New Delhi, Jan. 11: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) will add another feather to its cap in March when it begins producing the “clean grade” Euro-III petrol, making it the first refinery in the region to achieve the distinction.
The project, which was inaugurated nearly three years ago with an expenditure of Rs 300 crore, will have three units comprising a naphtha splitter unit, catalytic reforming unit and isomerisation unit.
The process will mainly involve conversion of naphtha feedstock and make limited quantities of hydrogen and LPG available as byproducts.
The volume of production of Euro-III petrol at Numaligarh, which was awarded the Miniratna status two years ago, is expected to touch 185,000 metric tonnes per annum after it begins production. The other three refineries, all located in Assam, produce Euro-II grade petrol.
The technology for the conversion has been provided by M/s Axens of France and the construction undertaken by a Korean firm, M/s Toyo Engineering India Limited.
Euro-III grade petrol comes with a higher price but it is an improvement over Euro-II since it allows a maximum sulphur content of 0.015 per cent, benzene content of one per cent volume and olefin quantity of 18 per cent besides reductions in other aromatic ingredients.
The NRL’s contribution will be significant as the government’s auto fuel policy aims at controlling pollution arising out of the steep rise in traffic in the country.
At present, vehicles in 11 cities, including the metropolises, are required to use Euro-III. This will be extended to the entire country, including cities in the Northeast, by April 1, 2010.
The policy’s objective is to switch over to Euro-IV emission norms in the next decade since this fuel contributes the least to environment pollution.
Commissioned in 2000 as part of the Assam Accord, NRL is primarily a diesel-producing refinery that accounts for nearly 60 per cent of its output. It also produces aviation turbine fuel, LPG, naphtha and kerosene.
Sources said the new product would add value to NRL’s product slate with its overall profitability expected to go up from the Rs 409 crore registered during 2004-5.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, the holding company of NRL which looks after all its marketing requirements, will now be able to source its entire Euro-III petrol for the eastern cities of the country from this refinery.
Sources said commissioning of the project will also ease the refinery’s perennial problem of naphtha evacuation outside the Northeast to its main consumption centres in the northern states.
