IndianOil to design IndMax for high yields of propylene

Aimed at meeting the increasing demand in the region, IndianOil’s board has approved the first stage of expansion of the Gujarat refinery at an estimated cost of Rs 150.34 billion. This expansion will enhance the refinery’s crude oil processing capacity from the existing 13.7 mmtpa to 18 mmtpa.

According to Sanjiv Singh, chairman, IndianOil, the new refinery configuration proposed will take into account the likely disruptions in the fuel supply/demand scenario in the future and will have built-in flexibility in its operations for strong integration with downstream petrochemical units.

“Gujarat Refinery, which went on stream in October 1965 as a 1 mmtpa unit, heralded India’s capabilities to build refineries on its own. In the same vein, we are now proposing to incorporate IndianOil’s own R&D technologies for both IndMax and kerosene hydrodesulphurisation units,” Singh said.

“The IndMax unit is being designed for high yields of propylene, for which a polypropylene unit of 420 mmtpa capacity is being set up as a downstream petrochemical unit as part of the refinery configuration,” he added. Polypropylene is used in a variety of applications, including textiles.

IndianOil is also pursuing a 60-mmtpa integrated refinery-cum-petrochemicals project on the west coast jointly with other oil marketing companies like BPCL and HPCL. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India