NEW PROJECT - ethylene plant from IOC
IndianOil’s board gave in-principle approval last month (November) to set up a Rs350cr ($64m) ethylene recovery plant to use waste gas at its Panipat refinery in Haryana.
PETROWATCH learns IOC is expected to invite EoIs in January from technology providers such as Linde AG, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), ABB Lummus, and Stone and Webster. IOC wants to appoint an EPC contractor by next July and expects to commission the facility by the end of 2015.
It expects an impressive 20% Return on Investment (RoI) at the facility, far higher than the minimum 12% to 13% rate from comparable projects, as there will be no feedstock costs. “Residual gas produced from refining crude at Panipat will be used as feedstock,” explains IOC.
Once commissioned, the facility will produce ethane, propane for LPG, ethylene to make plastic, and propylene, all produced from naphtha. IOC will save 15 tonnes/hr of expensive naphtha by using Panipat’s residual gas.