Shri Ram Naik,
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, today inaugurated a Laboratory
at the R&D Centre of Indian Oil Corporation Limited at Faridabad,
near Delhi, to develop new technologies for producing value
added products like LPG, Needle Coke, etc., from crude oil residues.
Set up at an investment of about Rs. 34 crore, the laboratory
houses pilot plants dedicated for various upgradation and related
processes.
Petroleum residue
is the ‘bottom of the barrel’ that remains after extraction
of distillates such as petrol, diesel, LPG, etc., from crude
oil. About 30-55 per cent of the crude oil ends up as residue
which is disposed of as fuel oil at a price less than that of
the crude oil and thus adversely affects the overall profitability
of a refinery.
The new laboratory
at the R & D Centre of IOC would support the refineries
to optimise their performance in residue management as well
as in developing new technologies. The Laboratory has secondary
process pilot plants such as Resid Fluid Catalytic Cracking
(RFCC), Delayed Coking & Visbreaking, Solvent Deasphalting,
Solvent Extraction, FCC Cold Stand and Catalytic Reforming.
Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Petroleum
& Natural Gas was also present on the occasion along with
the Members of Parliament Shri Satish Pradhan, Shri Prakash
Paranjape and Shri Ram Chander Bainda.
Earlier in a presentation,
the Ministers were informed that over 2000 formulations have
been developed by the R & D Centre, since its inception
in 1972. Currently 450 Grades of Lubricants/Greases are being
marketed meeting the international standards. It was also informed
that Indian Railways have saved about Rs. 185 crore a year on
account of breakthrough achieved by IOC R & D Centre in
producing multi-grade technology lubricants replacing the mono-grade
lubricants for the first time in India.
The IOC R &
D Centre has performed admirably in indigenisation of lube technology
for imports substitution and self-reliance. The major areas
of its research focus on lube technology and refining technology
including research on fuel quality and emission and pipeline
transportation. It has the state-of-the-are facilities and has
linkages with academic and R & D institutions, major customers
and the operating divisions of IOC.
The visiting dignitaries
also witnessed a demonstration of the conversion of plastics
into hydrocarbon fuels at the Centre by Ms. Alka Zadgaonkar,
a Professor of an Engineering College at Nagpur. The process
of conversion would be examined by the R&D Centre for techno-economic
feasibility.
