New Delhi, Dec. 6: In a major technological leap, Indian Oil Corporation has decided to use its Indmax refining technology to construct the fluidised catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) of the upcoming 15-million-tonne Paradip refinery.

IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria said, "Indian Oil has now joined the league of select multinational technology licensors such as Shell, UOP and Stone and Webster."

These global companies provide the technology for most of the oil refineries set up all over the world.

Behuria said IOC's Indane Maximisation (Indmax) technology has been developed at its R&D centre in Faridabad on the outskirts of New Delhi and successfully tested at the Guwahati refinery, where a 100,000-tonne-per-year FCCU unit was in operation.

A formal agreement to use the technology for the Paradip refinery was signed today at IOC's R&D centre by R.P. Verma, executive director (R&D) and P. Sur, general manager (projects-process) of refineries division of the company.

Behuria said the novel refining process technology enables higher yields of LPG and petrol by using various refinery streams, including heavy residues and naphtha as feedstock. A demonstration plant of 100,000-tonne-per-annum capacity, which is based on the technology, is already operational at Indian Oil's Guwahati refinery since June 2003.

The proprietary technology and catalyst formulation have earned US, European and Indian patents. They were awarded by the India government's department of science & technology (DST) and the department of industrial & scientific research in 2004, he said.

The Indmax process uses a special catalyst. A manufacturing facility for the catalyst is being put up in association with US-based InterCat in Gujarat.

Behuria said IOC's R&D centre is also the nodal agency of the Indian hydrocarbon sector for ushering in hydrogen fuel in the country. It has developed two other key process technologies for producing Euro-III and Euro-IV grade diesel.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061207/asp/business/story_7105675.asp

The issue of evacuation of Cairn`s crude oil from its fields in Rajasthan is likely to be resolved soon, reports Business Standard.

Cairn Energy India, in a joint venture (JV) with ONGC, is planning to build a 500 km pipeline to evacuate crude oil from Mangala, Bhagyam, and Aishwarya fields. This move comes after putting aside the plan for setting up a greenfield refinery in the state.

Cairn is planning to invest an additional USD 500 million in the pipeline, sources said.

The company has already worked out the logistics of the plan to build an insulated pipeline from Barmer to Mundra port, since the waxy crude oil discovered in Rajasthan can only be transported in a heated pipeline.

The government`s nominee for crude offtake from the Rajasthan fields, MRPL, will then transport the crude oil to its Mangalore refinery. MRPL`s Mangalore refinery is the only one in the public sector currently equipped to process waxy crude oil.

The other refining options for Cairn India include Reliance`s upcoming second refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat, and the Essar group`s recently commissioned refinery at Vadinar, also in Gujarat.

However, this would mean cancelling the existing production sharing contract (PSC) with the government and negotiating a fresh one. This may not be possible, sources said.

The issue of crude offtake has been a major obstacle for the company, with MRPL asking for discounts on the price of the crude oil sold, given its quality.

The company, however, has refused to bring down its price from USD 9 a barrel. Cairn had also toyed with the idea of entering the refining segment by setting up a refinery to process its production.

http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?
fileR=20061130085744124&dir=2006/11/30&secID=livenews

New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) President A.P.J Abdul Kalam Monday said India should use its thorium reserves to meet the increased needs of nuclear power generation.

'Nuclear power generation has been given a thrust by the use of uranium based fuel. However, to meet the increased needs of nuclear power generation, it is essential to pursue the development of nuclear power using thorium, reserves of which are higher in the country,' said Kalam.

Addressing the three-day 'India R&D 2006- Mind to Market' conference jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Kalam said: 'Technology development is being accelerated for thorium based power plants.'

The statement is significant as the India-US civilian nuclear deal awaits congressional clearance within the next few days.

India's present nuclear power capacity is 3,900 MW with 14 reactors in operation. The capacity is expected to reach 7,400 MW by 2010 with the completion of nine reactors, which are now in progress.

The share of nuclear power in India's total power generation capacity of 130,000 MW is around three percent.

As per the present plan of the Bhabha Atomic Research Corporation (BARC) and the Nuclear Power Corporation, the capacity by 2020 is expected to be increased to 24,000 MW.

'There is a need to plan right from now to increase this capacity to 50,000 MW by 2030,' said Kalam.

In a presentation to the large gathering of technocrats, innovators, industrialists and overseas delegates, Kalam said, 'Implementation of the advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) project and development of associated fuel cycle facilities will provide industrial scale experience into the handling of thorium.'

The AHWR is to derive two-thirds of its power from thorium and one-third from plutonium generated from fast breeder reactor (FBR).

The president called for global and national partnerships to focus on energy, agriculture, food processing and knowledge products that has got challenges in research, production and holds potential for world wide marketing.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1229436.php
/Kalam_for_accelerating_thorium_based_N-power_capacity