BHEL wins country's first ever EPC contract for 800 MW rating supercritical power project

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL; New Delhi, India) has achieved a major breakthrough by bagging a prestigious contract for setting up a supercritical thermal power project on EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) basis from Gujarat State Electricity   (GSECL). 

Valued at around Rs.35,360 Million, the order for setting up a 1x800 MW coal-fired supercritical thermal unit at Wanakbori in Kheda District of Gujarat, has been won by BHEL against International Competitive Bidding (ICB). 

With this, GSECL has reposed confidence in BHEL's proven technological excellence as also its capability in executing power projects of this magnitude on EPC basis. Significantly, this is the first ever project of 800 MW unit rating ordered in the country on EPC basis and is also the highest valued order placed by GSECL. This reinforces BHEL's leadership status in the execution of supercritical thermal power projects involving supply of state-of-art equipment, suited to Indian coal and Indian conditions. 
With this project, BHEL has now won orders for supply and installation of 33 supercritical boilers and 28 turbines of 660 / 700 / 800 MW ratings.
 
With its vast experience in the design of boilers, BHEL has developed fuel flexible supercritical boilers capable of handling a wide variety of fuel blends of imported and indigenous coal. These boilers designed by BHEL are capable of operating the plant continuously at full load with fuel ranging from 100% imported to 100% indigenous coal. BHEL has a significant presence in the state of Gujarat with 78.3% share in the installed capacity of 9,653 MW in the state utilities of Gujarat for Coal, Lignite, Hydel and Gas based power plants. 

This order further enhances BHEL's already impressive contribution to this state. BHEL's scope of work in the project includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, construction, erection, testing & commissioning for the EPC Package comprising 1x800 MW supercritical set. 

The key equipment for the contract will be manufactured at BHEL's Trichy, Haridwar, Bhopal, Ranipet, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Jhansi plants, with the company's Power Sector - Western Region to be responsible for civil works and erection / commissioning of the equipment. 

Reliance Power withdraws from 7480MW DADRI Power Project

Reliance Power has formally withdrawn from the Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh after a protracted legal battle over acquisition of land for the plant.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed as infructuous the company's appeal against a high court order setting aside the acquisition of land under an emergency clause, which allowed the state government to waive a requirement to seek objections from farmers before acquiring their land. This left Reliance Power free to withdraw. The state will now will have to return the compensation money paid by the company to the farmers and decide what to do with the land.

Reliance Power had in a surprise move told the top court on August 25 that it wasn't interested in setting up the proposed 7,480 MW gas-fired power plant in Dadri and would return about 956 acres of land acquired for the project.

Land acquisition for the project has been mired in legal wrangles. After arguments in the case were completed and the top court reserved its verdict a fortnight ago, Reliance Power submitted an affidavit, saying it would have set up the project had there been no legal issues with the land acquired for the project.

"But the acquisition was challenged even before the project could start," Reliance said. The company also claimed that since the 10 years when the project was first envisaged, it has become more difficult to get sustained natural gas supply to run the plant.

Vortex Pneumatic Diverter Valve Handling Plastic Pellets

Customer: Automotive Equipment Manufacturer

Material: Plastic Pellets

Application: Convey plastic pellets from individual storage bins to an extruder

Challenge: Replace a cumbersome hose system and automate the process of conveying multiple materials to a common destination

Valves: Vortex Quantum Wye Line Diverters | DR2.5-2AL-MG (2-way) and DR2.5-4AL-MG (4-way)

Results:

For this plastics manufacturer, the process of conveying plastic pellets was a production and safety nightmare. Flexible hoses were utilized to convey different grades and colors of pellets from storage bins to an extruder where the pellets were heated and molded into parts for the automotive industry.

The hoses took up space on the production floor. Employees moving through the facility had to be cognizant of the ever-changing location of the hoses. Production slowed down as hoses were relocated to different source bins. On occasion, hoses were connected to the wrong source material – causing the extruded parts to be rejected. It was not a pretty situation.

The company had utilized Vortex 2-way diverter valves in other parts of their facility with great success. They were pleased with the valves' performance and the exceptional life-cycle costs they provided. A decision was made to replace the hoses with Vortex multi-port diverters.

Two 4-way and two 2-way Vortex Quantum Wye Line Diverters were installed in the ceiling – routing the conveying lines off of the production floor and freeing up the floor area. Employees are now able to remotely select a source bin for the different pellets. The diverters shift into place and conveying automatically begins. All safety, production, and reject issues were solved with this new installation. The customer had the foresight to expose one of the ports of the 2-way diverters – allowing an air intake so the system can be "purged" on occasion.

"When the diverters arrived, we were surprised to see the new design of the quantum-style body. The full flange, in-line serviceability, and improved sealing features were an added bonus to a product that has always provided quality performance!" the production superintendent noted.

Contact Adroitt Flow Control, Mumbai on enquiry@adroitt.net for more information.

Global plastics industry is more optimistic for doing business with India

With the gradual key improvement in global economic scenario, the global plastics industry has shown significant signs of recovery with latest shale gas developments in US and increasing demand for plastics in array of applications – be it household of industrial – the global plastics industry is poised to scale new heights in coming years.

Arvind Mehta, Chairman – Governing Council All India Plastics Manufacturers' Association (AIPMA) and Past President – AIPMA & Plastindia says, "Overall, the plastics industries in all the major economies are on growth path. They are now more optimistic of doing more business with India and they expect Indian plastics industry to be as good as China."

Mehta represented Indian plastics industry at the CIPAD 2014 Global Assembly, during June 22-24, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. "It was an excellent opportunity for networking at an international forum where global association leaders meet and present their country papers, exchange ideas and information and get updated specially from converters and machinery producers' point of view," adds Mehta.

Mehta shares his observations at the CIPAD 2014 Global Assembly as follows:

US: With competitive manufacturing, the current scenario of US plastics industry is very positive. The 440% increase in Shale Gas production in the world's 3rd largest plastics market has attracted new investment of $9.6 billion and the plastics industry in US is expected to create 2.1 million jobs by 2020. Moreover, gas based polymer production is helping the plastics industry to fetch impressive profit as compared to other countries.

UK: With a significant growth of 1.4% and 2.7% in manufacturing and business investment respectively, the UK GDP is expected to grow 3% this year. The major focus of UK on plastic recycling and the Shale Gas boom will be a game changer for the UK plastics industry.

Germany: One of the leaders in making plastics and rubber processing machineries, Germany accounted for 22.2% in global sales of these machineries in 2013. With around 2,640 companies operational, German plastics industry in on growth trajectory and with impressive growth rate of 3.5%, 2.1% and 2.7% in packaging, construction and medical respectively ensures further growth. Plastic recycling will be a key contributor in the growth of German plastics industry.

Japan: The Japanese economy is on a moderate recovery trend. Japan produces 10.6 million tonne of plastic raw material per annum; in which PE 24.9%, PP 21.6%, PVC 14.1%, PS 7%, PET 5%, ABS/SAN 4.3%. Packaging accounts for 37.4% of total plastics produces in Japan, followed by 24.8% in building material, 8.1% in Automotive, 6.4% in agriculture and 5.2% in houseware.

Italy: Considered as one of the most technologically advance machinery makers for the world plastics industry, Italy is expected to show robust recovery in plastics machinery export.

Canada: Despite slow but steady growth of Canadian plastics industry, the key issues such as ban on plastic shopping bags, increasing marine debris, vinyl tin stabilizers, phthalates, flexographic emissions etc. are things to be watched out. With 3,170 companies engaged in plastic processing, the country is working on diverting plastics from landfills to recycling plants.

Switzerland: With a healthy economic recovery, Switzerland's GDP grew by 1.9%. Swiss plastic machinery export is up by 3% that include injection moulding machine (2.2%), thermoforming machines (19.1%), and blow moulding machines (14.2%). Manufacturing precision machinery is the key strength of Swiss Plastic industry.

Mexico: Mexico is an important representative of the plastic industry of South America. The Mexican plastic industry grew production by 4.8% and consumption by 5.9%. With the growing consumption in automobile and packaging, the polymer consumption has reached to 6.41 million tonne in Mexico.

INVISTA to license R²R Technology to Ariha Chemicals

One of the world's largest integrated producers of chemical intermediates, polymers and fibers, INVISTA Technologies S.à.r.l., has entered into an agreement to license its R²R Technology to Maharashtra, India based Ariha Chemicals Private Limited.

The project, which will be installed at Taloja, Maharashtra will have an initial design capacity of 35,000 metric tonne per annum (MTPA) and will be the first stand-alone R²R facility licensed by INVISTA.

This technology is a solution that should result in the recovery of valuable chemicals in the residues streams from multiple purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants.

Kumar Dharwadkar, Director at Ariha Chemicals Private Limited said, "Ariha is excited to be embarking on this new venture that could benefit its environmental and variable cost performance by using the R²R Technology from INVISTA."

INVISTA develops Industry's first Nylon 6,6 polymer pipe

INVISTA, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, introduced Raptor™ nylon pipe, the industry's first nylon 6,6 homogenous single wall line pipe that withstands temperatures up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and pressures up to 500 PSI, while also being fast to install.

Raptor™ nylon pipe comes coiled in up to 2,000-foot sections that are ready for the ditch and suitable for applications ranging from multiphase flow lines to low pressure natural gas gathering and water transportation. Its product portfolio includes 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch and 6-inch IPS and SDRs 7, 9 and 11. Six-inch pipe is expected to be available in fourth quarter 2014.

INVISTA is the world's largest producer of nylon 6,6 polymer and chemical intermediates, and has a track record of 75 years of nylon innovations. INVISTA applied its polymer science and innovation capabilities to help bring the inherent benefits of nylon 6,6—superior strength, heat tolerance and wear resistance—to the oil and gas market.

"We discovered a strong market signal for a line pipe that was tough enough to handle the oil patch and perform daily under rugged conditions, but could be installed quickly, which provides E&P and midstream companies flexibility in their schedules," said Vikram Gopal, INVISTA vice president of technology, and who led the development of Raptor™ nylon pipe. "In response, INVISTA scientists and engineers collaborated to create a groundbreaking nylon 6,6 pipe system for the oilfield."

Raptor™ nylon pipe performs 2 to 5 times better than steel in abrasion resistance. It offers better resistance to static build-up and more than 25 times more abrasion resistance than HDPE pipe.

"With shale gas production increasing across North America, we expect our new line pipe offering will bring a new solution to the wellhead for the transportation of oil, gas and water for customers," added Gopal.

Lanxess expands new plant for inorganic pigments in China

Specialty chemicals group LANXESS is strengthening its production network in China to meet the high level of demand for iron oxide pigments and is adding a mixing and milling plant to the pigment plant already under construction in Ningbo.

Potential customers for the iron oxide pigments are the coatings, plastics, and construction industries. This brings the total investment at the Ningbo site from around EUR 55 million to around EUR 60 million.

The new plant for iron oxide red pigments in Ningbo, which has been built to the latest environmental standards, is being designed for an initial annual synthesis capacity of 25,000 metric tonne. On the same site, LANXESS is building the mixing and milling plant for pigments with an annual capacity of 70,000 metric tonne. This plant will also process raw pigments from other LANXESS sites for the Asian market. The plants are scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015 and to start production in the first quarter of 2016.

At the same time, LANXESS will also close its existing mixing and milling operations in Taopu, Shanghai, with an annual capacity of 35,000 metric tonne by the end of 2016.

"Our decision to significantly expand our plant in Ningbo is based on the fact that the global demand for iron oxide pigments is growing at an annual rate of around 3%," says Jörg Hellwig, head of the Inorganic Pigments business unit (IPG) at LANXESS. "By doubling our milling capacities in China, we are strengthening our position as a world-leading manufacturer of iron oxide pigments with a wide-ranging product portfolio for customers."

Uranium Corp's Jaduguda mine closure to impact Nuclear Power Output

The closure of Jaduguda mine of Uranium Corporation of India Ltd(UCIL) is set to impact nuclear power generation in the country, an official of the company has said. 

"The Jaduguda mine is closed since September 7 and it is already seven days shortage of uranium. Nuclear power plants will get affected if the situation perists," UCIL Chairman and Managing Director D Acharya told PTI. 

Jaduguda's uranium ore supply accounts for 25 per cent of raw-material that fuel 5,000 MW of nuclear power generation of the country. 

Jaduguda mine is the first uranium mine of the country where mining operations began in 1967. The current capacity is 1,000 tonnes of uranium ore per day. 

The mine was closed following aJharkhand government order after the Centre's July 18 directive asking states to clamp down on mines operating under second or third deemed renewals. 

Achrya said the mine lease had expired long back. "We have appraised the government of the situation and hope the problem will be resolved," he said. 

Following the Centre's directive 12 out of the state's 17 operational iron ore mines in Jharkhand had been closed impacting companies, including SAIL and Tata Steel.