Project Justification

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With the emerging energy usage, pollution of the environment has become a major concern worldwide. New specifications for diesel fuel calls for low sulphur content and high cetane number. Accordingly, the emerging diesel specifications are much more stringent than the current specifications in respect of these parameters.

Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. on India, vide order dated 28.11.97 constituted a committee, under the chairmanship of Prof. D.K. Biswas, Chairman CPCB, to formulate an auto oil programme for the year 2005. The committee for auto oil programme constituted an Expert Working Group to recommend the fuel specifications of automotive commercial fuels for the year 2005 and to recommend technology to adopted to meet fuel quality specifications for year 2005. This Expert Working Group on fuel quality has been considering to adopt EU-2000 specifications for fuel quality in India from the year 2005 and had desired information from the refineries regarding the cost involved for technological upgradation in meeting the EU -2000 (i.e. Indian 2005) specifications of HSD in the refineries. The critical quality specification of HSD in respect to EU-2000 (i.e. Indian 2005) are given in Table 2.

Table 2. EU Specifications Applicable to Indian Fuel Quality

Specifications EU-2000 (i.e. Indian 2005 specifications
Sulphur, wt% (max) 0.035
Cetane number (min) 51
Density, gm\cc (max) 0.845
Polycyclic Aromatics wt% (max) 11.0
Distillation @ 95% Vol% oC (max) 360

 MoE&F issued Gazette Notification dated 03 April, 1996 stipulating stringent quality specifications of HSD for certain environmental parameters. The three important quality parameters of HSD under BIS-2000 and MoE&F specifications (current) vis-à-vis BRPL's present quality of Diesel are given in the Table 3.

Table 3. Current and Proposed MoE&F Specifications vis-à-vis BRPL's Present Specifications of Diesel Quality.
 

Specifications BIS-2000
(w.e.f. 01.04.2000)		 MoE&F Specification
(current)		 BRPL's Present Quality
Sulphur wt% 0.25 0.25 0.15
Cetane number 48* 48* 45
Density, gm/cc 0.820 - 0.860** 0.820 - 0.860** 0.870**

* For diesel fuel produced from Assam crude
                  ** For diesel fuel produced from Assam crude

HSD presently produced at BRPL is not going to meet any of the three future stringent quality specifications under Indian 2005 specifications apart from not meeting few of the BIS-2000 specifications and MoE&F specifications which are currently in vogue. Failure to meet the future stringent quality specifications of HSD will lead to disposal problem and BRPL would be forced to sell it as low value products such as LDO/LSHS etc. Volume of HSD being about 40% of the crude throughput, its disposal as low value product will severely affect the refinery margins and pose a threat to the survival of the company. By installing a DHPU for HSD, all the three critical specifications under Indian 2005 specifications (viz sulphur=0.035 wt%, cetane number=15 and density=0.845 gm/cc) can be achieved. Therefore, it has become a necessity for BRPL to set up a DHPU for producing HSD of new quality specification.

The following are some of the merits of the project location within the existing refinery complex.

  • General facilities such as ware house, laboratory maintenance yards, safety and fire fighting equipment already exist and the proposed project would therefore not lead to these additional facilities development.

  • No new storage facilities would be required as the existing facilities are suggested to be adequate. No new effluent treatment plant has been considered for this project as the liquid effluent generated in the project shall be sent to the existing waste water treatment plant for treatment before disposal.

  • As the project is proposed to be a part of the existing refinery the feed to the project shall be supplied from the existing facilities of the refinery through pipelines. The major infrastructure including township, railway facilities and approach road for dispatch of product already exists and would therefore not lead to additional peripheral developments in the area.

 


Last Updated: September 28, 2015