A REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL TRAINING AT

Assam Petrochemicals Limited

Namrup

Submitted by:
Himanshu Gogoi

Bachelor of Technology

6th Semester

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Regional Institute of Science & Technology, Meghalaya
Duration of training: 23/07/22 to 22/08/22
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With due respect, I express my sense of gratitude to the respected &
learned guides of Assam Petrochemicals limited, Namrup for providing
their supervision. I am thankful to the training centre for giving me the
opportunity to learn deeper inside the basics of Methanol & Formalin
production.

I am heartily thankful to all the Managers, Engineers and all shift

Operators working under them to give me directions and valuable inputs on
each and every sections of Methanol & Formalin production.
 CONTENT

1. Introduction

2. Mechanical Equipments

3. Boiler

4. Heat Exchanger

5. Compressor

6. Steam Turbines

7. Pumps

8. Cooling Towers

9. Valves
 INTRODUCTION

Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd. (APL) is a state level public sector undertaking of

Govt. of Assam incorporated on 22nd April 1971. The foundation stone of the
company was laid at Namrup on 15th June 1971 for production of Methanol and
Formalin. Assam Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (AIDC) promoted the
company for manufacture of Methanol from Natural Gas which was abundantly
available in the adjoining oil field in the Upper Assam. The Petrochemical
complex of APL is the first of its kind in India, having natural gas as feedstock.
Formalin is its downstream product. The company started its commercial
production of Methanol and Formalin in June, 1976 from its two plants of 21
MTPD and 36 MTPD capacities respectively and a few Urea Formaldehyde
resins as downstream projects with technology supplied by Mitsubishi Gas
Chemicals Co., Japan.

Having availability of Natural Gas in the nearby oil fields in the upper Assam,
APL set up another 100 TPD Methanol plant and commissioned it in 1989 with
technology supplied by ICI, UK and the 100 TPD capacity Formalin expansion
plant in 1997 with technology from DERIVADOS FORESTALES of
NETHERLAND. APL revamped its 100TPD Formaldehyde plant to 125TPD in
the year 2012. Present Plant Capacities-Methanol and Formalin are 100TPD and
125TPD respectively.

Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd. is now implementing a mega project of 500TPD

Methanol and 200 TPD Formaldehyde plant as an expansion project of the
company at a total cost of Rs. 1337 crore. Implementation of the 500 TPD
Methanol project is going on at the adjacent plot of existing plant at Namrup in
Dibrugarh district of Assam

APL produces Methanol and Formalin from its plants located at Namrup
and sell these products in domestic as well as exports to neighbouring countries
viz. Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
PRODUCT- Methanol

Technical Specification

1. Percentage of Methanol 99.9%

2. Acetone &Aldehyde 0.003% Max
3. 0.003% Max
Acetone
4. Ethanol 0.001% Max
5. Acidity (as Acetic acid) 0.003% Max
6. Odour Characteristic Non-residual
7. Water content 0.1% Max
8. Specific gravity (at 20 °C / 20 °C) 0.7928

PRODUCT- Formalin

Technical Specification

1. Formaldehyde content (Wt.) 37% ± 0.5

2. Free Acid (as Formic Acid) 200 ppm Max
3. 3% Max ± 0.5
Methanol (Wt.)
4. Specific Gravity 1.10 (Water=1)
5. Odour Pungent
 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENTS
STATIC:

 Boiler
 Heat exchangers
 Reformer
 Pipes & Valves
 Furnace
 Pressure Relieving System
 Reactor
 Convertor
 Chimney
 Storage tanks

ROTARY

 Pumps
 Compressors
 Turbine
 Fans
 BOILER
A boiler is a piece of equipment which acts as a closed vessel to convert the
water inside into steam. In order for this to happen chemical energy from a fuel
source such as oil or gas is converted into heat by combustion. The heat is then
transferred to the contained water, thereby increasing the pressure and
eventually converting the liquid form into steam.

Depending
epending on the plant, the most part of the steam produced by the boilers will
serve one of the following functions:

 Fuel – Often the steam will be used to power turbines for electric
generating equipment, blowers, and pumps
 Production – The steam may also play a role in the actual
production of the product by sterilization, or to achieve the
processing temperatures needed for an aspect of production
 Climate – The steam may also be used to power the plant’s heating
and air conditioning units. This might be done for personal worker
comfort, to keep equ
equipment
ipment at proper operating temperatures, or
both.
Most industrial boilers fall into two broad categories of boiler types.The two
main categories of boilers are:
 Fire Tube Boilers – Fire tube boilers utilize a system of tubes through
which the “fire”, passes. The tubes are surrounded by water and the water
is heated as the tubes also rise in temperature. Eventually steam is
released for use.

 Water Tube Boilers – In contrast to fire tube boilers; a water tube boiler
uses the water rather than the heat which is contained inside of a system
of interconnected tubes.
 HEAT EXCHANGERS
Petroleum and chemical industries are the major application fields of heat
exchangers, accounting for about 30% of the market share of heat exchangers.
Almost all processes in petroleum and chemical production have heating,
cooling, or condensation process es, which require heat exchangers. Heat
processes,
exchangers play an important role in the quality of petrochemical products, the
utilization of heat, and the economy and reliability of the system.

 Application of plate heat exchanger in the petrochemical industry

industry:
The application of plate heat exchanger in the oil industry is mainly in all
kinds of oil heating and cooling, condensation and cooling tower gas, plant
cooling water system, plant the processing of acidic water,
water freshwater
distillation, etc.

 Application of high-flux
high flux heat exchanger in the petrochemical
industry
High flux tubes are the specific spraying equipment, will have higher
bond strength of composite powder flame spraying through high speed to
pass strict cleaning and processed tube on the surface of substrate
preheating, in ordinary heat exchange tube adhered
adhered to the surface of the
substrate layer, a layer of porous metal forming porous surface, to improve
a boil to the strengthening of the thermal coefficient of heat exchange tube.

 Application of heat pipe heat exchanger in the petrochemical

industry
Many heating furnaces and cracking furnaces in petrochemical
enterprises, such as naphtha cracking furnaces for the production of
ethylene, generally have a smoke exhaust temperature of 200 ~ 400℃, 400
and the exhaust gas after combustion is often not conducive to emptying,
using heat pipe air preheater to preheat the combustion air, can achieve a
good energy-saving
saving effect.
 COMPRESSOR
Air compressors have multiple applications in almost all industries, including
chemical processing and extraction.
extraction Air compressors make it possible to
transport bulk chemicals around a facility. The compressed gas pressure is
independent of its volume, which makes it easy to transport and use anywhere.

Air compressors keep gases at high pressures for safe

safe transportation
and storage, making them essential tools for transporting chemicals in industrial
settings. Compressed air is used to reduce the volume of the gases, making
them convenient to store and handle for the aeration process and accelerate
drying processes.

TYPES OF COMPRESSORS USED IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Two basic types of compressors are employed in the natural gas industry, and
these are the rotary and reciprocating compressors.

1. ROTARY COMPRESSORS
COMPRESSORS:
Rotary compressors are of two major types and these are the rotary
blower and centrifugal compressor. Most of the parts of a rotary machine
are immutable asides from the impeller and shaft and as such, they are
less susceptible to mechanical inefficiency in comparison to reciprocating
compressors
2. RECIPROCATING COMPRESSOR:
COMPRE
Reciprocating compressor equipment used in the oil and gas industry,
exhibit a linear motion when increasing the pressure
pressure in natural gas.
They are the most commonly used in natural gas compressors because
they can handle all volume capacities and pressures
 STEAM TURBINE:
A steam turbine is a device that extracts thermal energy from the steam
and converts it to mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. A steam turbine
works by heating water to very high temperatures, until it converts into steam.
The steam produced in the process is used to rotate the blades of the turbine
and produce rotational or mechanical energy.

Typically, a steam turbine is linked to a generator. Once the rotational energy

is produced, it is used to generate electricity through the generator attached.
Steam turbines offer high levels of efficiency when it comes to power generation
and are heavily used in different industries.

While steam turbines offer a quick and efficient way to produce power, they
require a thermal energy source to operate. The following are different sources of
energy that can drive a steam turbine:

 Coal
 Fossil Fuels/Natural Gas
 Geothermal
 Nuclear
 Pumps:
In a petrochemical industry, pump is used to extract or move petrochemicals.
Petrochemicals are similar to other types of petroleum-based products in that
they generally have high viscosities, and may be toxic, volatile, or corrosive.
Thus, the pump generally needs to be a heavy-duty piece of machinery that is
capable of generating high rates of flow and pressure, and is able to safeguard
against catastrophic leaks.

Centrifugal pump:

By far the most common type of pump in this industrial sector, centrifugal
pumps are based on a well-recognized operational principle. All the moving
parts are mounted on a rotor, the windings on that rotor create an
electromagnetic field, and this field interacts with a secondary magnetic effect,
as produced by the pump stator. Mounted on bearings, the pump spins, a
sealed volute chamber fills with chemicals, and the impeller generates spinning
force.
 Cooling towers
Cooling towers are specialized heat exchangers that reduce the temperature of
water by bringing it in contact with air. Water, which has been heated by an
industrial process, is pumped to the cooling tower through pipes. The water
sprays through nozzles onto banks of heat transfer material called fill, which
slows the flow of water through the cooling tower and exposes as much water
surface area as possible for maximum air-water contact. As the water flows
through the cooling tower, it also is exposed to air that is pulled through the tower
by an electric-motor-driven fan.
When the water and air meet, a small amount of water is evaporated,
creating a cooling action. The cooled water then is pumped back to the process
equipment, where it absorbs heat. It then will be pumped back to the cooling
tower to be cooled once again.
For refineries and chemical processing plants, open-circuit wet cooling
towers coupled with shell-and-tube or plate-and-frame heat exchangers provide
an economical method for rejecting heat. These towers are designed to wet bulb
temperature and can cool water to a lower temperature than some other
technologies. But, refineries and processing plants also employ other methods to
achieve cooling.
Different types of cooling towers are:

 Field-erected towers
 Factory-assembled towers
 Valves:
A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid
(gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially
obstructing various passageways.

Generally, a petrochemical facility has thousands of meters of pipelines

snaking their way in and out of mega-sized holding tanks and machinery.
Intercepting these pipelines are large and small valves that play a crucial role in
regulating the flow of various media, mainly oil and gas and numerous
petrochemicals from which other chemicals are derived.

Types of valves used in petrochemical industries are:

Automatic Gate Valves

They are vital components that ensure the overall safety of the plant by
preventing leakage and onsite explosions. They also prevent hazardous
gases from escaping into the environment and causing explosions or fires.

Globe Valves

They regulate the pressure and temperature of toxic fluids and gases and play
a huge role in water cooling systems that do not require stringent leakage
precautions.

Gate valves

They are used to regulate thick fluids like oils, slurries, petroleum and crude
oil. Slide gate valves are commonly used in petrochemical plants as they can
handle only a certain amount of pressure.

Butterfly and ball valves

Butterfly and ball valves are mainly used to open and shut the flow of fluids.

Check Valves

Without check valves, there would be no way of knowing or preventing any

unwanted backflows that can damage the apparatus.
 CONCLUSION

The vocational training enhanced my practical knowledge. Most importantly I

was oriented to the industrial scenario and its many challenges.

Nevertheless I enjoyed the training to the fullest and I am very sure that this
training will help me in my future endeavors.