe has been stagnant in recent years due to a number of issues and, as a result, the market for the EPC industry
has not grown. However, there are several projects in the other parts of the world, which are in the early stages of execution. As the project viabilities are reinforced, we expect that investments in shale gas, downstream petrochemicals and chemical businesses and unconventional energy projects will grow,” says Arun Kumar Jain, Managing Director - India Operations, Fluor Corporation – one of the world’s largest publicly traded engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance and project management companies. In India, Jain has a positive outlook regarding inflow of investments in critical areas of energy security like Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), gasification, etc.
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Post-financial crisis of 2007-08, there was spurt in investment backed by government spending on infrastructure development. But, things started taking ugly turn towards the end of 2011. So is the current situation better or worse than the 2007-08 slowdown? Answers Jain, “There continues to be uncertainty in the global EPC business; but the stimulus packages extended by the governments in some countries have yielded results. Technological advancements are helping to bring the economy back on track. Examples are the extraction of shale gas and enhancing production of crude using hydraulic fracturing. Moreover, an increased thrust towards exploitation of unconventional energy sources is expected to play a significant role in the revival of the economy.” After the economy declined in 2008, EPC companies had to downsize their workforce, leaving organisations short of experience when the recovery started. The industry is now feeling the pinch. Jain says, “Perhaps, one of the biggest challenges the EPC industry will face in the near future is securing skilled craft labour to meet the demands on large construction projects. For example, the US is experiencing resurgence in the design and construction of massive petrochemical plants. It is estimated that tens of thousands of skilled craft labourers will be needed to complete these projects.” Additionally, cost and schedule continue to be the predominant factors for the clients in the EPC business. “Clients continue to want more cost and schedule assurance. Fluor believes that one way to deliver more certainty is by modularising many aspects of large projects, fabricating the components offsite and then shipping them to the jobsite for installation,” he adds.
Global EPC industry
Arun Kumar Jain
Managing Director - India Operations, Fluor Corporation
Despite short-term fluctuations, we remain optimistic about the future growth of oil, gas and chemical markets that, in turn, will create new projects for the EPC players to deliver. The saviours Much of the near-term, large-scale investment is expected in North America. Shale gas boom has given a major boost to petrochemicals industry in the region. According to Accenture, over 15 million metric tonne per year of new petrochemical capacity (including downstream units) may be built in North America, which is equivalent to $ 30-50 billion in petrochemical capital projects over the next ten years. Besides, emerging Asian countries will provide additional boost to EPC companies as these markets pick up growth. Jain opines, “Emerging markets and North America offer a lot of promise for investments. Also, countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar indicate some positive sentiments regarding investments.” The Indian market is poised for growth to meet the domestic demand for energy, infrastructure, and other sectors. India’s GDP growth has slowed but is forecast to grow at a rate of more than five percentage points. This is expected to provide opportunities for Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) companies. Jain observes, “Based on our international experience, we believe projects in India will benefit from international project management practices and construction technologies, especially considering the magnitude and size of some of the projects currently being envisaged by a few Indian companies.”
On a positive note Industry year-on-year projections of growth are difficult to forecast with accuracy owing to the very nature of EPC projects, which have long gestation periods for both development and execution. Timeliness of project financial closures also varies. But EPC companies are optimistic. Jain says, “We believe that in the long run, the growth of the EPC market will be positive. As an example, conservative estimates indicate that by 2030 the world population will demand 35 per cent more energy than what is consumed today. So, despite short-term fluctuations, we remain optimistic about the future growth of oil, gas and chemical markets that, in turn, will create new projects for the EPC players to deliver.” Email: rakesh.rao@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 29
Special Focus | EPC strategies
Mahua Roy
The mandate to EPC contractors is simple: On time and on budget. But delivering this becomes a challenge in these economically fragile times experienced today. Here’s discussing the best strategies to stay ahead of the times, thereby maintaining projects within schedule and cost.
Eliminating time and cost overruns to stay competitive The chemical and petrochemical sector in India is seeing huge investments from multinational as well as domestic players. The boost has been equivocally provided by friendly government measures with the ambitious announcement of five strategic Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs). This spells out great news for players operating within Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies. Greenfield and brownfield expansion plans, new facilities, refineries, pipelines, fertiliser complexes and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, of international standards, are seeing huge activity in the country. However, the outset of any large-scale construction project can be a challenging time for those tasked with guiding the project to completion. There are several crucial strategic decisions that need to be made. As the EPC projects are getting complex by the day, timeline of the project is becoming more unpredictable than ever. With the emerging trend of short project durations, organised synchronisation is expected between the contractor, consultant and also, the vendors. The clients, on their part, intend to leverage the maximum benefit at minimal risk from the project. Contractors, at
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their end, need to balance typical issues in terms of costs, pricing, risks and resources for the mega projects. A well-defined EPC contract can significantly reduce the cost and time overruns in real time. Owners put on time and on budget pointers at priority.
Focus on smart procurement In the EPC arena, time overruns translate into huge cost, which is borne by the contractor. Maintaining an exemplary track record of on-time delivery and carving an illustrious name in the industry will guarantee the inclusion of a vendor in the preferred list of the contractor. Another trend observed is that, not just Indian companies, but most firms, even overseas, consider cost as an important factor. However, it is not given priority over quality compliance. So as a vendor, if one strategises to compromise quality over an ‘attractive’ cost, the procurement manager will not be impressed. “This set of goals, though well-understood and easy to anticipate, is difficult to achieve. Faster project delivery can adversely impact cost and quality of work. On the other hand, the project cost itself is incredibly sensitive to timing and specification levels. Therefore, in reality, players in the chemical and petrochemical industry recognise the tension between these related goals; establish their priorities; and start by emphasising on a procurement strategy that best serves those priorities,” says Pradeep Kumar Gupta, Practice Head Ports, EPC, Manufacturing, IFS India.
EPC strategies
Designing strategically Traditionally in this arena, a design professional performs the design of a project, and subsequently a separate contractor, or a number of contractors, is required to execute the works in accordance with that approved design. “An advantage of having the design completed prior to appointing the contractor is certainty of price and schedule for the owner. As the design has been established, contractors are able and willing to estimate & agree on a fixed price and schedule, which will be less open to change,” adds Gupta. However, there might also arise cases where the project owner might be less concerned over such certainty and needs to complete a project quickly to take advantage of market conditions. Also, an owner may also be concerned about the division of responsibilities between designers and constructors. As such, a strategy such as Engineering, Procurement
and Construction Management (EPCM) is adopted by project owners. Safety-oriented engineering design and sustainable development are the buzzwords in the process industry. Emphasis on the safety aspect acquires much importance because of the nature of chemical and petrochemical industry, which is one of the sectors exposed to maximum hazards. The EPC industry is investing heavily on this aspect and educating the chemical & petrochemical industry towards making it the most important criterion at the design stage. India is also opening up to the idea of sustainability in plant operations. Though gradual, the change in outlook is imminent. It will, however, take some time for this parameter to receive priority over cost-competitiveness.
Turning towards EPCM model During the times when project owners are faced with a large and complex
project, but limited project management resources, they often turn to EPCM as a suitable model. At the heart of this is the reliance on a company to manage, but not carry out project delivery on behalf of the owner, both design and construction, as also procurement. “Management contracting typically involves the management contractor being responsible for the delivery of the project, albeit he engages others to actually undertake the design and construction of the work. Construction management typically involves the construction manager helping to place and then manage the series of contracts that the owner himself will enter into with the designer and contractor,” says Gupta. Both EPC and EPCM models enable simultaneous and speedy design, procurement and construction. While the latter approach achieves one-point responsibility for project delivery, the former does not. Email: mahua.roy@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 31
Special Focus | Capital projects
Effective delivery imperative
to ensure profitability
Rakesh Rao
The global chemical industry is expected to witness investment worth trillions of dollars in near future on capital projects. In order to ensure on-time completion of increasingly complex projects, sophisticated skills and right experience will be required. Here are few tips for effective capital project delivery, which is critical for a company’s high performance.
Capacity built in high-risk areas*
Complexity is on the rise, as can be seen in ethylene projects According to an Accenture Obstacles on the way 100 There are three main report, ‘Achieving effective Ethylene crackers: Per cent of build in countries with poor construction permit environment obstacles to effective delivery of capital projects: 90 New plants are rising in average size and increasingly being built deliver y of capital Insights from the Accenture 80 in countries with poor construction environments. projects – talent retention, global survey of the 1060 70 front-end planning & chemicals industry’, after 605 scheduling, and increased pulling through the most 60 450 complexities in setting up recent economic downturn, 50 new plants. Understanding chemical companies are on 370 40 the criticality, chemical a expansion mode – with companies are focussing nearly $ 19 trillion expected 30 on resolving these three to be spent globally through 20 challenges in order to 2035 on capital projects. 10 deliver these projects on A capital project, which Circle = Ten-year average cracker expansion sizes (kmtpy); kmtpy = thousand metric tonne per year *Share of new capacity in countries at bottom 20 per cent of business environment ranking time, on budget and to is a long-term investment 0 1976–1986 1986–1996 1996–2006 2006–2016 get the maximum business to build or improve an Source: Accenture Research Analysis. ICIS Consulting. “International Finance Corporation; World Bank. 2012. Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World. © World Bank. value from their assets. asset, covers a wide range https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/5907 License: CC BY 3.0 Unported.” As the number of of operations, including capital projects grows, upstream investments, economic downturn, companies are chemical companies are challenged to pipelines, liquefied natural gas, refining expanding again. Driving this change allocate scarce resources across complex and chemicals. is continued growth in demand from portfolios. Biswas says, “Attracting and On-time delivery mandatory emerging markets, especially in the retaining talent has become a major issue Delay in completing mega projects Asia-Pacific economies. Projections in the resources industries. In developed in the downstream industry (refinery, indicate that well over $ 50 trillion regions, the workforce is aging and the petrochemicals, inorganic & organic will be spent through 2035 on industry has had difficulty in competing chemicals, fertilisers, etc) can lead capital projects around the globe. with high-tech companies for top to budget overruns, which can cost With such huge investments, college graduates. On the other hand, companies billions of dollars. Hence, and the increasing complexity of in emerging markets, companies are it is important to ensure on-time projects, effective capital project faced with less experienced talent, talent completion of projects. delivery is critical, especially since retention and the need to transpose Sandeep Biswas, Managing projects are increasing in size skills from more mature locations.” Since Director, Accenture Capital Projects and the cost of delays keeps rising. talent in a wide range of areas will be in Services in Asia-Pacific, elaborates, However, the majority of companies high demand for many years, companies “Following almost two decades of are not delivering consistently against will have to take steps to optimally aggressive cost reduction and the recent their targets.” utilise existing human resources.
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Capital projects
Sandeep Biswas Improvements in project control, claims management Managing Director, Accenture Capital Projects planning and scheduling is and contract management. Services in Asia-Pacific the second-highest priority Even though the investments for chemical companies. in new projects are expected Having a comprehensive approach “Improving project planning to increase in near future, as to risk management is crucial. on the front-end is critical. economy shows signs for better Proactively managing risks helps Inadequate upfront planning growth rate, EPC companies reduce the number of realised can result in budget overruns will have to continue to tighten problems, claims and scope changes. and slippage in other areas. their belts and wait for the Insufficient detail in the situation to improve further. planning stage and subsequent Companies with poor risk design changes driven by new or evaluation and management systems include shareholders, governments and unrecognised requirements are the may experience serious difficulties. JV partners. External stakeholders can most common causes of changes to the Biswas suggests, “Having a include regulatory bodies, governments, project schedule,” he explains. comprehensive approach to risk local communities, environmental The size and complexities of management is crucial. Assembling a organisations and consumers.” projects in chemical industry have cross-functional group helps to identify India: A different story? increased manifold in the last few a wide range of risks, and the ways The challenges mentioned above are years. As a result, companies are facing in which risks interact and magnify more or less common across the world, many challenges while executing mega the adverse consequences. Proactively but their magnitude can differ from projects. According to the Accenture managing risks helps reduce the number country to country. Biswas says, “Most report, as companies work with new of realised problems, claims and scope challenges with capital projects are partners, use new technologies and changes. Collaborating regularly with the same across the world, though the expand in countries with less mature contractors and suppliers also can help degree differs by geography. Talent is construction environments, the project owners manage a wide range of a major challenge in India, as there is complications increase. Biswas adds, risks.” insufficient focus across academia and “Stakeholder engagement becomes So, it is necessary for chemical industry on training a cadre of project more complex as project size increases companies to take adequate steps to professionals that the country needs.” and locations become more remote. avoid delays and budget overruns in the To kickstart any new project in India, Depending on the company and capital projects in downstream industries. chemical companies require permission project, internal stakeholders can A strong project management from multiple government agencies organisation is invaluable for mega (State and Central), thus complicating projects with multiyear horizons. Since and stretching the approval process. capital project involves high stakes, it This can put a new project in limbo. calls for targeted objectives, clear delivery He observes, “Even project planning – strategies and diligent monitoring to especially front-end loading – is a major track progress. Complexities involved According to Biswas, returns on capital challenge for most projects in India and in today’s projects call for increased projects are likely to be improved through needs significant focus. Many projects attention to good governance and risk the following: in India see frequent changes to the management, along with integrating Comprehensive and rigorous upfront project plan and often even the design.” information systems. For long-term planning, also known as front-end success, companies will have to be loading. Mitigating risks watchful and should not get tempted to Developing and retaining talent, which Unplanned changes increase the short circuit prudent risk evaluation and will help companies win the war for financial risk of a project. In order to management practices. talent and improve the prospects of become successful, Indian companies timely delivery Reference: will need to create requisite EPC Improving transition from the ‘Achieving effective delivery of capital execution capabilities such as for construction phase to a producing asset – in effect, improving projects: Insights from the Accenture project cost estimation, project cost productivity through the project global survey of the chemicals industry’ control, cash flow management, global lifecycle, from planning and building report by Accenture sourcing, risk analysis and management, to commissioning and start-up Email: rakesh.rao@network18publishing.com HSE in design and execution, change
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Special Focus | Interface - Ashish Gharpure
What is the focus of Aker Solutions in India? We strongly believe that the future of oil and gas sector not just in India but worldwide, lies in deep water exploration. Aker Solutions is uniquely poised with technologies and products, which are essential for success in this field. We continue to stay focussed on providing the entire spectrum of activities not just for the oil and gas sector, but also for other vital segments such as refining, petrochemicals, FMCG, metals and minerals, etc in India. Aker Solutions is one of the prime leaders in the oil and gas sector. Aker Powergas, the Indian subsidiary of Aker Solutions, has been operating in India for over 50 years and has been a leading provider of project management services, engineering, procurement assistance and construction supervision services to some of the most critical industry sectors in the country.
at every point with a strong focus on sustainability.
What are the top strategies that can be employed to counter cost and time overruns? The most critical factors for project sustainability are overall quality, timely execution and cost-consciousness. The unique thing about Aker Powergas is our broad portfolio of services ranging from Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and basic engineering to detailed
is embedded in the core engineering function, there is a specific and constant review of all design processes related to a project by a specialist group. This aims at minimising hazards caused to an organisation’s assets, workforce, and also, the environment. The assistance from our highly skilled and qualified team of in-house experts makes this possible. These services are an integral part of project execution in various phases and provided on a standalone consultancy basis.
What can be termed as a better strategy for the process industry – EPC or EPCM? EPC has been gaining popularity in the past few years in India with many organisations opting for this route. The reasons for the popularity of EPC contracts are obvious: they place the responsibility for design and construction along with the risks largely on the contractor to the benefit of the owner. At the same time, they ensure efficiency and reduce project completion time and costs. Aker Powergas works as a nominated engineering contractor to EPC and Lump Sum Turnkey (LSTK) contractors, and
How do you ensure sustenance of an environment-friendly model? We consistently add value by offering new initiatives in the delivery, and have employed value engineering workshops
The future of oil & gas sector worldwide lies in deep water exploration
...says Ashish Gharpure, Director-Marketing and Operations, Aker Powergas Pvt Ltd. He discusses with Mahua Roy the optimal strategies that need to be adopted by players in the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) sector to generate best possible results. on many projects where we discuss ideas to improve design, not only in terms of the capex but also lifecycle costs. We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible solutions at every stage in their project lifecycle, not just by saving time and money, but also by delivering the highest quality of services
engineering and mechanical completion of the projects. Powergas also undertakes Project Risk and Safety Management (PRISM) by incorporating essential elements of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) in the design process itself. Our approach to this area ensures that while HSE
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we are developing new delivery models accordingly. Being present in the industry for a number of years has allowed us to understand the market from its early stages and successfully tackle many of the project execution challenges unique to the Indian situation. Email: mahua.roy@network18publishing.com
Interface - John H Cable | Special Focus
Successful project managers have excellent people skills ...says John H Cable, Director, Project Management Center for Excellence, A James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland, and Chairman Emeritus, PMI’s Global Accreditation Center. In conversation with Rakesh Rao, Cable, who is also a member of the Academic Council of the L&T Institute of Project Management in Vadodara, explains the importance of Project Management (PM) for on-time execution of projects. How has PM, as a discipline of management, evolved in the last few years? The discipline is evolving at a rapid rate. It really began as an effort to teach PM Basics, or, what I call the fundamentals to interested parties. In 2000, there were less than a dozen university degree programmes worldwide. Today, there are over 450 degree programmes from around the globe. As of May 2013, the Global Accreditation Center has accredited 88 degree programmes from 13 different countries. This growth in degree programmes at the university level suggests a significant demand for education in PM. As these university programmes are established, research in the plethora of PM topics starts to gain traction and the body of knowledge grows.
How important is the role of project manager in ensuring on-time completion of projects? Projects are delivered by teams not project managers. But, the project manager has the responsibility to create the environment within which good people can flourish! The biggest job the project manager has is to change a group of individuals into a team that works together to deliver a successful project. The project manager creates a vision they all share, motivates the members to excel, and
quote Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis, 85 per cent of what executives need to be successful is emotional intelligence and only 15 per cent is accounted for by cognitive and technical skills. Successful project managers have excellent people skills.
How are institutions, such as yours, adjusting to the new needs of PM?
provides the leadership for working with the team and the customer to pull it all together.
Why is it important to have right PM strategy for EPC projects? It is actually quite simple. Many of the massive project failures have occurred because the customer was using the wrong strategy. The bottom line is that selecting the right project delivery strategy is essential to achieve project success.
Are you seeing changes with respect to expectations from project managers? Yes, we are seeing a lot of changes. Companies are increasingly looking for project managers with excellent emotional and social intelligence. To
At the University of Maryland in the Clark School of Engineering, we have expanded the number of courses offered to meet the needs of the students and the industries they work in. In 1999, when our graduate programme was launched, we offered 10 ‘three credit hour’ courses. Today, we offer 23. We revamped our Managing Project Team’s course to be completely based on Positive Psychology, and we created a course on Leadership that is also based on Positive Psychology. Both are highly successful.
Are the PM skills required for downstream industry projects different from other industries? I do not think they are really different. PM requires systems thinking, good cognitive skills, and excellent people skills and emotional intelligence. This is true in any specific application – only the case studies and industry language change. Email: rakesh.rao@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 37
Special Focus | Roundtable
EPC or EPCM: The way forward for the chemical industry? Strategies revolving around adopting the best practices for contracting focus mainly on cost-saving measures and accountability. EPC and EPCM have emerged as the two distinct modes of contracting. Mahua Roy speaks with industry experts to delve deeper into the rationalisation of choices for contracting. Bharat Gala
President, SNC Lavalin Engineering India
Pradeep Kumar Gupta Practice Head - Ports, EPC, Manufacturing, IFS India
For an owner, an EPC contract has several benefits. One gets to eliminate the time-consuming and energy draining aspects of project management as the entire responsibility is given to another contractor. Another benefit is that through lump sum payment, the risks are reduced and worries about future price increases are eliminated. EPCM, on the other hand, will have the contractor who will be responsible for managing or overseeing the other companies that have their own contracts with the owner. As with any project delivery method, if one selects an EPCM contract model for a project, it should be moulded to fit the needs of the project.
Biswanath Bhattacharya Director, KPMG India
Unlike an EPC model, the EPCM model does not entail preparing a detailed Invitation to Bid (ITB) and bid process before the start of the job, which saves time. Due to the uncertainty associated with an EPC contract, the contractors may load contingencies, risks and profits in their pricing. With a good EPCM contractor, this cost can be saved. The selection criteria for equipment and material can be on true costbenefit analysis rather than ‘lowest cost minimum acceptable standard’ criteria.This will result in a sustainable plant performance. Hence, EPCM has advantages related to cost, time and performance.
Some chemical and petrochemical majors have focussed heavily on EPC to the detriment of cost-effectiveness. Aware of the premium charged for risk, clients seeking better value are turning to alternative structures such as EPCM as well as alliancing and partnering arrangements. In the EPCM methodology, the owner is required to have multiple points of responsibility with vendors, suppliers and other miscellaneous agents. The owner independently files contracts with vendors and suppliers, and the EPCM contractor technically holds no responsibility of quality or other aspects of delivery, delay and cost. While evaluating EPC contracts, it may be sensible to consider whether they are better placed to absorb or share certain risks.
It is clear that EPC promotes single point accountability, while EPCM promotes price protection. However, as each project has different objectives to meet, the onus lies on prioritising of deliverables.
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Facility Visit | Loxim Industries Ltd
The total demand for engineering thermoplastic compounds in India is currently higher than 1,00,000 tonne per year. This growing demand has given a boost to the confidence of engineering thermoplastic compounds manufacturers in the country. One of the pioneering companies engaged in manufacturing and export of engineering thermoplastic
in various categories namely acid dyes, reactive dyes and direct dyes in powder or liquid form through its multi-location manufacturing facilities.
Infrastructure edge Foraying into polymers industry in 2006, Loxim follows the corporate values, and has invested in manufacturing infrastructure
The manufacturing section
compounds is low, but this demand is likely to increase in future.” Spread across 80,000 sq yards, the manufacturing facility is located near Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The facility comprises raw material warehouse section, manufacturing section, laboratory, packing & finished goods warehouse section. It boasts of new-generation, twin-screw
Processing of polymers, additives and fillers
Engineering quality solutions for challenging applications Avani Jain
The consumption of engineering thermoplastic compounds is continuously increasing in India. Tapping this demand, Loxim Industries Ltd, a pioneer in manufacturing of highperformance engineering and specialty thermoplastic compounds, has grown into a global conglomeration with a reputation for fulfilling diverse and growing requirements of its customers. The company strives to exceed customer expectations in all concerned areas. compounds & alloys in the global arena is Loxim Industries Ltd. Boasting of three decades of business success with innovative products and strong customer relationships, Loxim’s core business revolves around textile and non-textile dyestuffs. The dyestuff division manufactures more than 100 different synthetic organic dyestuff products (azo/non-azo, metal complex)
to cater to rising demand for international quality compounds and alloys. Canon Patel, Managing Director, Loxim Industries Ltd, states, “The polymer industry in India is growing at an average rate of 12-15 per cent per year. We have large resin manufacturers in the country, so there is a good opportunity for companies like us. At present, the consumption of engineering thermoplastic
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technology with precise dosing and gravimetric feeding equipment. M M Biswal, Business HeadPolymers Unit, Loxim Industries Ltd, notes, “Initially, the plant manufactured few compounds; but the product line was gradually expanded. The company currently manufactures 5-6 polymer compounds and produces about 30 grades in each category.”
Loxim Industries Ltd
Product portfolio Loxim currently caters to automotive, electrical & electronics, home appliance and engineering sectors, among others. It offers compounds of Polycarbonate (PC), Poly Butylene Terephthalate (PBT), Polyamide 6, Polyamide 66, Polypropylene, Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK) and Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS). The company also offers alloys of both miscible and immiscible polymers. These alloys include PC/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), PC/PBT, Polystyrene/ Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (PS/ASA), PC/Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), PBT/PET and nylon/ABS. Elaborating on the production process, Biswal observes, “Different polymers, additives and fillers are weighed by the feeders and put into the extruder at different levels. They are then processed at specific conditions, extruded and caught in pellets and packed into 25-kg bags.”
Quality assurance The company firmly believes in delivering quality products. Patel says, “We do not benchmark against industry standards, but against our own quality standards and aim
Bags being sealed in the packing section
Canon Patel
the manufacture of engineering thermoplastic compounds is recycled and used for watering plants. We also have a rainwater The water consumed during the harvesting plant, as it is a lowmanufacture of engineering lying area and huge amount of thermoplastic compounds is water accumulates here. We not recycled. We not only reduce only reduce waste, but reuse it waste, but reuse it as well. as well. This is the way through which we discharge our duties towards the environment.” at further improvement. We believe that He adds, “We have an eco-range made production and energy efficiency are the from recycled products, which we offer to result of a good set of machinery. Hence, our customers. We believe that automation we invest in the right machinery, which and training of people is important, as this directly means manufacturing of quality can help them contribute more towards products.” operating efficiencies.” The company is ISO 9001: 2000 The company has a lean and informal certified and has a world-class laboratory working environment. Biswal notes, “Every for testing the products. The quality worker is free to give views and suggestions. testing laboratory ensures compliance If a suggestion is good, then it can be to international quality, with in-house implemented. The safety of employees is testing carried out for the most important taken seriously. We also try to maintain a properties of compounding polymer, dust-free environment in the plant through such as rheological, physical, mechanical, an air pressurisation system.” thermal and flame retardancy. It is also Growth plans equipped with a colour spectrometer The demand for engineering thermoplastic for accurate reproduction of colours to compounds is set to increase in India. customer specification at all times. Today, all multinational automotive Biswal adds, “The laboratory companies are focussing on India as their constitutes almost 15 equipment to potential market. In addition, growing perform various tests. We also follow infrastructure in the country is fuelling the American Society for Testing and the growth of this industry. In keeping Materials (ASTM) standards to ensure with this growth, the company intends to the quality of products.” expand its production in the near future. The company has invested in a Loxim represents Indian Oil dedicated R&D compounding line, Corporation for its polypropylene range wherein specialty compounds meeting the in Ahmedabad, and also has a strategic exact norms of applications are formulated alliance with Albis – a Germany-based and offered even in small lots. The company company. Patel says, “We have been also develops exclusive applications on successful in working with some eminent customer demand. Innovation, process and industry players. These are the strong product development is an ongoing activity points of the company and will drive our for the company. Patel notes, “In terms of growth in future.” He concludes, “The product improvisation, the company has vision statement of the company is to moved from the flame retardant system to exceed customer expectations and strive brominated flame retardant system.” to meet their demands in the best possible Sustainability efforts manner. We have done this so far, and will Loxim has taken various steps for energy continue to do so in the future as well.” Photo: Vijaykumar Soneji conservation and waste management. Email: avani.jain@network18publishing.com Patel details, “The water consumed during
Managing Director
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 41
An invite to share with the industry Dear Reader, ‘Chemical & Process World’ solicits original, well-written, application-oriented, unpublished articles that reflect your valuable experience and expertise in the chemical process industry (CPI). You can send us Technical Articles, Case Studies and Product Write-ups. The length of the article should not exceed 1500 words, while that of a product write-up should not exceed 100 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 & Process World’. Authors whose articles are published will be sent a complimentary copy of that particular edition. Brought out by Network18 Publishing, ‘Chemical & Process World’ is one of the leading monthly magazines exclusively meant for producers and user fraternities of the 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 take this opportunity and send your articles, product write-ups, etc… Thanking you, Sincerely,
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Insight & Outlook
Pollution Control There are various ways of controlling pollution in the chemical industry. One of them is Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system. ZLD not only aims at taking care of the environment but also reducing treatment cost, thus offering monetary benefits to companies that adopt this system. As the pollution control norms are getting stricter these days, adoption of ZLD ensures no revenue loss in the eventuality of forced closure of a unit by the law enforcement agency. However, one of the stumbling blocks in this direction is high cost due to which SMEs are not able to implement it. Taking all these into account, the section focusses on benefits of ZLD, current trends and status of ZLD adoption in India, where India stands in pollution control, etc.
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 43
Insight & Outlook | Zero liquid discharge system
Recovering valuable resources,
reducing pollution Prasenjit Chakraborty
The adoption of Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system in chemical plants offers a myriad of benefits right from recovery of water to improving of bottom lines. As the nature of pollutants varies from plant to plant, it is essential to determine the right method before implementing ZLD. At present, cost factor acts as a stumbling block for small companies to venture into ZLD systems. ZLD policy constitutes varied critical processes that ought to be adopted by chemical or any industry or municipal organisations, as ZLD aims for zero pollutants in effluent discharge with substantial money and energy savings. ZLD strives to employ the most advanced effluent treatment technologies to recycle and reclaim virtually almost all the produced wastewater. This concept focusses on eliminating discharge to the environment, thereby resulting in recovery of valuable products from the wastewater and minimisation of dumping polluting substances into the environment.
Reducing water pollution ZLD enables the industry to abide by the stringent pollution control norms and, thus, ensuring its responsibility towards maintaining ecological health and safety. The growing importance of ZLD is due to the environmental constraints leading to water demand, hazardous effects such as global warming and ozone depletion. This concept can ensure no discharge of pollutants into the environment and recovery of water, which could be used for other purposes. It achieves two purposes – by reusing process water, ZLD system ensures that use of natural resources is minimised, and reuse of recovered water enhances the capacity of the industry to efficiently utilise available water as well as control its quality to the required level.
According to K Sadanand, Vice President, Engineering & Project Division Operations, Nalco Water India Ltd, reusing wastewater is an attractive economic alternative and helps conserve an essential resource for future generations. “Economic use also reduces the quantity of waste diverted to treatment facilities and further lowers treatment costs. Companies invest in wastewater treatment and reuse not just to comply with effluent standards but because product recycling and raw material recovery benefit a company’s image as well as the bottom line,” says Sadanand.
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ZLD system improves operations and offers benefits such as: Reduction or elimination of costly regulatory compliance Reliable chemical/physical processes Ease of operation Almost 100 per cent water recovery Almost 100 per cent metals and chemical recovery Modular construction Low costs It also eliminates the chances of loss of production and revenue due to forced closures by pollution control board.
Current status Chemic al manufactur ing companies are keenly being governed by pollution control board and many other nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). “Hence, the initiatives are largely being taken by the Indian chemical industry to meet such challenging norms and standards. ZLD operation does not just depend on the implementation of novel methods of treatment process but highly on the selection of suitable method for the nature of pollutants. It is also believed that proper research on any particular
Zero liquid discharge system
Dr G Arthanareeswaran chosen method of ZLD the volume of wastewater that Associate Professor, Department of Chemical system would reciprocate much requires treatment; process Engineering, National Institute of Technology positively on the progress of wastewater in an economically such system,” points out Dr G feasible manner, while also ZLD operation does not just depend Arthanareeswaran, Associate producing a clean stream suitable on the implementation of novel Professor, Department of for reuse elsewhere in the facility. methods of treatment process but Chemical Engineering, National “Interest in ZLD technology highly on the selection of suitable Institute of Technology, has grown in the industrial method for the nature of pollutants. Tiruchirappalli. manufacturing sector over the H o w e v e r, chemical past decade. Companies have companies in India allocate begun to explore ZLD because below 1 per cent of total sales as stream, silica removal, sand filtration and of ever-tightening wastewater disposal the expenditure for R&D whereas nanofiltration for zero discharge. “The regulations, company mandated green developed countries spend 4-5 per cent RO permeate has TDS of less than 6,200 initiatives, public perception of industrial of total sales for R&D initiatives. “It ppm, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) impact on the environment, or concern is high time for the Indian chemical of less than 5, with nil Biochemical over the quality and quantity of the water manufacturers to think more about Oxygen Demand (BOD), suspended supply,” says Sadanand. According to R&D to modernise the industry with solids and colours. Apart from satisfying him, large chemical companies have been new ZLD technologies,” points out the High Court mandate of ZLD, the proactive in implementing ZLD systems. Dr Arthanareeswaran. common effluent treatment plant and Trends in ZLD individual units derive a host of benefits. A look at dyeing units ZLD systems are gaining momentum More than 82 per cent of the feed water It has been observed that dyeing and among chemical companies that are much (10 MLD capacity) is utilised for RO bleaching processes consume large interested in recovering useful chemicals processing, which is of better quality than volume of water. For example, the dyeing from the spent and brine solution obtained available raw water,” he says. units in Tirupur (Tamil Nadu) and Surat out of process industries. It is well-known This improves the quality of the (Gujarat) are purchasing water at ` that ZLD systems play an important role in dyeing. “And another 11 per cent of the 50-60 per cu.m through tankers. “During reclaiming the process waste. These include feed water, obtained as pure brine solution the dyeing process, most of the units of combination of thermal process with Tirupur and Surat generate 10 million ZLD, mechanical and thermal evaporation litres per day (MLD) of wastewater ZLD, enhanced membrane and thermal ZLD systems are gaining with high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), ZLD, evaporation ponds, Wind-Aided momentum among chemical organics and colour, etc, that go to Intensified Evaporation (WAIV), salt companies that are much common effluent treatment plant,” says solidification and sequestration, etc. It Dr Arthanareeswaran. These common has been observed that only large-scale interested in recovering useful effluent treatment plants had been set up chemical companies are implementing chemicals from the spent and to treat effluents discharged from these ZLD systems in their plants. brine solution obtained out of units. However, such treatment plants Small- and medium-scale industries treat effluent partially (without reducing find it difficult to implement the process industries. TDS) and discharge it to the various same in view of the huge capital & rivers of India. This results in pollution operating costs. People associated with of water resources and making these unfit the industry admit that the operating from nanofiltration, can be used effectively for agriculture and domestic use. and capital costs of a ZLD system do for dyeing. This means around 93 per cent Nowadays, membrane process is act as a deterrent and these systems of effluent is recycled and reused by the being carried out extensively to identify are considered by user-industries only dyeing industries, thereby a much smaller the right solution to overcome the in light of stringent regulations to footprint, as it uses the membrane bioproblem, and a scheme for 10 MLD zero implement the same. However, with reactor instead of a conventional biological discharge system has been developed stringent pollution control norms, all system,” says Dr Arthanareeswaran. and constructed. The main treatment chemical companies have to necessarily ZLD describes a process that scheme comprises the membrane bioimplement ZLD in order to expand completely eliminates liquid discharge reactor and two-stage reverse osmosis their operations. from a system. The goal of any wellEmail: prasenjit.chakraborty@network18publishing.com (RO) for effluent recycle, the RO reject designed ZLD system is to minimise June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 45
Insight & Outlook | Effluent treatment
Parameters to consider
before ZLD adoption
Prasenjit Chakraborty
Often, high costs act as a deterrent for chemical companies looking towards implementing advanced technologies. And when it comes to Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system adoption, besides the cost factor, two most essential aspects that need to be looked into are types of effluent a plant discharges and right technology identification. If these are taken care of, the result of ZLD would be much better.
Photo: Nikhil Patel, Location courtesy: Novel Spent Acid Management, Vatva Plant, Gujarat
The discharge of chemicals varies from plant to plant as different plants are engaged in manufacturing different products. So, it is imperative to undertake meticulous planning before venturing into ZLD system. The success of ZLD, to a large extent, depends on planning and identifying the right technology and right partner.
Focus areas Any chemical plant planning to implement ZLD concept in its Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) must first create awareness
among employees related to the merits of ZLD and acquire sole responsibility in implementing a complete ZLD method. The adoption of such ZLD would initially become cumbersome in terms of costs, energy and manpower; but the expected benefits, especially energy and money savings, after the payback period are encouraging enough for companies to further intensify and follow up the ZLD concept,� says Dr G Arthanareeswaran, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli.
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Moreover, the social responsibility of chemical companies holds prime significance by way of practising ZLD in ETP. After implementation of ZLD, it is necessary to concentrate on suitable primary, secondary and tertiary treatment processes based on the physico-chemical characteristics of wastewater. Many ETPs are carrying out the process with cuttingedge technologies for treating its waste stream in its primary, secondary and tertiary stages rather than concentrating on the reject elements from each stage. “However, reject stream of primary and secondary stages should efficiently be treated in the tertiary stage to intensify the benefits of ZLD concept. Hence, recovering of all elemental pollutants from the final liquid discharge assures the effective implementation of ZLD concept in various industries,� he says. Another important parameter is the ability of the technology provider to integrate and optimise the sizing for the ZLD system by maximising the efficiency of the upstream recycle step and minimising the feed to the ZLD system. It is also necessary for companies (in the chemical space) to thoroughly check the experience and track record of the technology provider in implementing such systems. The technology provider should have more than five years of certified trouble-free operation.
Effluent treatment
Deepak Kachru Besides, an understanding of fact that the environment has Assistant General Manager, Sales & Business the regulation, as in whether to be protected and conserved Development, Aquatech Systems one needs to go for complete so as to make future life solid-liquid separation using safe. What is required is the Although ZLD regulation has begun a thermal system or can have sustenance, conservation and in certain land-locked regions, a hybrid between a thermal improvement of the changing more emphasis on this would go process and a solar pond is also and fragile environment. There a long way in addressing water important. is a need to create a common scarcity problems. According to K Sadanand, strategic vision regarding Vice President, Engineering & water resources and water Project Division Operations, management,” exhorts Deepak Nalco Water India Ltd, chemical Kachru, Assistant General Manager, maintenance of a zero discharge system manufacturers must evaluate the Sales & Business Development, requires complete optimisation. The process scheme guaranteed by the Aquatech Systems. implementation of a zero discharge plant equipment supplier, with trial runs before Nowadays, zero discharge also involves setting up a pilot plant implementing the ZLD system. The technologies are increasingly being to test process validity and scalability, other important issues include: investigated as a possible alternative for reducing energy consumption through Availability of funds for capital wastewater management technology to optimal measures to bring down investment reduce environmental impact. “In some operating costs for successful operation Availability of all critical data of the regions, the issue of pollution is getting and efficient maintenance of machinery. effluent for recycling so bad that certain companies are getting For SMEs, cost seems to be the Evaluation of the right supplier for shut down until they comply with the prime reason for not implementing ZLD ZLD systems norms. Although ZLD regulation has systems. “The key reason for SMEs Availability of steam and evaluation begun in certain land-locked regions, (not implementing ZLD) is that the of operating costs more emphasis on this would go a implementation of ZLD requires huge long way in addressing water scarcity capital investment. Small- and mediumZLD approach for SMEs problems, and also prevent effluents from scale companies are not able to invest The term ‘complete ZLD’ is critical; further polluting fresh water resources,” in ZLD as this will not get them any it remains to be seen whether the points out Kachru. returns and it affects their product chemical manufacturers, especially Day by day, the norms are getting pricing,” points out Sadanand. The other small- and medium-scale players, can stricter and demand for effective key reasons are as follows: Very high capital expenditure in achieve it or not. The reasons are solutions is also on the rise. Clearly, the chemical and energy; and generation, attributed to the absence of proper final market is opening up for technology storage of enormous quantity of disposal system for solid wastes and an providers. To meet strict environmental hazardous sludge and other solid effective conversion of wastewater for discharge guidelines and provide waste reuse. “The demand for state-of-theeffective treatment technologies at Past ZLD plant designs were art technology for processing reject the lowest possible lifecycle costs, inadequate with unproven technology streams as in case of tertiary systems Aquatech offers integrated, site-specific Inability to maintain the plant such as reverse osmosis, fluoridisation ZLD solutions. “These are based on properly and evaporation is still burgeoning, standalone thermal, evaporative High operating costs but has not achieved its final stage processes, membrane processes, or a for running a ZLD assured ETP in combination of the two, namely, hybrid Future trends chemical companies,” points out ZLD systems resulting in added value, Some of the potential areas for ZLD Dr Arthanareeswaran. ease of operation and reduced operating within the chemical industry could Finally, though a zero discharge costs,” claims Kachru. be Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients plant may have been designed with It is important to create more (API), fertilisers and chlor-alkali. No many inputs, optimisation is essential. awareness about ZLD, and NGOs could doubt, adoption of ZLD system by This should be done in two steps – play an active role in this direction. If the chemical industry in India has not optimisation of each equipment & unit everything goes in the right direction, reached desired levels, due to various process; and optimisation of whole then more and more chemical companies reasons. But, now the industry is realising treatment system. The earlier one is will go for ZLD implementation. Email: prasenjit.chakraborty@network18publishing.com its importance. “There is no denying the somewhat easier than the latter – but 48 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Insight & Outlook | Pollution control norms
It could not be plainly stated that pollution control norms in India are not comparable with the developed countries because the pollution control policy implementation in developing countries such as India is getting better day by day. However, an inherent complexity in the design and orientation of such policies daunt the overall progress of pollution prevention. “In developed countries, for instance, companies in the US experience decline in its market value owing to the adverse environmental practice for their products. This fact surely would be the driving force demanding the attention and responsibility of industries and society in developed countries towards better ecological health,” says Dr G Arthanareeswaran, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. Globally, due to rapid industrialisation, the largest sources of pollution are the
no additional waste is generated and the same effluent can be used instead of fresh reactants multiple times. The major advantage of the tool is it reduces the effluent load to the water bodies.
Where India stands? Such developments, globally, have forced India to come out with numerous stringent regulation measures to combat the high impact of increasing pollution from various industries. “In spite of having stringent pollution control norms, India has not achieved much in this direction. This could be attributed to decentralised ETPs and excess of small-scale and unorganised sectors. The restructuring and flexibility of such pollution control norms in accordance with those sectors would help the statutory environment protection authorities with the mandate of developing regulations, standards and upgraded facilities for enforcing compliance,” points out Dr Arthanareeswaran.
Is India doing enough for environment protection? Prasenjit Chakraborty
The pollution control measures in India are becoming stricter day by day. But, it will take time for these to match the efforts of the developed world. However, certain developments in the recent past indicate India’s firmness to effectively deal with pollution in the coming times. effluent discharged from the industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants. And because of this, developed economies have stringent environmental guidelines, and India is yet to formulate a similar set of key criteria for reuse of
recycled wastewater. Green chemistry tools are increasingly being used in the process industry. One such powerful tool is ‘recycle at source’. Here, the recycling is done at the actual process and not at the end of the treatment. As a result,
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However, K Sadanand, Vice President, Engineering & Project Division Operations, Nalco Water India Ltd, strongly feels that in developing countries like India, industry is neither charged for water or wastewater
Pollution control norms
K Sadanand services, nor pollution control and government’s pressure to Vice President, Engineering & Project Division regulations are adequately reduce effluent discharge into Operations, Nalco Water India Ltd enforced. “Compliance with the sea. stringent effluent standards can In the recent past, there Incentives should be given to force industries to implement have been some significant management for higher recycling and new technologies to reduce developments in India, like reuse, subsidies, as well as incentives effluent discharge. In developed Pollution Control Boards (in for industries implementing new and countries like Singapore, India) are acting tough and innovative technologies. factories need to apply for issuing closure notices to approval from even City chemical companies that do not Council during planning phases comply with discharge standards be given to management for higher in case their water requirement is more and are not implementing ZLD systems. recycling and reuse, subsidies, as well as than 500 m3 per month,” he points out. “Recently, Gujarat Pollution Control incentives for industries implementing Board (GPCB) sent notices to chemical Need for practical approach new and innovative technologies. companies and there are possibilities In order to successfully control pollution Besides, financial and advisory support that over 50 major pharmaceutical and levels, concerned authorities should give must be given to industries for funding chemical companies in Hyderabad could economic incentives to industry for new research,” suggests Sadanand. be heading towards closure for flouting complying with standards & policies Policies need to be acceptable environmental norms,” says Sadanand. and to reduce raw water intake and to industry and must protect the Such developments are only indicating wastewater discharge. “If companies environment to specified levels. For that India is also waking up to protect fail to comply with the norms, there example, a fertiliser plant in Goa reduced environment. The stringent measures will should be provision for fines for nonits water demand to 50 per cent over a also ensure use of better technology by compliance, closure for repetition of period of six years. It has adopted this the chemical industry. Email: prasenjit.chakraborty@network18publishing.com non-compliance. Incentives should measure mainly due to high water price
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Insight & Outlook | Interface – K R Desai
Value additions at FETP reduce treatment charges ...says K R Desai, Chief Executive Officer, Narmada Clean Tech Ltd (NCTL). In an interaction with Avani Jain, he underlines the need for a sustainable approach to growth by chemical companies and how the services offered by NCTL help its customers to address environmental and cost issues effectively. Can you brief us about NCTL’s operations? Narmada Clean Tech Ltd is a subsidiary unit of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC). The business revolves around receiving treated effluent from chemical companies in Ankleshwar, Panoli and Jhagadia industrial estates (Bharuch district); polishing this up to marine standards at its Final Effluent Treatment Plant (FETP), and discharging it deep into the sea with the help of 45-km long onshore and 10-km offshore pipeline having scientifically designed diffusers at ocean outfall point where dispersion is instantaneous and dilution is tremendous. NCTL also monitors quality and quantity of effluent being discharged by its member industries to FETP for controlling pollution at source. Thus, NCTL is a service provider, which is working on ‘No profit, no loss’ basis.
How do the services provided by NCTL enable companies to reduce costs and address environmental issues? Membership of NCTL for chemical companies in the three estates is mandatory. Thus, member companies are the customers of the company. In the present times, environment protection is one of the most important requirements for sustainable growth. NCTL provides this significant longterm sustainable service to its customers. In the current economic scenario, for any unit, having an individual economic treatment facility can only be a dream,
and, thus here comes the need for companies like NCTL, which can fulfill this demand. The main priorities are to keep the estate dry and clean; protect the Narmada River from pollution; and save the marine ecology. NCTL has adopted fair and transparent policies in conjunction with its members so far as revenue and capital collection strategies are concerned. Strict and strategic monitoring and control policy has been framed and implemented for imparting discipline. NCTL also addresses all the issues pertaining to finance, technical, monitoring, projects, grievances etc through various committees wherein there is equal participation of government and industries.
In what other ways NCTL offers help to customers? Overall, NCTL has provided a healthy platform, in complete conjunction with
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members, for periodic counselling, interactions, sharing of ideas, exchange of eco-friendly/green technologies, penetration of concept of 4Rs (reduce, recover, reuse, recycle) and its successful implementation. Process audit and ETP adequacy studies are conducted regularly to correct processes and procedures and ensure that there exists continuous potential for increasing productivity and decreasing waste. It is well-accepted that yield improvement is the best option for pollution control and it proves that in real sense ETP is a profit centre as wastage of valuable raw material can be reduced and scarce natural resources such as water can be reused, instead of disposing it. Also, value-additions at FETP reduce treatment costs. The continual improvement projects include installation of triton aerators for aeration; filter press to reduce moisture content in sludge; auto dosing system for better suspended solids removal with optimum chemical consumption; and variable frequency drives for power saving. NCTL is also exploring the possibility of power trading to reduce energy costs. Such value-additions reduce treatment charges and improve quality of treated effluent. Thus, NCTL provides highly reasonable treatment and disposal facilities, which indirectly impart competitive advantage to the members. Email: avani.jain@network18publishing.com
Insight & Outlook | Safety enhancement
With respect to Industrial Loss Prevention, there is a host of proven and time-tested methodologies in vogue like Safety Tour & Observation Program (STOP), Inspection, Investigation, Technical Study, Survey etc. Each of these is significant/independent in its own way and complementary to the others. These facilitate the process of final and overall system safety audit of any organisation. Mostly the survey process is
Basically, surveys call for a total/ detailed/threadbare review of a single element, for instance, building, equipment, piping, an established procedure or activity etc, that involves either inherent or add-on safety concerns. A well-executed survey is expected to reveal as many aspects of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). Once the needed level of satisfaction has been achieved
Preventing mishaps through hazard surveillance
installations delightfully end up with the discovery of ‘a topic a day’ in comparison to the limited scope of yearly, half yearly, monthly or weekly schedules as envisaged at the beginning.
The critical elements A modest effort has been made here to list out few indicative elements – main and sub-categories – deserving to be included in surveys pertaining to manufacturing industries in general and chemical units in specific. These are as follows: Buildings: Control rooms, workshops, foundries, laboratories, electrical substations, cellars, basement facilities, warehouses, vehicle parking lots, loading/ unloading gantries, service centres, canteens, temporary shelters created by contractors, vendors or other agencies (with permission from company management) due to exigency, etc come under this category. Structural work: This area includes pillars, beams, roofs, anchoring, pipe/cable racks, yard piping tracks, tank/equipment/ machinery supports, overhead equipment mountings, ladders, landing platforms, structural supports for fixed overhead cranes, elevator (men or material) suspension system or other installed lifting machines/tools/tackles etc. Equipment: Process vessels, feed purification/preparation units, reactors, distillation towers, kilns, heat exchangers, condensers, absorbers, coolers, other unit operation systems, collection pits, effluent
K N K Murthy
The success rate of any safety monitoring technique in chemical industry depends mainly on its relevance coupled with effective implementation, surveillance and sustainability. Some such techniques include inspection, investigation, survey etc. Here is an attempt to address survey as a potential safety enhancement tool. a corollary to the outcome of observations/ recommendations related to top managerial visits of workplace, other inspections by HSE professionals/plant engineers/ supervisors, special investigations, specific study reports, or recommendations from a final/comprehensive system audit.
by efficiently conducting few specifically identified surveys, one will be motivated to take up such thematic exercises in a phased manner through prioritisation based on hazard vulnerability. In such a marathon race for safety empowerment, it would not be surprising if major
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containment and treating equipment etc, are some of the elements in this area. Machinery: This comprises pumps, compressors, centrifuges, rotary driers, lifting machines/tools/tackles etc. Devices: Electrical/instrument devices like flame proof/intrinsically safe
Safety enhancement
appliances, fittings, fixtures, accessories, computer systems etc (both fixed and portable type) constitute this category. Piping: This includes all types of piping, temporary/flexible hoses, permanent but articulated items for transfer systems etc. Storage facility: This area involves liquid tank farms/barrels/other small storages (in ambient air/cold/cryogenic condition), static and mobile pressure vessels, skid vessels, compressed gas cylinders, solid material storages (warehouses, process silos) etc. Procedure: Assessment of procedures, compliance status on standard operating systems/procedures/practices, permits-towork, activities of outsourced personnel, work instructions, etc, fall under this. Activities by company employees: Routine or specific activities by personnel vis-à-vis written or accepted procedures/ practices (eg, compliance of security checks at entry/exit gates, restricted movement/entry/working by personnel on areas identified and notified as critically hazardous) are of key importance here. Activities by outsourced personnel: This involves contractual activities or other functions requiring movement of outside personnel in specifically identified areas notified as critically hazardous.
Safety checklist An indicative attribute-wise safety checklist has been mentioned below that will help in the thematic survey of a road tanker loading operation in a hydrocarbon refinery/petrochemicals unit. Similar checklist can be formulated for other themes. Some of the attributes can include: Security checking of tanker at the designated entry point to the installation Verification of driver license and other details before issuing entry permission (vehicle registration/ valid insurance documents, tanker condition/upkeep, etc) Access route and methods available to control vehicular traffic up to the
loading gantry including notification of speed limit within industry premises Display of updated data pertaining to the licenses issued by the department of Petroleum and Explosives’ Organization (PESO) both for the tankers and loading gantry as per Indian Petroleum Act and corresponding rules Verification of specific safety displays (captions/signs/symbols) on tankers conforming to Indian Motor Vehicles’ Act and corresponding rules Provision of approved spark arrestors at the engine outlet piping of vehicles Checking/verification/counselling of drivers/helpers with respect to the specialised safety training programmes/accreditation offered to them by authorised training institutes Availability of Transport Emergency (TREM) card in the vehicle pertaining to the material to be loaded/moved out Spotting of tankers and assignment of gantry number for placement Proper line of tank/lines and valves (to be verifiable through colour coding, display of tags, stamping of product names, provision of arrow marking notifying flow direction etc) Availability of standard operating procedures/risk assessment documents in the loading department including display of abstracts Provision/upkeep/maintenance and functional status with respect to all safety/fire protection/health and hygiene including first aid/rescue facilities Availability of control measures against splash filling to reduce static generation including installation of electro-static bonding/grounding facilities and lightning arrestors Upkeep/maintenance of emergency process safety devices – excess flow check/emergency shut off valves Employee training and competency at the loading gantry Availability/upkeep/functionality of communication devices Availability of properly designed moving platforms for safe access to
tanker top for loading arm hook up, manual dip taking etc Regular logging/retrieval facilities with reference to incidents/accidents/ mishaps Availability of emergency preparedness and response plan complemented through training, practical exercises, mock-up exercises etc
Making the right move Once the organisation has established a system and corresponding procedures to carry out the surveys, all concerned personnel must be duly trained and accredited to execute the exercises as per the schedule. The observations/ recommendations appearing in the survey report of any one area must be shared with other zones with similarities where such an activity could not be held separately. The points can as well be compared with the prevailing status of those areas and improvements brought in as applicable. The success of this initiative (like any other activity) solely depends on the sincerity/commitment and devotion among all, starting with top management, through surveyors and all other stakeholders/ beneficiaries at various levels/disciplines and categories. People must be made to recognise that all these assignments are just means towards enhanced productivity through improved HSE governance and not an end by themselves. K N K Murthy has been in the fertilisers and petrochemicals industry for 38 years and retired as Senior Manager (Safety) from Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd, Vadodara. Currently, he works as a Safety Consultant and is associated with Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad. He has done pioneering works in various aspects like hazard identification, safety audits/ inspections/surveys, training, emergency preparedness planning, quality/environment standards (ISO), etc. He can be contacted on email: mohanaknk@yahoo.co.in
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Insight & Outlook | Supply chain management
Driving cost-efficiency through right strategy Hitesh Athawasya
The chemical sector is a major supplier of essential raw materials to several industries. Hence, the competitiveness of user-industries is highly dependent on competent supply of chemicals. Faced with challenges of operational complexities and rising logistics costs, many chemical companies are focussing on supply chain to balance costs and service levels for ensuring sustainability.
Strategy rather than organisational structure drives processes to optimise efficiency. Structures are derived based upon standard processes once the necessary roles and responsibilities are aligned and bundled to assure minimum number of interfaces among organisational units. However, it is recognised that there are in practice multiple interdependencies between strategy, process and structure. The key elements of an efficient supply chain – structure, processes, systems and tools – are interlinked. Hence, the implementation of operational excellence of one element often depends on the others. So, organisational competency in executing well-defined targets and standards is significant.
Role of logistics service providers
In the past decade, many chemical companies around the world overhauled their production operations. Plant age and size restrict the scope for huge cost reduction in the production process. There, nevertheless, remains significant potential for improving the efficiency with which chemical products are distributed. Indeed, few other activities offer as much scope for cost reduction. Realising this potential may not be easy, but competitive conditions in the global chemical market will force producers to make radical changes to their supply chains. It has been suggested that supply chain productivity improvements of 3-5 per cent per annum may be required to maintain the competitive position
in the chemical industry. This creates a compelling case for change. It also highlights the need for prioritising supply chain issues within the chemical industry.
Significance of supply chain management Supply chain and logistics are vital to the success of chemical companies because they represent a high share of cost and are critical for service level and top-line results. Supply chain costs are in the range of 8-10 per cent in the chemical industry. Chemical companies have now started to set a strategic agenda for improving their supply chain performance and derive maximum benefits from its redesign.
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In chemical transportation, the entire logistics channel should be carefully planned and controlled at every stage. In supply chain, material security and risk management are the key areas – risks such as accidents, theft, labour issues always exist. Due to the nature of the products, selecting the correct type of containers and mode of transportation is pertinent. Being judicious in choosing the right Logistics Service Provider (LSP) as a partner is important to ensure safety of goods and manpower, as the LSP will have access to the consignment during shipment. The LSP should also be able to give real-time information about the location and status of the consignment in order to minimise risks. Incessant improvement in safety and security standards will remain a high priority for chemical companies, requiring close co-operation with LSPs and joint improvement programmes. Stringent selection and continuous monitoring of the performance of LSP are necessary.
Impact of regulations on supply chain The chemical industry follows stringent regulations to limit the possibility of accidents, spills and spoilage. The emphasis on carbon emission reduction, safety and security, which are always
Supply chain management
demanded by the public and government results in high safety and security standards, increased regulation and better focus on carbon emission reduction. A well-designed supply chain enables to meet these regulations while being cost-competitive and environmentally conscious. Hence, finding the optimum balance between cost, responsiveness and sustainability is the key to advanced logistics solutions.
Outsourcing of logistical activities The third-party logistics (3PL) market in India, servicing this industry, is highly fragmented and consists of smallto medium-sized companies, and some of them are run by families. While many Indian 3PL companies are able to deliver credible service at reasonable costs, they lack innovative supply chain solutions. If the chemical companies, instead of treating logistics as a basic commodity service that can be acquired at a minimum cost, start treating their LSPs as strategic partners, then LSPs will be able to add more value to their supply chain, and enable continuous improvement.
Developing strong relationships with LSPs Stronger relationships need to be established with LSPs. It may often be beneficial to establish joint initiatives with these LSPs, involving them more directly in the development of new supply chain strategies for the industry. Chemical companies should also be prepared to reward LSPs for a higher level of support to encourage them to become more proactive. Logistics service providers have traditionally offered services and rates, which allow them to maximise the utilisation of their terminal and vehicle assets. As this tends to ‘fossilise’ the existing system of distribution, they need to be given an incentive to redesign their systems as part of the overall supply chain improvement programme in the chemical industry. Some logistics companies do offer extensive geographical coverage but not to the chemical industry. Only few logistics providers in India have the capability to meet all the logistical requirements of any of the major chemical companies. While many of these companies would not want to entrust their entire logistics operation to a sole provider, they could probably manage their supply chains more effectively, if they could rely on a smaller number of carriers with more geographically extensive networks. Thus, by assigning the right job to the right LSP and by managing the service provider more effectively, chemical companies can reduce the supply chain cost and easily focus on various other external business challenges. Hitesh Athawasya is the Zonal Business Head – South at Drive India Enterprise Solutions Ltd (DIESL). He is a part of the leadership Team for Drive India and has been instrumental in setting up supply chain logistics in the solar power sector. Email: hitesh.athawasya@driveindia.co.in
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User-industry Monitor | Personal care products
ngraining functional ngredients for a fair gain
Rakesh Rao
Today, Personal Care Products (PCP) have become part and parcel of our lifestyles. In last few years, the market has witnessed a wide range of product launches catering to different requirements of consumers. Specialty ingredient suppliers are helping these manufacturers to develop products to gain a competitive edge in the personal care products market. It will be impossible to imagine our daily routine without PCP. From soaps and shampoos to overnight repair face creams, from sunscreen products in summers to moisturising lotions in winters, PCP literally touches our daily lives. Giving these products their unique characteristics and functional properties are specialty ingredients. Growth of Personal Care Ingredients (PCI) has largely been driven by the increased acceptance and demand for functional properties such as hair conditioning, UV protection, fairness, etc. Shamit Pillay, Commercial & Marketing
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Personal care ingredients can be broadly classified into two – inactive (for physical properties) and active (for functional properties) ingredients. While inactive ingredients include surfactants, preservatives, colourants, polymers, etc, active ingredients include anti-ageing materials, exfoliators, conditioning agents, UV agents, etc. The PCI market in India is currently estimated at approximately $ 450 million – with inactive PCI accounting for about 60 per cent, while active ingredients constitute the rest. Source: Tata Strategic Management Group
Leader-Indian Subcontinent, Dow Consumer and Industrial Solutions, Dow India, says, “The Indian PCI market has seen rapid growth in the last few years. PCP manufacturers are increasingly introducing specialty chemicals in their formulations. The PCI market in India is continuously growing with more brand owners keen to offer differentiated and better products to end-consumers. It is closer to the inflection point now than before and is a space waiting to be tapped. This is being driven by the fact that the consumers themselves have become more aware of the benefits and offerings of PCP and active ingredients.”
Growth drivers Rising economic wealth, growing urbanisation, changing lifestyles and increasing awareness owing to exponential rise of mass media advertisements have resulted in an increase in penetration, as well as per capita consumption of personal care products in the country. Pillay elaborates, “Increasing disposable income, awareness about beauty products, exposure to global brands and aspirations of the new generation are driving the industry. But most importantly, the current trend of well-being combined with beauty is a huge driving force. This made the industry move from basic products such as soaps and shampoos to functional products such as cold cream to specialised products
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like sun-block lotions, anti-ageing and whitening creams.”
Trends to follow According to him, some of the global emerging trends in beauty and personal care over the next few years (till 2015) are as follows: Old is gold: The over 55’s will become the most coveted and influential demographic for marketers of PCP East meets West: Asia will become the dominating global force bringing back culture and inspiration. AsiaPacific is the world’s biggest retail market, with sales of $ 4,656 billion in 2010. India will be on the radar for foreign investors. The revenues for beauty and wellness industry in India is expected to grow by 20 per cent annually, to hit around $ 16 billion by 2014, as per PWC estimates 2012. India’s influence is spreading east and west and it is inspiring the global beauty industry. The balance of power will shift to Asia. The Indian market will open up to multi-brand, multinational retailers and the prestige market will gain traction. Access anything, anywhere: Consumers will rely on their mobile devices in just about every area of their lives. This will mean a huge impact on retail. Brand intervention: As governments across the world prepare to intervene,
Personal care products
Shamit Pillay brands will have to step up the natural trend drives mature Commercial & Marketing Leader- Indian Subcontinent, in terms of their marketing and emerging markets alike. Dow Consumer and Industrial Solutions, Dow India efforts and corporate social For example, organic alkyl responsibility. polyglucoside and lauryl The PCI market in India is While the PCP manufacturers glucosides surfactants are gaining continuously growing with will need to keep in sync with momentum in India. Kline & more brand owners keen to these trends, the PCI suppliers Company forecasts a 10 per cent offer differentiated and better will play a big role in helping CAGR through 2017 for alkyl products to end-consumers. meet the consumer’s demand. polyglucoside consumption and Innovation, application an 8 per cent CAGR for lauryl development and R&D will play glucosides in this region. such as moisturisers, sun protection a pivotal role. Partners in growth creams, etc. Pillay opines, “At Dow, we have an The boom in personal care products Pillay says, “The last few years integrated portfolio strategically aligned market has attracted many large specialty have seen a major shift in the cultural with key end-markets and megatrends. ingredient producers (such as Dow, BASF, acceptance of beauty care products for We have a powerful, global innovation DSM, Merck, etc) in India, who are looking men. The Indian male now wants to engine that uniquely qualifies Dow as the for long-term investment opportunities. access these products. He has a desire to ultimate ‘go-to’ innovation partner in the For example, Merck KGaA has made its look after his skin, hair and body; discuss personal and homecare industry.” Indian application and technology centre, this more openly and look for products Caring for new-age men which primarily caters to industries such to supplement and take care of his hair Beauty care products were traditionally as paints, auto, pharma, cosmetics, etc, a & skin needs. The new-generation man targeted at women. But, more and more part of its global network in January 2013. is not shy to go to a beauty parlour to men have developed a penchant for skin By being a global competence centre, the improve his beauty quotient.” This has care products these days. Since the first Indian facility will be an international opened a new segment of customers, with fairness cream for men was introduced in sourcing base for performance chemicals products being specifically designed to India around 2005, the market has been such as effect pigments and cosmetics. meet the needs of these customers. now flooded with plethora of skin care But to reap the benefits of the Differentiation to gain products for men. Increasingly, men are growing personal care market, ingredients competitive edge experimenting with personal care products suppliers will have to work closely with To gain a competitive edge, personal PCP manufacturers to develop products, care companies are looking for product which meet unique demands of Indian differentiation. Hence, the role of ingredient consumers. Pillay observes, “Dow is keen suppliers becomes critical. Pillay observes, to partner with leading global and key “Competitive edge in the PCP industry is regional brand owners to help deliver about differentiating claims and delivering benefits to their customers and arrive at benefits to the customers. The only proven a win-win situation. Partnership is not route for this is by using effective ingredients. restricted to supplying ingredients but Marketing and brand promotion can help goes beyond – to development of new create the initial pull or the first purchase of formulations, working in collaboration, Biodegradable surfactants such as organic alkyl polyglucoside and lauryl glucosides a product but the sustained sales of a brand arriving at new concepts, designing of are gaining momentum in India depends on the efficacy of the product that new products and solutions specific to the An increasing number of is perceived by the consumer.” Indian market.” manufacturers are adding high The PCI industry is expected to see a rise As customers are becoming more foamers, such as alkanolamides, into in adoption of more sophisticated personal aware about the contents of the products their cleansing products, which give a care products as the disposable income they use, the demand for natural ‘white glove on the hands’ appearance increases in India. But, to be a part of this ingredients is exhibiting upward swing. Introduction of cost-effective cationic growth story, ingredient suppliers will have Hence, biodegradable surfactants are guar products as an alternative to the to adopt strategies to establish themselves finding fertile ground in the growing expensive PQ-10 can fuel growth of conditioning polymers in India as a reliable partner for beauty care product number of shampoos and cleansing manufacturers in the country. products containing environment-friendly Source: Kline & Company’s Global Personal Care Ingredients Service Email: rakesh.rao@network18publishing.com ingredients. As a global phenomenon,
I C P a’s et i d n I he s fact
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 59
Automation Trends | Plant health monitoring
Most plants in existence today were built years ago with the minimum amount of instrumentation necessary for control. Improving process unit utilisation, energy efficiency, reducing maintenance costs, and mitigating safety & environmental incidents require additional measurements. The good news is that older plants can now easily be modernised by installing wireless instrumentation to supply the
laying cable, opening cable trays, and rewiring junction boxes that are high, and therefore improvements do not get done. WirelessHart instrumentation drastically reduces risks since full multi-hop, multipath, mesh topology eliminates all cables.
Heat exchanger monitoring In petroleum refining, the primary challenge for operating the crude unit
Cleaning the heat exchanger too often is not practical since it typically requires a process shutdown. If the exchanger is severely fouled, it may even be necessary to pull it by crane and send it offsite for decoking. Today, plants typically do not know the rate of fouling for each heat exchanger. Manual measurements of hot fluids are difficult and time-consuming to make on stacked heat exchangers. Thus,
Wireless technology
improving asset uptime
Photo courtesy: Emerson Process Management
missing measurements and intelligence. Critical assets in a plant such as expensive compressors and large pumps can be monitored using protection systems. Due to the high cost of traditional machinery protection and equipment monitoring systems, the balance of assets may not have been previously fitted with monitoring systems. Many of these unmonitored assets are still essential to operation. These ‘second tier’ assets are typically spot-checked manually in the field on a periodic basis. Originally, these assets may have had standby backups, but subsequent debottlenecking and expansion projects may have put former standby assets into continuous service without corresponding back-up. Monthly manual readings are not frequent enough to catch developing issues, as process conditions often create equipment failures. Unexpected equipment failures in turn cause process upsets and potentially unsafe conditions. Running to failure can result in even worse damage to the equipment. Asset monitoring requires additional measurements for which instrumentation is rarely included in the plant while
Jonas Berge
A critical factor in both maintenance and operational scheduling is the ability to effectively monitor the health of plant assets, be it pumps, heat exchangers, expensive compressors and so on. In this context, WirelessHart technology can be used to increase plant asset performance by enabling key additional measurements without extensive disruption. pre-heat exchangers is fouling due to asphaltene precipitation or poor desalter performance, which reduces heat transfer between the fluids on the tube and shell sides. As a heat exchanger fouls, a downstream
fired heater has to make up the process heat requirements, increasing fuel cost. At the point the heater reaches its maximum capacity, it is necessary to slow throughput to meet process temperature requirements resulting in underutilisation of the unit.
60 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
plants are not aware of accelerated fouling. Lack of information prevents decisionmaking and planning; ie, to choose cost of cleaning or cost of additional heater fuel. A secondary problem is that the heating fluid leaves the fouled heat exchanger flowing into the next, hotter than the heat exchanger was designed for. This could cause damage. If the exchanger gets severely fouled, plugging may prevent fluids from flowing through. Maintenance personnel need heat exchanger performance data at least daily to allow timely fouling analysis and maintenance planning. The only practical approach is to automatically monitor the rate of fouling on each heat exchanger. This can be achieved with a new solution that measures hot and cold fluid inlet and outlet temperature using single or multi-
Plant health monitoring
input wireless temperature transmitters on each heat exchanger. The raw measurement data is communicated to the asset monitoring software and plant historian through a wireless gateway, and used together with flow to compute hot and cold side heat duty, average heat duty, heat duty error, observed heat exchanger coefficient, corrected heat exchanger coefficient and fouling factor, etc. The software trends the rate of heat transfer degradation (fouling) in all exchangers. It also takes this information further, notifying if the heat exchanger requires cleaning, and providing operators the knowledge on which to base decisions: weigh cost of make-up heat fuel against cost of taking out of service and cleaning. High alarms on these new temperature measurements warn when each heat exchanger nears its design limits. By also measuring hot and cold side pressure drops across the exchanger, developing plugging can be detected early. As a result, wireless heat exchanger monitoring can be used to initiate actions that reduce energy loss and prevent throughput drop. The maintenance shutdown period is shortened by optimising heat exchanger cleaning, and maintenance costs are reduced by avoiding unnecessary cleaning and disposal costs of chemicals. In addition, overheating damage to heat exchangers can be avoided and severe plugging of heat exchangers can be prevented, thus eliminating the cost of decoking.
Pump health monitoring A plant may have more than a hundred pumps, and a pump can be affected by many different problems. One type of pump problem often leads to another and may eventually turn into a unit or plant shutdown. A plugged suction strainer before the pump creates pressure drop can lead to suction pressure drop that may cause cavitation. Cavitation may also occur due to high discharge pressure because of a restricting downstream valve controlling at low flow.
This causes internal recirculation across the impeller, heating up the fluid, which could then begin to vapourise and cause cavitation. Cavitation causes impeller damage, which in turn causes rotor imbalance and vibration. Vibration causes yet other problems. It may be caused by misalignment of the motor-pump shaft, worn bearings due to insufficient lubrication, broken or loose mounting bolts, etc. Vibration will cause excessive bearing wear and eventually lead to pump failure, days of maintenance, expensive repairs, and downtime. Vibration will also increase the stress on the pump’s seals eventually leading to seal failure and spill. Leaking seals may lead to production interruption, emissions, clean-up, and even fires. Poor lubrication may result in bearings overheating and eventual failure. Similarly, locked rotor, overload, ambient temperature, voltage imbalance, high/ low voltage, and blocked ventilation, etc will result in excessive motor winding temperature, which can permanently damage the windings, shortening lifespan and may cause complete insulation breakdown and motor failure. For the less critical pumps, vibration is usually checked manually using a vibration tester in the field, one pump at a time. However, manual checks may not be frequent enough to capture impending pump failures. Pumps with intermittent duty may not get tested if not running during the operator round. The only practical approach then is to automatically monitor the pump and motor assembly that can measure a number of points on the pump such as: A wireless vibration transmitter with two sensors and PeakVue vibration (peak acceleration) measurement detects vibration, which may be caused by a number of abnormal situations. A wireless differential pressure transmitter measures pressure drop across suction strainers, where provided.
For pressurised seals, a wireless
pressure transmitter measures sealing fluid pressure to detect insufficient pressurisation. For unpressurised seals, it detects pressure increases caused by the inboard seal leaking process fluid into the auxiliary seal flush reservoir when the pumped fluid vapourises at atmospheric pressure. Two wireless level switches monitor high sealing fluid level in the sealing fluid pot detecting inner seal leakage, and low level detecting outer seal fluid leakage. A hydrocarbon detection sensor placed in the sump or around the pump, with a wireless discrete input transmitter detects hydrocarbon leaks. A four input wireless temperature transmitter measures temperature of bearings and motor windings. Not all pumps need all these monitoring points. Pump health packages can be customised for each pump in the plant. The raw measurement data from all essential pumps is communicated through the wireless gateway to the software for trending. The software takes this information further, providing notification that the pump requires attention, providing operators the knowledge on which to base decisions. As a result, wireless pump health monitoring detects strainer plugging early, so it can be fixed before suction cavitation sets in. Note that the alarm must be displayed to the operators, not just the maintenance technicians. Seal leak from process or flush fluid is detected early and can be fixed. Early detection of hydrocarbon leaks can limit the extent of the spill. Motor winding overheating is detected before windings are damaged. Bearing temperature rise is detected before bearings seize. Jonas Berge is Director of Applied Technology at Emerson Process Management. He has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of instrumentation and controls. Email: jonas.berge@emerson.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 61
Sustainability Mantras | Eco-friendly manufacturing
Clean processing for a green tomorrow Avani Jain
The rising environmental concerns have resulted in the adoption of various eco-friendly technologies by the chemical/process industries so as to achieve cleaner production and sustainability. This has also created new opportunities for technology providers in the arena.
In the present times, environmental consciousness is growing at a fast pace among people and several industries are also realising the importance of protecting the environment. This holds true even for the chemical/process industries. At present, the need of the hour is to reduce energy consumption and dependence on petro products as well as curb wastage. Thus, only by adopting eco-friendly methods, the industry can move towards sustainability and cleaner production.
Using bio-based feedstock One of the many methods for reducing the environmental footprint and moving towards cleaner production is the usage of biodegradable feedstocks as against the primary feedstocks such as coal and petroleum. Most of the energy requirements in the chemical plant are currently satisfied using petroleum-based products. However, procuring energy sources such as coal, crude oil poses difficulties due to shortage conditions.
Further, these conventional or fossil fuel resources are limited, non-renewable & polluting, and therefore need to be used prudently. This has inherently given boost to bio-based feedstock/ biofuels. The biomass resources are the biodegradable fraction of products, wastes and residues from agriculture, forestry and related industries as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal wastes. These renewable resources are indigenous, non-polluting and inexhaustible. The production of bulk chemicals from biomass can make a significant contribution to solving two grave environmental problems, ie climate change and depletion of fossil energy. It can lead to savings of more than 100 per cent in non-renewable energy use and bring down greenhouse gas emissions. The net carbon dioxide emission of burning a biofuel like ethanol is zero since the carbon dioxide emitted on combustion is equal to that absorbed from
62 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
the atmosphere by photosynthesis during the growth of the plant (sugarcane) used to manufacture ethanol. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) shows that ethanol has the lowest carbon dioxide emission. Thus, usage of biofuels in their plants can prove advantageous to chemical companies. Thus, bio-based feedstock, truly, has the potential to serve as an alternative to the traditionally available materials and can determine the future of chemical industry. Green or plant-based chemistry can enable a strong development of the industry. Hence, green chemistry is the key element for sustainability.
Advantage wind and solar power Sustainability is a critical global issue and without energy security it cannot be achieved. Therefore, every energy-intensive industry, including chemical, needs to improve its energy performance. Utilising the wind power as an alternative for meeting energy requirements can help the industry in moving towards cleaner production. Thus, nearly $ 9 billion is expected to be invested in India for wind power development in next few years. Also, to help this sector grow, Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) capacity addition in India has taken place at a CAGR of 25 per cent in the last 12 years. The benefit of using wind power as an energy alternative includes relatively lower risk of gestation & input compared to other renewable energy sources such as hydro, biomass, and moreover, gestation is shorter. Other solutions like solar panels, which convert light energy into electric energy, can also be employed by the industry for generating power and reducing consumption to a large extent. Yet another approach, although of limited nature, is to use carbon dioxide as a chemical building block to manufacture agrichemicals such as urea and phosgene or to produce industrial chemicals such as oxalic acid (by electrolytic reduction and coupling of two carbon dioxide molecules)
Eco-friendly manufacturing
and carbon monoxide (by electrolytic reduction). The Indian chemical companies need to intensify efforts for use of natural gas as energy and chemical feedstock as gas provides the largest heat of combustion per unit of carbon dioxide produced; the ease of sulphur removal; and the fact that it is the cheapest source of hydrogen.
Overcoming bottlenecks A few chemical companies in India have been trying to set up facilities for captive wind and solar power projects. However, the capacity utilisation of wind power project and its lack of reliability due to change in wind strength from time to time are big limitations. Further, in the case of solar power, the cost of production is an impending factor. However, despite these limitations, they can serve as excellent alternative sources of energy in chemical plants.
Another fact is that the government support can help the Indian chemical industry in realising its energyefficiency goals and save environment. But currently, the government ’s participation in this area is inconspicuous. Thus, appropriate steps should be
The government support can help the Indian chemical industry in realising its energy-efficiency goals and save environment. taken to promote these alternative methods to ensure environment conservation. In fact, it is now high time for the chemical industry to examine the feasibility of setting up appropriate non-conventional fuel projects such as jatropha and algae
biofuels as well as wind power, solar power and biomass projects.
On a greener path The chemical industry needs to redefine its regulatory framework in sync with the latest international standards. Narendra R Mehta, Managing Director, Fibro Organic (India) Pvt Ltd, notes, “If the expected substantial growth in the chemical sector is to be sustainable and consistent with achieving broader goals for carbon dioxide emission reduction and saving environment, steps need to be taken, notably by implementing best technologies in the short term, and new technologies in the long term, expanding the production of bio-based chemicals, ensuring better materials flow management, and developing carbon dioxide storage and capturing. The companies will also have to employ efficient methods of production, recycling of polymers and go for minimum usage of solvents and lubricants.� Email: avani.jain@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 63
Policies & Regulations | Investment allowance to manufacturers
As per the Union Budget 2013-2014, companies investing ` 100 crore or more in plant and machinery, during the period April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2015, will be entitled to deduct an investment allowance of 15 per cent of the investment. This deduction will be in addition to the regular depreciation benefits enjoyed by these companies. People associated with the chemical industry strongly believe that this step could help in boosting
for investment in plant and machinery to ` 10 crore in two years instead of ` 100 crore, as indicated in the Budget. Lowering the eligibility limit would provide the much-needed momentum to the small entrepreneurs, for whom this support could be crucial. In the Indian chemical industry, majority of players belong to the SME sector,” he points out. Such step will encourage SMEs to invest in their plants, which is at present low
around ` 5,00,000 crore in 400 projects in the next two financial years. “There will be a saving of up to five per cent from our capital cost and this will help new units to break even faster. The estimated saving of around ` 25,000 crore on project cost is equivalent to 7.3 per cent of the aggregate profits of BSE-500 companies in FY12. The savings will flow directly into their bottom line and improve the financial viability of projects,” he says.
Will it provide a
to the Indian chemical industry? Prasenjit Chakraborty
The government move proposed in the Union Budget 2013-14 to provide investment allowance of 15 per cent to manufacturing companies would provide fillip to chemical manufacturers, as this is expected to bring in investments to the sector. This is not all; it will also result in the creation of job opportunities. capital expenditure (Capex) that has been almost stalled for past one year owing to slowdown in the economy. It will also provide job opportunities in the chemical sector.
Benefits galore According to Amit Kapur, Director, Everest Group, this (investment allowance of 15 per cent) may enhance the viability of investments by improving the internal rate of return for such projects by 200 bps to 300 bps (depending upon the debt-equity mix and duration of the project). The economic equivalent to this is an interest rate reduction in cost of debt for projects to the tune of over 75 bps. “Many trade and industrial organisations are requesting the government to lower the threshold
Amit Kapur
Director, Everest Group
Implication on the chemical industry
This would imply an almost doubling of the commissioning Many trade organisations are of manufacturing projects requesting the government to lower compared to what has been the threshold for investment in plant seen in the previous two years, and machinery to ` 10 crore in two observes Kapur. By giving a twoyears instead of ` 100 crore. year window, the government intends to induce companies with capacity expansion plans to achieve maximum project progress in key. Experts believe that, this step would the next 24 months. “Taking cue from benefit companies mainly with a turnover such sops announced in the past, I believe of ` 500-600 crore, as smaller companies that manufacturing companies will go will have to stretch their balance sheet for for fast-paced implementation of their an investment of ` 100 crore. projects to avail of the benefits from the With such an allowance, companies proposed allowance,” he adds. Hence, are expected to get a total benefit of this shall definitely spur growth of the ` 25,000 crore. According to an estimate chemical industry in India. by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Email: prasenjit.chakraborty@network18publishing.com Economy, India Inc plans fresh Capex of
64 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Young managers | Strategy
As per figures provided by Careesma.in, India’s second-largest jobsearch portal, (in terms of volumes of jobs) 70 per cent of the recruiting companies prefer to recruit candidates in the age group of 27-40. With 65 per cent of its population under the age of 35, India today boasts of one of the largest available workforces in the world. This is a powerful demographic truth. Even more powerful is the fact that a large segment of this demographic belongs to the almost fresher chunk, either those just entering the workforce or who have been working for one or two years. India today is no longer the world’s back-office. The TeamLease Indian Labor Report of 2009 estimated that 300 million people will enter the workforce by 2025, and that by then, 25 per cent of the world’s skilled workers will be Indians. This pool
Bridging the gap with older generation Mahua Roy
Top notch companies are hiring young B-school graduates as managers, thus making them in charge of an age-diversified team. Professionalism aside, how does one cope with a nonperforming team member old enough to be his/her father, or worse, how does a 50-year old take orders from a 30-something fresh out of college? Read to know... of young, customer-facing, sales-generating employees is going to drive and impact the country as well as organisations’ strategy in the years to come. And as India becomes the focus market of most companies in the chemical space, it is this workforce that will call the shots. A direct impact of this demographic is the sudden expectation out of the young, newly recruited manager. “The induction and incubation period will definitely train the candidate towards the technical aspects, but soft skills and people management will be the critical factors
deciding the professional growth of the candidate,” says Dr Sunil Rai, Director, Goa Institute of Management. Having direct reportees as employees older than almost a decade or two becomes a challenging work environment. “This is more evident in the Indian context, as we inherently and automatically respect anyone with white hair. Our immediate response is standing up and mellowing our voice while interacting with the older generation,” says Dr Pranabesh Ray, Dean – Academics, Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur,
one of the finest Indian institutes for HR development studies. ‘Impatient’ and ‘young’ go hand-inhand as adjectives to describe the young workforce. The three generalised myths associated with the young workforce tend to project them as reckless and impulsive. Here are the top three fallacies branded to the young generation.
Myth 1: Inexperience is evident Evidently, the young managers lack experience in terms of tenure, but is that a huge factor? “It is not experience, but
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 65
Strategy | Young managers
exposure that makes one a better manager. A manager needs to look at holistic, bigger picture, and project the impact of applied strategies. What matters is how much a manager learns, and not for how long,” exclaims Dr Rai. He extrapolates this by citing an example. “Management is all about understanding context. If a client requires speed and you are prioritising quality, there is a mismatch in communication, which does not speak high of managerial skills and decisionmaking,” adds Dr Rai. A great deal of this issue can be efficiently handled by a two-way knowledge exchange between the younger and older generation of the workforce in the team. “Matching the ‘impatience’ of the younger managers for quick results with the ‘process orientation’ of the older generation might be the key. Understanding technology and the dependence on it might be another challenge. And finally, the younger generation might be more prone to favour work, when it comes to work-life balance and might set expectations accordingly. It must, however, be mentioned that there is a great deal of generalisation here,” says Sudhanshu Arora, Co-founder, Director and Country Manager, Careesma.in. But, a lot of younger managers tend to set examples and offer motivation to become leaders. However, it all boils down to the deliverables and the tangible modes of judging the manager. Says Satindra Sen, Co-Founder and Director, Exper Executive Education Pvt Ltd, “Leaders have it tough either way and should be
able to manage the business, the 5 Ps – Power, Perception, Politics, Profit & Loss (P&L) and PowerPoint – there are enough examples of effective role models and inspiring leaders from both sets and for both sets.”
Myth 2: Difficult to retain The rate of attrition among the younger workforce is definitely high. But one needs to delve deeper in the underlying reasons. Arora observes, “Younger profiles are more open and ready to shift jobs rather easily. We see many cases of job shifts within a year of joining a company. With older profiles this is less probable, as they are more mature and job security is something they value more. In general, younger managers are more challenging to be retained and tracked. Older candidates tend to have longer innings in organisations, and therefore, leave behind records that can be referenced.” The younger managers prioritise challenges over job securities. Dr Rai suggests, “Give them challenges for job enrichment. Create a working condition and environment, and monitor the progress smartly. They are looking at mentors who tell them what to do and what not, and how to do. Such an environment helps them learn and broaden horizons.” Additionally, individualised attention is actively sought at this point of one’s career. “Promoting realistic growth and categorisation of employees based on performance is respected among the workforce. The top management needs to
How to deal with team members older than you
Refrain from calling the person to your workstation or cabin, but walk over to his workstation Be aware of your language Clarify what your expectation is from him and what he wants you to do; keep the communication
seamless and open Consider a double mentorship: Depending on age, the older team members may benefit from
being taught about new technology or trends. The younger manager may in turn be able to learn from the experience of one of the seasoned employees in one way or other. Exchanging mentorship may be an effective way to connect with employees and share skills Set an example: Be respectful and lead the way as a problem solver Ask for feedback: Inputs and suggestions from older team members may offer a calculated and experiential point of view, which at times may be helpful
Why are companies seeking young managers? High level of energy and passion shown Open to accept and provide new ideas,
diverse viewpoints Flexible, adaptable, open to moulding Risk taker and appreciator
differentiate between managers and leaders, and promote efficient succession planning by way of grooming,” says Dr Ray. The best way to retain young managers in an organisation is to ‘challenge’ them and ‘engage’ them. They need to feel they belong and find opportunities that help them learn and grow. The younger generation is more concerned about work culture and flexibility than work stability and long working hours. “If you can show them the path, coach them on both hard and soft skills, demand accountability from them, help navigate the organisation & build key relationships as well as demonstrate to them that they own the business, then you are doing your job right,” says Sen.
Myth 3: The young are aggressive, not sensitised This is one of the biggest myths associated with young managers. “More and more companies are hiring young blood for customer-facing initiatives such as sales, marketing, business development, etc. In this fast changing business environment, it is the freshers who offer a competitive advantage by way of their risk-taking abilities,” says Dr Rai. However, HR courses in B-schools are actively seeking to remove this falsified trend. “Interpersonal relations are a critical part in organisational behavioural studies. Academic case studies emphasise on the implementation of successful strategies in the industry. Besides, most colleges make an NGO interface compulsory in the course to sensitise the youth towards larger problems afflicting the society,” notes Dr Rai. Email: mahua.roy@network18publishing.com
66 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Industrial pumps | Tips & Tricks
During the last few years, focus on energy-efficient technologies has led to dramatic reduction in energy consumption in the chemical processing industry. And, it has been observed that pumping operations account for almost 50 per cent of the energy used in this industry. Hence, ensuring pumping efficiency can go a long way in facilitating energy conservation. Here are some practical tips for operating pumps at Best Efficiency Point (BEP). Proper selection of pump, motor, pipe size and design of system is mandatory. Here the design of the pumping system plays a vital role in minimising loss of energy. Always select a pump at, or close to its BEP as it aids in maximum energy efficiency. BEP is the point at which the impeller diameter provides the highest efficiency. Professionals prefer pumps that operate within 80-110 per cent of BEP for optimum performance.
1
A flat discharge head curve must be selected and prime mover (motor) should not be oversized. Larger than necessary pumps are specified in the name of safety and reliability, resulting in pump systems that operate suboptimally. It has been observed that oversizing is the single biggest culprit of pumps wasting energy.
2
Simple steps to achieve best efficiency
Provision of variable speed arrangement for reducing speed can help decrease power consumption, which is proportional to the cube of the pump speed. With a Variable Speed Drive (VSD), pump head as well as flow are reduced to handle part-load situations.
3
For each pump, there are usually several impeller sizes available. Trimming an impeller should be considered, if many system bypass valves are open, indicating that excess flow is available to system equipment; excessive throttling is needed to control flow through the system or process; high levels of noise or vibration indicate excessive flow; or a pump is known to be operating far from its BEP.
4
A single pump is unable to consistently operate close to its BEP with a wide variation in system requirements. Multiple pumps consisting of several smaller pumps in combination can be used to serve the pumping
5
requirements of a system, particularly those with large differences between the flow rate required during normal system operation and that required during maximum system flow conditions. The advantages in using combinations of smaller pumps rather than a single large one are operating flexibility, redundancy in case of a pump failure, lower maintenance requirements due to pumps and operating near their BEP.
6
When a pump undergoes wear and tear, it tends to affect the BEP. Thus, effective and regular maintenance keeps pumps operating efficiently and allows for early detection of problems to schedule repairs as well as avoid early pump failures. Regular maintenance avoids losses in efficiency and capacity, which can occur long before a pump fails.
7
Reference: ď Ź Sustainability Victoria 2009
Email: avani.jain@network18publishing.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 67
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By Organisers Of
A
Event
The book dearest to me: Shakespeare’s Sonnets When it comes to Indian food, I like: Dal Makhani
My latest tech gadget acquisition: Mini tablet My all-time favourite holiday destination: Ireland If not in the chemical industry, my alternative profession: Education sector
Photo: Joshua Navalkar
The most prized possession on my desk: My keys
Steve Stilliard
Vice President & Managing Director, Indian Subcontinent, Huntsman Corporation
The sports team I am loyal to: Kidderminster Harriers (lower league English soccer team) I love spending my Sundays by: Keeping in touch with friends I gain motivation from: Learning something new every day. I try to keep an open mind. As told to Mahua Roy
70 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Projects
Ammonia
Paints
Resin
RASHTRIYA CHEMICALS & FERTILISERS LTD
BERGER PAINTS INDIA LTD
AIROLAM LTD
Project type
Project type
Project type
New facility
Capacity expansion
Berger Paints India Ltd plans to set up a unit for automotive and industrial paints at Jejuri, near Pune, Maharashtra, in the current financial year.
Airolam Ltd is planning to expand its resin production capacity at its Dalpur plant in Prantij Tehsil, Gujarat. The aim is to take the capacities of PF resin and MF resin to 850 mtpm and 250 mtpm respectively from current capacity of 240 mtpm and 80 mtpm.
New facility
Project news
Project news
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers Ltd is planning to set up an ammonia plant with a capacity of 2,700 MTPD at Talcher in Odisha. Project location
Talcher, Odisha
Project news
Project location
Pune, Maharashtra Project cost
` 40 crore
Project cost
Not known
Project location
Prantij, Gujarat
Implementation stage
Planning
Implementation stage
Planning Contact details: Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers Ltd Priyadarshini, 10th Floor Eastern Express Highway Sion, Mumbai-400022 Tel: 022-25523057 Email: mthyagarajan@rcfltd.com ................................................................
Project cost
Contact details: Berger Paints India Ltd 129 Park Street, Kolkata -700017 West Bengal Tel: 033-22299724/6005 Email: consumerfeedback@bergerindia.com ................................................................ Soda ash
Not known
Implementation stage
Planning Contact details: Airolam Ltd Dalpur Village, Nananpur Approach Road Prantij-383120, Gujarat Tel: 2770-240572/73 Email: marketing@airolam.com ................................................................
Fertiliser
ROHIT SURFACTANTS PVT LTD
OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION
Project type
Project type
New facility
HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LTD
Rohit Surfactants Pvt Ltd is planning to set up a greenfield soda ash plant that includes construction of a 50 MW captive power plant and other infrastructure facilities.
Project type
New facility
Refinery & petrochemical
Project news
Project news
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation marked its foray into fertiliser segment by tying up with Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals (CFCL) for setting up urea fertiliser plant at Khubal in Tripura. Project location
Khubal, Tripura
Project location
Gujarat
Project cost
$ 330 million
Project cost
` 5,000 crore
Implementation stage
Planning
Implementation stage
Planning Contact details: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Vasudhara Bhavan, Bandra (E), Mumbai-400051 Tel: 022-26599806 Email: secretariat@ongc.co.in
Contact details: Rohit Surfactants Pvt Ltd 109/366, R K Nagar G T Road, Kanpur-208012 Uttar Pradesh Tel: 0512-2551201/06 Email: info@gharidetergent.com
New facility
Project news
HPCL is planning to set up a 9 million tpa petroleum refinery and petrochemical complex in Barmer. Project location
Barmer, Rajasthan Project cost
` 9,000 crore
Implementation stage
Planning Contact details: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd Petroleum House, 17, Jamshedji Tata Road, Mumbai-400020, Maharashtra Tel: 022-22863900 Email: prcc@hpcl.co.in
Information courtesy: Tendersinfo.com 1, Arch Gold, Next to MTNL Exchange, Poisar, S V Road, Kandivali (W), Mumbai - 400 067, Maharashtra, India Tel: 022 28666134 • Fax: 022 28013817 • Email: parmeet.d@tendersinfo.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 71
Tenders
Latest Popular Tenders brought to you by www.tendersinfo.com Fluidised bed catalyst regeneration unit
Heat exchanger
Org : Indian Oil Corporation Ltd TRN : 16186508 Desc : Supply, installation and commissioning of a complete welded plate type heat exchanger BOD : June 24, 2013 Loc : Assam BT : Domestic
PSA nitrogen plant
Org : Department of Atomic Energy TRN : 16308929 Desc : Supply of PSA nitrogen plant BOD : June 26, 2013 Loc : Chennai, Tamil Nadu BT : Domestic
Portable dissolved gas analyser
Org : NHPC Ltd TRN : 16374357 Desc : Purchase of portable dissolved gas analyser for transformer oil testing BOD : June 29, 2013 Loc : Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand BT : Domestic (NCB)
Org : Indian Oil Corporation Ltd TRN : 16339945 Desc : Procurement of fluidised bed catalyst regeneration unit BOD : June 26, 2013 Loc : Haryana BT : Domestic
Helical heat exchanger
Org : Indian Oil Corporation Ltd TRN : 16359330 Desc : Supply of helical heat exchanger BOD : June 27, 2013 Loc : West Bengal BT : Domestic
Tetryl manufacturing plant
Org : Ordnance Factory Board TRN : 16396964 Desc : Design, supply, erection and commissioning of tetryl manufacturing plant BOD : June 30, 2013 Loc : Pune, Maharashtra BT : Domestic
Fluidised bed catalyst regeneration unit
Org : Indian Oil Corporation Ltd TRN : 16321220 Desc : Supply of fluidised bed catalyst regeneration unit; quantity one BOD : June 26, 2013 Loc : Faridabad, Haryana BT : ICB
Chlorine di-oxide generation system
Org : Gas Authority of India Ltd TRN : 16222650 Desc : Supply of chlorine di-oxide generation system BOD : June 28, 2013 Loc : Pata, Rajasthan BT : Domestic
Sugar plant and distillery
Org : Rajasthan State Ganga Nagar Sugar Mills Ltd TRN : 16319205 Desc : Setting up of new sugar plant and distillery at Kaminpura site BOD : July 04, 2013 Loc : Jaipur, Rajasthan BT : Domestic
Org: Organisation’s name, TRN: Tendersinfo Ref No, Desc: Description, BOD: Bid Opening Date, Loc: Location, BT: Bidding Type Information courtesy: Tendersinfo.com 1, Arch Gold, Next to MTNL Exchange, Poisar, S V Road, Kandivali (W), Mumbai - 400 067, Maharashtra, India Tel: 022 28666134 • Fax: 022 28013817 • Email: parmeet.d@tendersinfo.com
72 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Event List
National The trade exposition on chemical plant, equipment and process industry; February 2014; at Surat International Exhibition & Convention Centre, Surat, Gujarat For details contact:
Network 18 Publishing st
Ruby House, A-Wing, 1 Floor, J K Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai 400 028. Tel: 022 3003 4651 • Fax: 022 3003 4499 Email: b2b@network18publishing.com
Ahmedabad
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.
Pune
Gujarat September 20-23, 2013
Maharashtra October 18-21, 2013
Ludhiana
Aurangabad
Punjab December 20-23, 2013
Maharashtra January 10-13, 2014
Chennai
Jaipur
Indore
Kolkata
Tamil Nadu Rajasthan November 14-17, 2013 Nov 29 - Dec 02, 2013 Madhya Pradesh Jan 31 – Feb 03, 2014
West Bengal February 21-24, 2014
For details
Network18 Media & Investments Ltd
Ruby House, 1st Floor, J K Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai 400 028. • Tel: 022 3003 4651 • Fax: 022 3003 4499 • Email: engexpo@network18publishing.com
ARC INDIA FORUM What : An event that will highlight the latest developments in new processes and technologies When : July 11-12, 2013 Where : Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh For details contact: ARC Advisory Group Tel: 080-25547116
Tel: 0124-4524200/4201 Email: siddharth@interads.in
India Chem Gujarat What : The exhibition will showcase the latest products, machinery, equipment and developments in the chemical industry When : October 24-26, 2013 Where : Gandhinagar, Gujarat For details contact: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry Tel: 011-23738760/8770 Email: ficci@ficci.com ...........................................................................
analytica Anacon India 2013
Email: ramang@arcweb.com
PetroWorld India What : An event showcasing novel technologies in oil & gas sector When : August 22-24, 2013 Where : Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai For details contact: Inter Ads Exhibitions Pvt Ltd
What : International trade fair for laboratory technology, biotechnology and diagnostics When : November 12-14, 2013 Where : Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai For details contact: MMI India Pvt Ltd Tel: 022-42554710 Email: avisha.desai@mmi-india.in
interNational CHINA (GUANGZHOU) INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONIC CHEMICALS EXHIBITION What : Focussed event on cathode and anode material, electrolyte battery additives, intermediates, etc When : August 15-17, 2013 Where : Canton Fair Pazhou Complex Area B, Guangzhou, China For details contact: Guangzhou Zhenwei International Exhibition Co Ltd Tel: + (86)-(20)-84120362
Email: lwy@zhenweiexpo.com ...........................................................................
Email: contact@cems-dyechem.com ...........................................................................
Dye+Chem Bangladesh 2013
China Adhesive
What : International exhibition on dyes and fine & specialty chemicals When : September 05-08, 2013 Where : Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh
What : Exhibition focussing on adhesive and sealant products When : September 25-27, 2013 Where : Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center, Shanghai
For details contact: CEMS-Global Asia Pacific Pte Ltd Tel: + (65) - 6829 - 2144
For details contact: CCPIT Sub-Council of Chemical Industry Tel: +(86)-(10)-64275419 Email: contact@chinaexhibition.com
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 & Process World
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 73
Event Preview | ARC India Forum 2013
Benefits for process industry
ARC Advisory Group’s eleventh India Forum is slated to be held from July 11-12, 2013, in Hyderabad. This Forum will include sessions on technologies that will help achieve breakthrough performance in process industry. Each year, ARC Advisory Group (headquartered in Boston) hosts a number of forums and conferences in major cities around the world. “These events provide an excellent opportunity for corporate executives
to network with their peers and gather industry intelligence to finetune their strategic vision for the future. In India, we conduct forums for the process and discrete industries,” says Sharada Prahladrao, Editor & Public Relations Manager, ARC Advisory Group - India and South East Asia. ARC’s India Forum 2013 will provide an excellent opportunity for understanding and disseminating information and
Manufacturing companies are under pressure to focus on improving productivity and increasing efficiency. There is an increasing awareness among manufacturing companies regarding effectively managing their costs & resources, reducing energy consumption, and addressing environmental concerns. “Process industries will benefit from this Forum because they can gain insights on technology updates, industry trends, and learnings from others’ experiences,” says Prahladrao. Issues of contemporary interest will be discussed at the event. Some of these include cyber security; cloud computing, analytics and mobility; supply chain management; energy optimisation etc. Eminent speakers from Siemens, BHEL, Aveva, GE and Steag, etc will provide insights
Offering insights into the latest trends in process automation Prasenjit Chakraborty
ARC’s eleventh India Forum, scheduled to be held in July 2013, will showcase latest developments and trends in the process industry. Besides, the event will bring together industry leaders from across various verticals, which will help in fruitful exchange of ideas and information.
Presentations will cover topics like:
Improving energy efficiency Advanced control strategies Collaboration at the user and device levels Managing legacy and aging infrastructures 3D training and simulation Social media Advanced analytics and big data Cloud computing Impacts of mobile computing Enterprise and plant asset management Supply chain management Cyber security and safety
implementing best practices. “During this two-day India Forum, industry leaders will share their experiences and thoughts on their new processes and technologies. The knowledge transfer will happen by way of case study presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and peer-to-peer networking,” states Prahladrao. Besides, the Forum will also bring together key decision makers and leaders from chemical, oil and gas; electric power including renewable energy; cement, metals and mining; food & beverage; and pharmaceutical industries along with suppliers of automation systems, enterprise solutions etc.
74 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
into different topics. Apart from this, senior personnel from NTPC, ONGC and Nuclear Power Corporation will also speak on the occasion. “Presentations are proposed by our Industry Association sponsors, such as AIA, IPA and FFI. Industry thought leaders have also evinced interest to actively participate and speak at the Forum deliberations,” she reveals. The Forum will also provide an opportunity for sponsors to exhibit and showcase their products and offerings to the delegates. Email: prasenjit.chakraborty@network18publishing.com
Bioinspiration and biomimicry in chemistry: Reverse-engineering nature Editor: Gerhard Swiegers Price: ` 8,000
Book Review This interesting book provides insights on how one can emulate nature’s technology in chemistry. Through billions of years of evolution, nature has generated some remarkable systems and substances that have made life on earth what it is today. Increasingly, scientists are seeking to mimic nature’s systems and processes in the lab. This book explores the chemistry of nature and how we can replicate what nature does in abiological settings. Specifically, it focusses on wholly artificial, man-made systems that employ or are inspired by principles of nature; however, which do not use materials of biological origin. Beginning with a general overview on the concept of bioinspiration and biomimicry in chemistry, the book tackles topics such as: Bioinspired molecular machines & catalysis, biomimetic principles in macromolecular science and bioinspired receptors. It also includes a chapter on biomimicry in organic synthesis. The book is recommended for students and researchers in all realms of chemistry.
Available at: Wisdom Book Distributors, Hornby Building, 1st floor, 174, D N Road, Mumbai 400001 Tel: 022-22074484/66318958, Telefax: 022-22034058 Email: thadam@vsnl.com
The author presents, through an innovative way, the processes involved in chemical reactions. A collection of closely integrated design of images and text, and a characteristically clear, precise, and economical exposition, a tool kit of basic reactions, such as precipitation, corrosion and catalysis is introduced. Further, the book explains how building blocks are brought together in more complex processes such as photosynthesis, radical polymerisation, vision, enzyme control, and biochemical synthesis. The book covers Lewis acid-base reactions and complex substitution reactions in further detail. Besides, there are special chapters dedicated to the workings of nucleophilic and electrophilic substitution reactions. Other important synthetic chemistry reactions such as the Wittig reaction, the Friedel-Crafts reaction and photochromism are elaborated.
Reviewer: Tejas Padte, Lecturer, Ramnarain Ruia College
Reactions: The private life of atoms Author: Peter Atkins Price: ` 665
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 75
Products
AAS and ICP standard solution The new line of certified standards is dedicated to ICP and AAS. This inorganic ICP standard features extended expiration dates and is a reasonably priced alternative to others solutions available today. Specific element standards for ICP analysis are available, which correspond to QC verification, interference checks and instrument control and diagnostics. Single element standards are available in 1000 µg/ml in 100 or 500 ml bottles, packed in aluminium bag with COA. The standard solution for AAS is prepared in HDPE bottles. It is traceable to primary certified reference materials (NIST, BCR). The accuracy of the concentrations is guaranteed to +/- 0.2% from the nominal concentration. Its shelf-life is 36 months from the date of production, closed bottle. Loba Chemie Pvt Ltd Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-66636663 Email: info@lobachemie.com Website: www.lobachemie.com
Airless paint spraying pump This pump is suitable where better paint finish, gloss of paint and aesthetic results of the machine are prime requirements. It gives high output of paint and thus save time, manpower, paint and cost by giving high efficiency. It is also possible to spray high build paints for anticorrosive painting with airless pump. Synco Industries Ltd Jodhpur - Rajasthan Tel: 0291-2741571, Mob: 09829022258 Email: synco_2000@yahoo.com
Corrosion inhibitor The corrosion inhibitor Biotech SPL 6000 is specially formulated to protect the closed circuit cooling system from corrosion. It is a molybdite ‐ nitrite‐based corrosion inhibitor specially designed for use in closed re-circulating cooling water systems under high heat transfer conditions. It helps provide an economical complete program for
76 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
control of corrosion on ferrous and yellow metals, effective corrosion protection for steel and most other metals in continuous steel casting, mould cooling and other high heat transfer service systems. It works at low dose rate leading to cost- effective operations. The Biotech SPL 6000 dosage varies as a function of feedwater quality. Ultima Chemicals Mumbai – Maharashtra Tel: 022-28702390 Email: marketing@ultimachem.com Website: www.ultimachem.com
Drum dryer A range of drum dryers is available with quality standards and optimum effectiveness. This range is broadly accepted by prospective clients due to the fine efficient performance, robust construction and longer service life. The dryer is available as per customised specification and also at industry leading prices. Moreover, the range of dryers is manufactured using finest quality raw material sourced from reliable vendors after an appropriate inspection process. The range is manufactured using superior quality raw material and is used to convert liquid material into dry flakes. Tridev Industries Ahmedabad - Gujarat Tel: 079-25895865, Mob: 09978917299 Email: info@tridevindustries.com
Digital flow meter The paddle wheel insertion-type digital flow meter is a unique 2-in-1 combination, wherein the rotameter measures flow rate vertically. The water meter counts total horizontally and measures both the aspects. It is economical and used to match up with international standards. No external power supply is required. MTS Engineers Pvt Ltd Ahmedabad - Gujarat Tel: 079-26400063 Mob: 09879495924 Email: sales@mtsengrs.com Website: www.mtsengrs.com
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Products
Valve positioning sensor The valve positioning sensor F31K2 does valve position sensing for hard outdoor use. It is especially designed for use in harsh environments. The new sensor series F31K2 opens solutions for valve position sensors on actuators with inductive double sensors. It can be easily mounted, has high impermeability and is extremely robust with a high U/V, temperature and salt water resistance that can handle any outdoor situation. Its use in explosionproof areas distinguishes the F31K2, especially for applications in the chemical, petrochemical, oil and gas industry. It is an ideal choice for requirements of process automation. Pepperl+Fuchs Gurgaon - Haryana Tel: 0124 - 3894000 Email: fa-info@in.pepperl-fuchs.com, Website: www.pepperl-fuchs.in
Linear hybrid stepping motor The PJPL series linear-type hybrid stepping motor enables linear motion of motor shaft with a combination of threaded shaft and inner threaded rotor. The motor does not require any outside mechanical parts, such as lead screw, wire or belt for linear motion. This motor is available in two size 28 mm² and 42 mm². Nippon Pulse Motor Co Ltd Tokyo - Japan Tel: +81-3-38138841 Email: s-hagimoto@npm.co.jp, Website: www.nipponpulse.com
Magnetic driven pump The seal-less, magnetic driven pump is offered in centrifugal, peripheral, sliding vane, self-priming, centre-line mounted, inline and vertical pump versions. It is manufactured in metallic and non-metallic constructions. The pump finds applications in oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, industrial refrigeration, offshore platform, electronic and galvanising and nuclear plant areas among others. To safeguard the pump, dry-running protection, temperature monitors on rear casing and ATEX certification are offered as options for many models. The seal-less magnetic driven pump is available in 26 designs with over 350 basic models. Shanbhag & Associates Mumbai – Maharashtra Tel: 022-28346604, 28340071 Email: info@shanbhags.com, Website: www.shanbhags.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 79
Products
Handy marker
Nano enclosure
Handy marker is a hand-operated coder that can be used to mark or code on corrugated cartons, plywood, wooden crates, paper bags, cement, fertiliser bags, leather, cloth, HDPE woven sacks, etc. This handy marker is a light-weight and reliable option for continuous and prolonged use and is also extremely sturdy. The handy marker is easy to operate, durable, economical and is used in a variety of applications in secondary packaging. It is available in various sizes and has the spring-return arrangement. The handy marker has a long print life and allows uninterrupted marking without need for frequent re-inking. It is used to mark batch no, product name, date of manufacture, expiry date, gross weight, destinations, shipping mark, handling instructions and other statutory markings. This coder can also be used for marking on metal/plastic drums and other nonporous surfaces by using specially developed PIC coding inks.
Nano enclosure is specifically designed for nanoparticle research and manipulation. The nano enclosure has been validated for nanomaterial containment. It features a spacesaving design where no separate filtered exhauster is required and which runs with low decibel-level operation. It provides user protection during nanoparticle manipulation and dry powder chemical handling. It functions as a Class I enclosure; room air enters the front of the enclosure and passes through a filter prior to exhausting back to the room. As the nano particles are small and prone to static charge, the enclosure features a ULPA filter, stainless steel liner and an ioniser. The ULPA filter is capable of capturing and containing very small particulates, 0.12 Îźm or larger, at 99.999 per cent efficiency and returns clean air to laboratory. The interior sides, baffle, air foil and integral work surface are stainless steel that helps dissipates static charge and the built-in ioniser neutralises static charge on interior surfaces by emitting ions into the airstream. This helps reduce weighing errors and attraction of particles to the enclosure surfaces.
Pic-Code Systems Vadodara – Gujarat Tel: 0265-2290926 Email: arora@piccode.com, arora12345@gmail.com Website: www.piccode.com
80 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Cole-Parmer India Pvt Ltd Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-67162209 / 2222 Email: response@coleparmer.in
Products
Corrosion-free cable management system Aeron FRP cable tray management system is developed for long lasting performance in challenging environments where corrosion & chemical resistance and lasting mechanical performance are key requirements. Ladder type as well as perforated cable trays with wide range of sizes to select from is offered. Aeron Composite Pvt Ltd Ahmedabad – Gujarat Tel: 09909988266 Email: info@aeroncomposite.com Website: www.aeroncomposite.com
Flexible screw conveyor The helix flexible screw conveyor has only one moving part. The conveyor can be disassembled in less than 20 minutes for cleaning and maintenance. It can achieve lengths of up to 80 ft long. A wide range of auger styles and sizes ranging from 2 to 8 inches in diameter is offered. The product meets stringent standards and has USDA certifications. It is one of the most economical conveyors and can be used in many applications. Hapman Systems Pvt Ltd Vadodara – Gujarat Tel: 0265 – 2517505 Email: info@hapman.in Website: www.hapman.in
Analyser The analyser is a portable device with computer and printer interface capable of storing up to 1,000 results. To meet this demand by chemical industry, UEPL has come out with a portable and microprocessor based instrument for the measurement of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in effluent water. The instrument cuts down the analysis time from the present four to five hours to less than two hours. It requires ten times less sample and correspondingly fewer amounts of chemical reagents cutting down the cost of analysis by ten times. Uniphos Envirotronic Pvt Ltd Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-61233500, Mob: 9909994063 Email: gasdetection@uniphos.com Website: www.uniphos-she.com
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 81
Products
Fume extraction and scrubbing systems The packed tower absorption system removes gaseous pollutants such as HCl, Cl2, ClO2, SO2, NH3, NOx, HCN, H2S, mercaptans and amines. The typical absorption unit consists of a packed absorption tower, recycle tank, heat exchanger, recirculation pumps and ID/ FD fan. The gaseous stream flows upward through a packed bed tower while the scrubbing liquid flows downward by gravity over the packing. The incoming liquid is distributed over the tower cross-section using a liquid distributor. Gases leaving the packed sections are passed through a mist eliminator to remove the moisture entrainment before discharging to the outlet gas connection at the top of the tower. The scrubbing liquid is stored in recycle tank and circulated using recirculation pumps. As most of the absorption processes are exothermic, a heat exchanger is necessary to remove the heat of absorption. The fume extraction and scrubbing system can be used in the agrochemical plants, plastics, paint and varnish plants, soap and detergent plants, sulphuric acid plants, fertiliser manufacture, nitric acid and ammonia plants, welding electrode plants, foundry, boilers, process heaters, catalyst regenerators, flares, reactors, storage tanks. Trans Tech Projects Pvt Ltd Pune – Maharashtra Tel: 020-65002534/65008534 Email: info@transtechprojects.com Website: www.transtechprojects.com
82 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
Products
Formaldehyde analyser The formaldehyde analyser measures absolute concentrations of formaldehyde (HCHO) in aqueous solution. It has a RS232 serial port for computer interface The measurement ranges from 0 to 5 µg/ml. The analyser finds numerous applications in various segments and hence has a huge market demand. It is available in varied specifications as per requirements and needs. Uniphos Envirotronic Pvt Ltd Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022-61233500, Mob: 9909994063 Email: gasdetection@uniphos.com, Website: www.uniphos-she.com
Fractional electro-deionisation With patented dual voltage technology, the Fractional Electro-Deionisation (FEDI) technology is the next generation EDI technology for production of high purity water. Developed taking into account the limitations of conventional EDI, FEDI improves the reliability of EDI for the production of high purity water for power and semiconductor applications. Unlike conventional EDI, FEDI stacks are able to tolerate hardness in the feed water. As a result, FEDI can be used after single pass RO without the need for softening or second pass RO,
on most feed waters. FEDI’s dual voltage technology allows for a higher flexibility to inlet water conditions, thus lowering the risk of scaling and improving reliability. Aquatech Systems Asia Pvt Ltd Pune - Maharashtra Tel: 020 – 66547000/7269, Mob: 09890343114 Email: waghn@aquatech.com, Website: www.aquatech.com
Food and pharma formulations A wide gamut of chemicals procured from renowned importers, distributors and exporters across the globe comprising premium grade construction chemicals, flavour and fragrance chemicals, fine chemicals, specialty chemicals, electroplating, metal surface chemicals, electronic chemicals, pharmaceuticals formulation chemicals, drugs intermediates, food chemicals/ingredient/ additive and industrial chemicals. Some of the salient features of this chemical range include purity, exact formulation, flexible concentration, pH value, stability under various conditions, etc. Alliance India Mumbai – Maharashtra Tel: 022 – 28659196, 28013855 Email: alliance.india@mtnl.net.in Website: www.allianceindia.co
June 2013 | Chemical & Process World | 83
Products
Laboratory bottles Loba life glassco laboratory bottles are chemically resistant and stable. When fitted with a plastic pouring ring, dripping can be totally eliminated. As there is only one size screw thread for all bottles from 100 ml, the screw caps and pouring ring are fully interchangeable. The bottles, pouring rings and caps are autoclavable and sterilisable. These bottles are mechanically strong, chemically resistant and are provided with plastic pouring ring for drip-free operation. Loba Chemie Pvt Ltd Mumbai - Maharashtra Tel: 022- 22151010 Email: info@lobalife.com, Website: www.lobalife.com
Chemical transfer pump CFP series pump in SS 316 material is used for handling mild corrosive chemicals and various other liquids in different industries such as chemical, petrochemical, steel plants, printing houses, pharmaceuticals and food processing etc. The main features of the pump are high efficiency, good performance and reliability. The pump is available from 0.25 HP to 10 HP in
84 | Chemical & Process World | June 2013
different capacities in monoblock and bare pump design. All the wetted parts are made of graded SS 316 material. Taha Pumps & Valves Surendranagar – Gujarat Tel: 02752 – 240233, Mob: 09825599415/09825829875 Email: tahapv@yahoo.co.in, info@tahapumps.com Website: www.tahapumps.com
Rotary evaporator The rotary evaporator is used for distilling a wide range of liquids. The evaporator automatically lifts the receiving flask out of the heating bath if the power cuts off. This means that the ongoing test and any distillate already produced are unaffected by the stoppage. The patented geometry of the distillation condenser also provides a larger cooling surface area for distillation. IKA India Pvt Ltd Bengaluru - Karnataka Tel: 080-26253925, Mob: 09845387684 Email: usha@ika.in, Website: www.ikaindia.in 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 & Process World
List of Products
Product
Pg. No.
AAS and ICP standard solution......................... 76 Acoustic enclosure................................................. BC Airless paint spraying pump....................................76 Aluma coat................................................................3 Analyser...................................................................81 Analytical instrumentation......................................39 Ball check valve.............................................. 5, 83 Ball valve......................................................16, 17, 83 Ball valve - screwed end...........................................79 Ball valve - teflon lined..............................................6 Ball valve - three piece design..................................79 Bellow and dip-pipe..................................................6 Bend .......................................................................16 Biodegradable plastic............................................ FIC Blender....................................................................31 Blower.....................................................................51 Bush .......................................................................83 Butterfly valve...............................................16, 17, 83 Butterfly valve - Teflon lined.....................................6 Centrifugal fan................................................. 33 Ceramic coating........................................................3 Check valve.............................................................17 Check valve - Teflon lined.........................................6 Chemical process equipment...................................57 Chemical pump.......................................................82 Chemical tanks & containers..................................84 Chemical transfer pump..........................................84 Chill vactors system.................................................10 Cod analyser............................................................29 Coloumn and chemistries........................................39 Condenser...............................................................31 Continuous nitration system...................................57 Corrosion inhibitor..................................................76 Corrosion-free cable management system...............81 Diaphragm valve.......................................... 16, 83 Digital flow meter...................................................76 Drum dryer.............................................................76 Dry van pump....................................................... BC Dryer....................................................................BIC E/P positioner.................................................. 79 Elbow - Buttweld type............................................79 Empower.................................................................39 End cap............................................................. 16, 79 Evaporator............................................................BIC Exhauster.................................................................51 Exhibition - Engineering Expo...............................47 Exhibition - Plastivision 2013.................................49 Expansion bellow......................................................5 Feed water heater.............................................. 10 Fep/PFA/pvdf material...........................................83 Filter cock................................................................16 Fitting.....................................................................83 Flash dryer............................................................BIC Flexible screw conveyor...........................................81 Flow indicator.........................................................16 Flow verturi tube.....................................................31 Foged steel valve......................................................17 Food and pharma formulation.................................83 Foot valve................................................................16 Foot valve - non return valve...................................79 Formaldehyde analyser............................................83 Forum - Achieving Breakthrough Performance......53 Fractional electro-deionisation................................83 FRP battery stand....................................................80
Product
Pg. No.
FRP canopy.............................................................80 FRP grating.............................................................80 FRP handrall and fencing........................................80 FRP ladder..............................................................80 FRP luminaries........................................................80 FRP poles and mast.................................................80 FRP storage tank.....................................................80 FRP structural profile..............................................80 FRPcable tray..........................................................80 Fume extraction and scrubbing system....................82 Gas plant.......................................................... 35 Gasket.....................................................................83 Gate valve................................................................17 Globe valve..............................................................17 Gmp and non gmp..................................................57 Handy marker................................................... 80 Hast alloy................................................................17 Heat exchanger.................................................. 31, 57 Heat transfer equipment..........................................33 High pressure blower...............................................33 High speed mixer....................................................57 Hope ball valve - flange end....................................79 Hotshot mechanical automatic pump......................10 HPLC.....................................................................39 Impeller............................................................ 16 Informatic................................................................39 Laboratory bottle.............................................. 84 Large diameter welded pipe....................................81 Limit switch............................................................79 Linear hybrid stepping motor..................................79 Lined ball valve..........................................................5 Lined valve..............................................................17 Lined valve and pipe fitting.......................................6 Liquid jet ejector.....................................................10 Long neck pipe end........................................... 16, 79 Magnetic driven pump...................................... 79 Mechanical vacuum booster....................................51 Modular system pump.............................................63 Monel......................................................................17 Monoblock pump....................................................82 Nano enclosure................................................. 80 Nickle aluminium bronze........................................17 Non metallic pump..................................................82 Non return valve.................................................. 6, 16 P/P positioner................................................... 79 PFA lined ball valve...................................................5 PFA lined plug valve.................................................5 PFA lined products....................................................5 Pipe .......................................................................83 Piping system from polypropylene............................4 Plastic tanks.............................................................84 Plug valve.......................................................... 17, 83 Pole ring..................................................................16 Polypropylene process pump...................................82 PP butterlly valve - flange end.................................79 PP diaphragm valve flange end and screwed end....79 Pressure vessel.................................................... 31, 57 Process gas blower...................................................33 PTFE......................................................................83 PTFE lined ball check valve......................................5 PTFE lined fitting....................................................5 PTFE lined pipe.......................................................5 PTFE lined product..................................................5 PTFE lined spool pipe..............................................5
Product
Pg. No.
PTFE lined valve and pipe fitting.............................6 Pump................................................................82, BC Pump for chemical equipment................................15 Pumping solution....................................................81 Pvdf pump...............................................................82 Reactor............................................................. 57 Reducer...................................................................16 Rod .......................................................................83 Roots blower.......................................................... BC Rotary atomiser....................................................BIC Rotary dry vacuum pump........................................33 Rotary evaporator....................................................84 Rotary gear pump....................................................82 Rotary jocketed pump.............................................82 Rotary main oil pump.............................................82 Rotary monoblock pump.........................................82 Rotary tracodial pump.............................................82 Rotary twin gear pump............................................82 Sampling valve-teflon lined................................. 6 Scoop.......................................................................16 Seamless pipe..........................................................81 Self priming mud pump..........................................82 Self priming sewage pump......................................82 Sheet .......................................................................83 Showel.....................................................................16 Silence flow package................................................33 Slipon flange............................................................16 Socket .....................................................................79 Spade.......................................................................16 Spin flash dryer.....................................................BIC Spool pipe..................................................................5 Spray dryer...........................................................BIC Stailess steel pipe.....................................................81 Steam jet air ejector system.....................................10 Steam jet booster and ejector...................................10 Storage tank...................................................... 31, 57 Strainer......................................................................6 Super duplex............................................................17 Surface condenser....................................................10 Swing check valve....................................................83 Tee ................................................................ 16 Teflon lined valve and pipe fitting.............................6 Tefzel hhs isotactic PP material.................................4 Thermo compressor.................................................10 Thermoplastic valve...................................................4 Titanium.................................................................17 Trade show..............................................................68 Trilobe roots blower.................................................51 Truck blower...........................................................33 Tube ................................................................. 81, 83 Turbine vacuum system...........................................10 Twin lobe roots blower............................................51 ‘U’ tube............................................................. 81 UPLC......................................................................39 Vacuum booster pump......................................BC Vacuum system...................................................... BC Valve ............................................................. 5, 16, 83 Valve positioner.......................................................79 Valve positioning sensor..........................................79 Vertical glandless pump...........................................82 Washer............................................................. 16 Welded pipe............................................................81 Wind turbine........................................................ FIC ‘Y’ type strainer................................................. 16
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Acme Air Equipment Co Pvt Ltd 51 T: +91-79-25831985 E: info@airequipments.com W: www.airequipments.com
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