Guwahati Refinery all set for modernisation drive

GUWAHATI, February 15: Guwahati Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) is gearing up to meet the cleaner fuel requirements of the country in the coming year by undergoing extensive modernisation of its plants and equipment. Sources in the Refinery informed that one of the most important projects currently under execution is the Hydrotreater Unit, at a cost of Rs 497 crore which will enable the refinery to live upto future quality specification of High Speed Diesel. Another such project, Indane Maximization Unit (INDMAX) is currently being executed at a cost of Rs 86 crore. On successful completion of the INDMAX unit, the first public sector refinery of the country will become capable of upgrading low value residue products to high value liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and other distillate products. It may be mentioned that the technology for the INDMAX unit was developed by Research and Development Unit of the IOC. The refinery is executing another Rs 48 crore project for producing unleaded motor spirit of International quality. Moreover, several projects aimed at modernisation of operation and enhancing the efficiency and quality of products have been implemented at the cost of Rs 78 crore. These include the Yield and Energy Optimisation Revamp of the Delayed Cooking Unit and the Crude Distillation Unit, Automatic Tank Gauging System, Advanced Process Control in Delayed Cooking Unit and the new Flare system etc. Sources in the refinery informed that the year 1999-2000 was successful period for the IOC unit during which it processed largest volume of crude and produced highest distillate among all refineries in the country. The refinery which has been accredited with ISO-9002 for quality management system and ISO-14001 for environment management system, claims to have complied with Minimal National Standard (MINAS) specification with respect to quality and quantity of its treated effluents. With a capacity of one million metric tonne per annum, Guwahati Refinery processes crude oil received from Upper Assam oil fields and caters to the requirement of petroleum products in the Northeastern region of the country. The list of petroleum products of the refinery includes LPG, motor spirit, kerosene, high speed diesel, light diesel oil, low sulphur heavy stock (LSHS), raw petroleum coke, naptha, wash oil, and aeromax.