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Fertilisers: Balanced Nutrition for Crops Essential

Mahesh Girdhar
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Fertilisers: Balanced Nutrition for Crops Essential

Growth of the Indian Fertiliser Industry

The Indian fertilizer industry has undergone significant changes and developments since the green revolution. During this time, modern agricultural practices, including fertilizers, helped increase food production in India and contributed to the country’s economic growth. Since then, the Indian fertilizer industry has grown significantly and now plays a crucial role in meeting the country’s growing demand for food. With a production of 43.5 million metric tonnes (MT) and the import of 20.5 million MT of finished fertilisers FY 20-21, India is currently the second largest Consumer of fertiliser in the world after China. The annual requirement of fertilizers in the country is in the range of 60 to 67 million MT. The sale of total fertilizers at 67.6 million MT during 2020-21. The raw materials and intermediates for production of nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilizers are largely imported. Since the nation has no sources or reserves in the country, all of its needs are met through imports.

The post-Green Revolution period witnessed a change in environmental conditions and the status of existing natural resources. These changes have led to a need for more sustainable approaches to agriculture that can address these issues and ensure long-term food security. The improper use of chemical fertilizers with low nutrient use efficiency (NUE) has caused a slow deterioration in soil fertility, and significantly damaged the productivity and sustainability of agriculture. To achieve the triple wins of food security, environmental protection and climate change adaptation & mitigation the application of fertilizers must be carefully managed. One of the most important ways to do this is by using best management practices that help achieve high Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE).

Nutrient Efficiency

NUE is a significant metric in evaluating crop production and consequently increasing farmer well-being. It can be adversely affected by how you manage your soil, irrigation, and fertiliser. By applying nutrients at the proper rate, time, and location with the appropriate agronomic techniques, fertiliser best management practices can increase NUE. Farmers must select the best nutrient management practices according to the source of nutrients, crop need and application rate. All of these processes communicate with one another As a result, the effectiveness of nutrients depends on the complete system.

India’s present nutrient use efficiency for Nitrogen, Phosphorous and MOP is 30-50%, 15-20% and60-70%, respectively. Unused nitrogen is lost by several processes, including leaching, denitrification, volatilization, etc, contaminating groundwater and the atmosphere. In the same way, considerable amounts of P and K get fixed in the soil. Hence NUE is a large area where the global and Indian fertilizer industry is investing a lot of time and resources to bring about improvements.

Balance nutrition is another crucial area where Industry need to work as plant nutrients in a balanced ratio help crops to achieve optimum crop yields that can feed the expanding population. Improved technologies involving effective nutrient management strategies are the need of the hour to accomplish the targeted food grain production while balancing the stability of the agriculture system, farmers’ income, and feeding the growing population of the country.

New Fertilisers

It is important that the Indian fertiliser industry should concentrate on developing new fertilisers that will support balanced nutrition and improve nutrient usage efficiency, in order to make the agriculture sector more environmentally friendly and sustainable. It is essential to educate farmers about this technology in order for them to quickly adopt it.

To meet its demand for finished fertiliser products and raw ingredients, India is heavily dependent on imports. The costs of finished fertiliser products, raw materials, feedstock, and intermediates fluctuate considerably on the global market every year. The current situation calls for creating new, inventive, and efficient products. For Indian agriculture to flourish, a balanced nutrition approach and fertilisers with high nutrient use efficiency are essential.

Chemingineering – Heat Pumps

Chemical Industry Digest
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Chemingineering – Heat Pumps

This month’s column throws light on the record increase in sales of heat pumps and the surge of interest in this more than century old equipment. The energy crisis in Europe, in the wake of the Ukraine war, is one of the major reasons for the large scale adoption of heat pumps for domestic heating and also for increasing industrial applications. The heat pump works on the principle of transferring heat from a certain temperature to a higher temperature. What is unique is that heat pump does not always need higher temperature and can well use readily available low temperature waste heat. Heat pumps help in reducing carbon emissions also.

The conflict in Ukraine has revived the fortunes of a more than 150-year-old contraption – The Heat Pump. Peter Ritter von Rittinger, an Austrian engineer is credited with the design and installation of the first practical heat pump system at a salt works in Austria in 1856. In mid-19th century, salt works in Austria were using locally available wood for fuel. And they quickly ran out of it. Rittinger constructed a chamber divided into two parts separated by a horizontal metal partition. Brine from the salt mine was pumped into the upper chamber, which was maintained under vacuum by a waterwheel driven compressor. The compressed steam released its heat inside the lower chamber, which was transferred by the conductive metal partition to the upper chamber to precipitate out the salt. Rittinger’s heat pump, which was called “Steam Pump”, was a cumbersome, yet highly effective device.

Principle

A heat pump is a device that transfers heat from a certain temperature to a higher temperature by adding electric power and thus heat is recovered from an unusable temperature to a temperature where it is useful, for example process or space heating. The principle of the modern heat pump is the same as that of the household refrigerator. The refrigerant, a liquefiable gas, is evaporated at low pressure, compressed and then condensed at the higher pressure. An expansion valve closes the cycle and brings the refrigerant back to its initial state. During the evaporation process, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the surroundings – from within the refrigerator or a process heat source. While condensing, the heat is released into the ambient air. In a heat pump this discarded heat is put to practical use, say for room heating. The most important benefit of heat pump is that it produces more usable heat from the same amount of electrical energy than other technologies. Coefficient of performance (COP) is a handy metric to compare this and is defined as the ratio of useful heat to electricity consumed. Heat pumps typically have a COP between 2 and 4. Electric heaters have a COP of 1. Heating furnaces have a COP less than 1.

Domestic Heating

At present, nearly 40% of the global population lives in regions that experience ambient temperatures which would require space heating for at least part of the year. What has caught the imagination of the climate activists and policy makers is the application of the heat pump for domestic heating. In this application, the heat pump works exactly opposite to the refrigerator. The ambient air, however cold it may be, is used to evaporate the refrigerant which is at even colder temperatures. The hot compressed refrigerant gas transfers the heat to water circulating inside the radiator coils. The heat pump thus does the work that would typically be done by a gas-fired boiler or electric heater. For this application, heat pumps come in three types depending on the source of heat. The most common kind is the air-source heat pump that moves heat between the outside air and the building. Worldwide, almost 85% of all heat pumps sold for buildings are air‐source, as they require the least effort to be installed. The other two kinds, ground-source and water-source are more efficient, but also more expensive to install. Field trials have started for testing a prototype air-source heat pump that is designed to perform in extreme winter with temperatures below minus 290 C.

Process Applications

Heat pump is based on the simple and yet less understood principle that supply of energy does not always require high temperatures. Low-temperature waste heat is available in almost all industries. This is typically rejected to atmosphere by using cooling towers. Heat pumps can be deployed to gainfully exploit this low-grade heat. Distillation at low and medium temperatures is a typical low-hanging fruit application for the heat pump. Heat pumps can be used to elevate the temperature of the column overhead vapours and use it as a heat source for the reboiler. The heat of condensation of the overhead vapours can be captured and upgraded to supply the reboiler duty in the distillation column. COP of 4 can be realised in this application. More importantly, the fossil fuel required to produce the steam for reboiler is eliminated.

High Temperature Heat Pump

Industrial applications of heat pump have so far been limited up to a maximum of 100 degrees C. Concerted efforts are now underway to extend the range of heat pumps to 200 degrees C. The main thrust is on the development of suitable compressors for the refrigerant. Refrigerants and compressors are crucial to the functioning of heat pumps. Scroll compressors are widely used in heat pumps. A rotary vane machine is being tested for high temperature applications. A typical heat pump refrigerant requires only a small temperature change to transform from liquid to gas and back. R410A is the most widely used refrigerant in heat pumps, but is on course to be replaced by R32, which has a significantly lower Global Warming Potential. R1233zd(E) is a promising new working fluid (refrigerant) for high-temperature heat pumps.

Future Outlook

Heat pump technology has been mature for decades, but the Ukraine war and the consequent energy crisis has thrust it into the limelight. In June last year, President Joe Biden invoked the Defence Production act to ramp up the production of building blocks for a clean energy economy; the heat pump is included among the list. Compressor, heat exchanger and electronics are the largest cost components in manufacturing a heat pump and together constitute around two‐thirds the cost of an air-source heat pump. Economies of scale are expected to drive down the costs of heat pumps over the rest of the current decade. As per International Energy Agency, around 10% of space heating needs globally were met by heat pumps in 2021, but the pace of installation is growing rapidly with sales at record levels. Financial incentives for heat pumps are already available in over 30 countries, which together cover more than 70% of heating demand today. The IEA estimates heat pumps globally have the potential to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by at least 500 million tons in 2030 – equal to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of all cars in Europe today.

Epilogue

The 1973 oil crisis gave birth to Energy Efficiency. The 2022 crisis has brought heat pumps into forefront. Cometh the crisis, cometh the solution

Readers’ responses may be sent to:
k.sahasranaman@gmail.com or
chemindigest@gmail.com

Global Chemical Supply Chain Logistics Has Many Important Dimensions to it

Chemical Industry Digest
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Global Chemical Supply Chain Logistics Has Many Important Dimensions to it

There are transformative changes taking place in Supply Chain Management (SCM), driven by latest technologies in chemical hazards management, in instrumentation, sensing and in logistics. The suite of emerging Industry 4.0 technologies, leading to digitalisation has created the potential for leap frogging over conventional techniques.To understand the current scenario and the rapid changes taking place in SCM, Chemical Industry Digest interacted with V Raju of All Cargo Group, whose views are presented here.

Chemical Industry Digest (CID): What are the specific services you offer in end-to-end logistics/supply chain management? What is the infrastructure you have in terms of warehouses, etc.? 
V. Raju (VR): The different services that All Cargo Supply Chain Solutions offer in terms of end-to-end logistics / supply chain management are:
• Warehousing services for chemical companies – storage of both hazardous and non-hazardous cargo
• Freight forwarding services to global destinations – a) Air Freight b) Ocean Freight
• LCL consolidation services – LCL freight forwarding to global destinations.
• Multimodal transportation of cargo across locations.
• Project cargo movement globally.
• CFS services at all major ports Pan India.
• Express transportation country wide.
In terms of warehousing, and connected infrastructure, while we specialize in providing storage solutions and warehousing services for chemical companies, e-commerce and retail companies, automotive and engineering companies, consumer durables and IT products, etc., chemical cargo storage remains our niche numero uno area, being the market leaders for chemical storage in the country.
The chemical warehouses that we have are of the highest technical Grade-1 class and capabilities, in addition, needless to mention, that they excel in terms of safety and security implemented for storage of hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals. Contamination water pits, storage water tanks, emergency exits, sprinklers, alarms, detectors etc abound, in every chemical warehouse, while every person must wear the personal protective equipment, while at work inside the warehouse. Safety Managers and their teams ensure the highest safety techniques in the warehouses. Continuous safety and operational training are an important part of the process that is employed inside warehouses. All warehouses comply with statutory certifications and other stipulated safety measures required to manage storage of hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals.
Professional Handling
Each of our warehouses are manned by professionals trained in safe handling of the most hazardous chemicals and lubricants, continuous training by safety experts ensure that safety practices always are accorded topmost priority in all our warehouses. Knowledge and training to handle spillage, leakages, emissions, fumes etc are constantly provided by our on-site safety and emergency handling teams, there are extremely strict measures on the Dos and Dont’s during working and handling of cargo within our warehouses. Mock drills, fire drills, and other safety exercises are carried out regularly, in addition to handling safety drills in these warehouses. Last but not the least, safety audits by our internal auditors, customer auditors, global audit teams etc ensures a safe working environment of the highest global standard for chemical cargo storage.
CID: What are the Important Aspects of Chemical Logistics? 
VR: Chemical Logistics pertains to the supply chain operation of Chemical products from the procurement of raw material to the end distribution channels till the consumers. Logistics on the basis of what part of the supply chain operations and how much of the operations are outsourced. Companies providing logistical services for chemicals provide many services in the field such as procurement services, material flow services, transportation and distribution services both national and internationally, warehouse management and storage services, contractual services to manage the whole supply chain operations, customs and security services, consulting services to optimize the supply chain and related operations and various other value-added services.
Chemical storage and transportation must be carefully planned and controlled at every stage, from the production facility to the end user. Companies need to consider the type of containers used for transporting the chemicals and ensure the right modal mix – whether it should be transported by truck, train, or sea; the organizations that will have access to the materials during shipment; and how they can get real-time information about the location and status of the materials, in order to minimize risk. Logistics management for chemicals industry demands continuous improvement in operational safety and security. Supply chain security and risk management will be the key differentiator.
Designing and Flexibility
Chemical warehouses also need to be specially designed for safety. If you have flammable chemicals, you need to have a designated room that contains a sprinkler system and wide aisles. Chemical warehouses also need to be designed to ensure waste streams are contained in case of an accident. Compliance involves not only complying with governmental rules, but also following voluntary “good practice” guidelines like ‘Responsible Care’. To achieve certification, companies need to have a detailed and documented process for responsibly managing the logistics associated with chemicals.
Being a high-risk business, chemical logistics requires flexibility and adaptability. The chemical supply chain is long, volatile, and highly complex and thus there are numerous inputs, and many touches to the end consumer. While chemical companies are adept at designing their products and manufacturing safely, the logistics companies offer the expertise required to safely navigate transport and store these potentially dangerous products safely adhering to the norms and safety regulations, at all times.
Logistics models have evolved over time to address the changing needs of the market and vary based on scope of service offering and degree of collaboration across the supply chain. However, the pace of automation in the chemical industry has been much slower compared to other industries. Rapid advances in supply chain technology enables increased functionality across multiple sites and countries and have a great potential to improve performance of supply chains. The industry needs to start using integrated planning systems to improve logistics asset productivity and network reliability. Efficient, competitive and sustainable logistics are therefore of great importance for its future development.
CID: As you know many chemicals are toxic, hazardous, and flammable. So, from transportation, handling to storage i.e. the entire length from end to end, what are the safety precautions required? 
VR: Safe transportation of hazardous chemicals across the country is one of the biggest challenges. A boom in the chemical industry has also led to an increase in the safety concerns of chemical logistics as freight traffic has increased sharply. An increase in the number of untrained staff to handle packaging and transportation of hazardous chemicals and lack of awareness about the new and emerging trends and technologies are some of the issues that challenge the transportation of hazardous chemicals in India.
The warehouse design should aim at desired utility of space, orderly layout, safe product storage according to hazard, safe warehouse operations, emergency handling, and security of warehouse. The most important part of the design is the concept of inherently safe design, such as creating a stable building constructed for built in protection. This should cover design of walls, floor, roof, ventilation, retention water catchment basins, fire walls, fire doors, etc. The layout should take care of product storage, loading/ unloading, parking, utility, safety equipment, welfare facilities. The chemical warehouse should ideally be situated away from residential areas, heavily populated places, area should have good connectivity of roads and emergency centres like hospitals, police controls, ambulances, fire services etc should be around the location.
Understand all Hazards
Hazardous chemicals improperly stored and improperly handled in a warehouse can cause fire or explosion, resulting in injury of personnel at the site, as well as the neighbouring areas, and loss of property in and around the warehouse area. An understanding of hazards and associated risks will help in selecting better control measures. The potential safety, health and environmental impacts can be minimized by implementing control measures in the early design stage. The Globally Harmonized System (GHS) guides hazardous product storage, and labeling & hazard communication, which helps in identifying hazards and handling measures.
When putting in place the cargo segregation scheme it is important to identify all the hazard properties of a chemical. Many chemicals have multiple hazards and a decision must be made as to which storage location within the warehouse or drum store is the most appropriate for each individual chemical. Normally the storage area will be determined by the more hazardous property of the chemical and having assessed the consequences in the event of an accident in the storage area. There will always be some chemicals that will not fit neatly in one category or another, but with a proper identification of the chemical hazards and assessment of consequences of an accident release using the information available in the MSDS, most chemicals should be assigned to appropriate storage areas. In addition to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) there are many industry documents and guidance available on chemical hazard classes, reaction hazards and segregation policies, please see list of references.
Wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like face shields, gloves and head covers should be made mandatory for personnel within the warehousing premises. They should also be made aware of the best safety practices and security standards in warehouses.
Dangerous Wrong Practices
The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of inadequate storage systems and practices commonly found in warehouses and drum stores:
  • Chemicals stored on passageways including forklift truck routes, other vehicle routes such as truck access routes to loading bays, pedestrian walkways etc.
  • Absence of a suitable vehicle and pedestrian traffic management plan including defined forklift truck routes with appropriate speed limits, etc.
  • Emergency exits obstructed by chemical containers.
  • Chemicals stored on damaged, or inadequately secured racking or on damaged pallets.
  • Warehouse racking not suitably designed or constructed to withstand the anticipated loading of chemical containers placed on it. Absence of secondary containment and spill kits.
  • Inadequate/no training provided for forklift truck drivers.
  • Where applicable, the absence of a suitable area for the transfers of chemicals from a large to smaller packaging, e.g. for production or laboratory use, batch kitting, etc.
  • Cylinders not properly secured against falls.
  • Inadequate / no emergency response plan for dealing with chemical incidents such as liquid spills, toxic gas releases or fires.
  • Chemicals stored by poorly chosen categories, such as all acids (inorganic and organic, strong oxidizers) together; all organics stored together.
CID: Considering the current environment, how is the logistics of road, rail, sea, and air progressing in relation with the chemical industry? 
VR: The transportation sector, with 60-65% share, dominates India’s logistics spends given the vast landscape and reliance on expensive road transportation. Of the balance total inventory and carrying cost spends, carrying cost makes up 80-90% with the rest related to warehousing and storage. Compared to globally, share of transportation is higher in India because of the dominance of expensive road transport. Road and rail mix in the transportation sector, road dominates. Road’s share in the total transportation modal mix at 75% (volume based) is much higher than in other countries (US-37%, China-22%). Rail transport is primarily used for transport of bulk commodities (coal contributes 40% of total freight earnings).
India’s roads haven’t been able to keep up with the transportation demands of rapid urbanization. Poor quality of roads existing in India are a major cause for concern. Process flow of logistic industry increased accidents and also led to a loss in productivity due to delays.  Crossing check points: If a vehicle goes through numerous stoppages e.g. toll booths, greater the chance of it meeting with an accident as the contact with the human ecosystem increases.
Pilferage is a major concern. Costly chemicals are replaced by some other low value substance with truck drivers being the major culprits. As a consequence, raw material quality is compromised.
In rail, Concor should benefit from DFC commissioning, which should boost volumes, but more importantly efficient and profitability. We estimate India’s freight transportation at around USD150bn plus. Driven by the underlying economic growth, high infrastructure investments (especially in road transport) and favourable government initiatives, we expect the transportation sector to grow at 9- 10% annually over FY18-25.
The container rail business is capital-intensive and requires a long gestation period to build volumes. However, once a company achieves a level to attain economies of scale in terms of rail sidings, rakes as also volumes, returns are typically quite high. Rail share declined from 89% in 1950 to less than 35% in 2018.
CID: What are the challenges the logistics industry faces? 
VR: There is a lack of continuous engagement at the strategic and tactical level between the chemical industry and logistics service providers. However, with the government providing a few sops in the areas of storage facility, equipment, etc., the logistics sector seems to be moving on the right track. Hazardous materials storage and distribution risk management involves establishing, organising, planning, executing and monitoring a set of operations that aims to decrease the probability of accidents and reduce the relevant potential consequences. This risk management process pertains to preventive and repressive safety measures. Continuous improvement of safety and security standards will remain a high priority for chemical companies. This will require close co-operation with logistics service providers and joint improvement programs. Stringent selection and continuous monitoring of the performance of logistics service providers will remain necessary. The encouraging growth of chemical industry in India has naturally brought issues concerning hazardous chemical storage and distribution into sharp focus. The bottlenecks pertaining to infrastructure, suitable storage facility, equipment and technology are posing serious challenges for the growth of the sector. There is a need for continuous engagement at the strategic and tactical level between the chemical industry and logistics service providers. Governments and regulatory bodies around the world are overhauling chemical regulations.
As a result, be it logistics, planning, procurement, or distribution, companies are likely to outsource some or all of these functions to organizations that are industry leaders in these areas. In addition, to avoid any disruption or uncertainty in the supply of material and availability of vendors, companies are setting up multiple sources. In addition, regionalization in place of globalization is the new mantra as regards procurement policies in chemicals are concerned.
Customer Experience
The last link in the supply chain, the customer experience, offers tremendous opportunities for improvement. In the past, R&D and the effective use of production assets—rather than market and customer orientation—have been the most prominent engines of success in the chemical industry. Today, however, positive customer experiences in more customer-centric sectors such as industrial services and online retail have raised expectations regarding customer service. As a result, all aspects of customer interaction—from making products and product information more readily available to providing updates on order status—are promising grounds for increasing differentiation and customer retention. Perhaps most important, the introduction of innovative business models and services enabled by digitization (many of which, such as shipment tracking, are already standard in other industries) can dramatically change the customer experience.
Transporting chemicals while complying with safety and environmental regulations is a challenge for the chemical logistics service providers. Moreover, the complex chemical value chain made the job tougher for the third-party logistic players. So, the chemical logistics players require adequate infrastructure support to ensure smooth transportation.
CID: What are the emerging futuristic trends?  
VR: Here are ten megatrends which influence the logistics industry:
• globalization,
• demographic change,
• new lifestyles of customers,
• the trend towards service integration (servitization),
• sustainability,
• rising risks along global supply chains,
• digitalization or technology deployment,
• new challengers in the industry,
• professionalization of logistics processes and
• the development of logistics as a core competence.
One key trend that is noticeable in the market is the digitalization of various segments of the businesses and the opportunities that technological advancements are bringing for the customer. Companies are providing their own propriety trademarked TMS to their customers for better supply chain visibility, management and in-depth analytics data so that Supply chain operation can be optimized.
We need to go into the direction of an integrated steering of global supply chains in times when supply chains are becoming even more complex each day. We need to deploy smart business solutions and digitalization to gain business. We need to focus on customers and process orientation according to business needs (resilience and responsiveness).
Digitalization in production industry 4.0 must go together with logistics 4.0. Regarding data, shippers must think outside the box — that is ‘think beyond the factory gate’ to realize the true potential. The sooner we receive relevant information, the faster we can react. In our experience customers for logistics services are most successful when they analyze processes together with their logistics partners and, in consequence, can take the right strategic decisions. We try to receive information about planned shipments as early as possible; this allows us to align our expertise with the customers’ information in the best way possible.
With the rise of digital, new supply chain resilience risk management applications and services are available to help companies monitor, analyze and respond to critical disruptions in real time. For example, a chemical supplier could subscribe to a cloudbased supply chain risk management service, which models the critical entities and material flows of a company’s supply network, and assesses exposure and vulnerability in different risk categories. With this information, the company could develop mitigation actions and back-up plans for critical facilities.
Although not a new concept, establishing an effective supply chain control tower has become more feasible with digital technology. It improves the linkage between planning and order fulfillment, which in turn leads to better customer service and optimized inventory levels in line with supply chain segment requirements. When organized as a shared service platform, the digitalized supply chain control tower integrates three essential sub-capabilities: (1) visibility to understand “what is happening” in real time and across all entities of the supply chain; (2) analytics to tell “why is this happening” and “how could we improve” by analyzing root causes and simulating solution options with their impact on supply chain performance and operational cost; and (3) execution to orchestrate the implementation of the action plan collaboratively with the relevant functions.
Leveraging the digitalization of supply chain planning, chemical companies can address several industry specific challenges and make an important leap to becoming competitive digital businesses. To realize this game-changing opportunity, chemical companies must evaluate the six digitalized supply chain planning capabilities and develop them according to their unique position in the market, using an agile and scalable model. The organizations that master the right mix of digital supply chain capabilities will be best positioned to innovate, compete and succeed in a fully developed economy.

Chemical Industry Digest – February 2023 Issue

Chemical Industry Digest
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Chemical Industry Digest – February 2023 Issue

Chemingineering – Ohio Derailment
– K Sahasranaman, Independent Consultant
Our columnist analyses the recent Ohio train derailment in the USA where a few wagons laden with highly hazardous chemicals was being transported. The incident highlights how important are safety equipment and emergency management procedures. This incident holds many lessons for India too.

Recent Advancements in Crystallization, Filtration & Drying of Pharmaceutical Intermediates & APIs
– Yash S. Charwekar, Shreerang V. Joshi, Nitin D. Arote, ICT
Separations play a key role in the manufacturing process of chemicals, particularly
pharma intermediates and APIs. Crystallisation, filtration and drying are some of the major separation procedures. This article reviews the advances in crystallisation

Vacuum Technology in the Extraction of Cannabinoids
– Uli Merkle, Busch Dienste
Active substances from the cannabis plant plays a key role in the manufacture of many
medicines. Vacuum technology alone enables the effective and efficient extraction of the active ingredients.

Process Simulation to Process Digital Twins
– Alok Pandit, Priya Bhagwat, Nirav Shah, Equinox
Latest digital technologies have become commercially important. Data analytics, cyber systems, and the Internet of Things along with Artificial Intelligence have brought a sea change in the manufacturing process. This paper describes the evolution of the Digital Twin, what it is and its applications.

Design Standard, NFPA 86 and the Uniqueness of the Sulfur Recovery Unit Incinerator
– Debopam Chaudhuri, Jyoti Bist, Fluor Daniel India Pvt Ltd
Here a specific design standard for sulfur recovery unit incinerator is elaborated. A case study presented talks about typical design standards for ovens and furnaces.

Overcoming the Challenges of Material Development for Large Scale Continuous Batteries
– Vikram Handa, Epsilon Advanced Materials
Energy storage using batteries is a critical component of the energy transition. So, the development of materials for large scale manufacturing of continuous batteries is essential. The article highlights how the use of efficient, safe, and cost-effective materials as well as its development is crucial for the growth of the energy storage industry.

Membrane Separation – Sustainable Green Solution for Purifications
– Aashish Maheshwari, Evonik India
Membrane technology is a breakthrough separation process with benefits such as low energy consumption, high selectivity, and easily engineered modules.

Water Cooling Towers

P.N. Narayana Pillai
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Water Cooling Towers

Author: P N Narayana Pillai
Publisher: Manpower Utilisation and Safety Training Institute
Price: Rs 500/-
Number of pages: 297

Cooling tower is one of the important constituents in a mix of utility equipment. Cooling towers are needed in virtually all process industries from power plants to hydrocarbon and downstream chemical plants.

They are used to remove heat generated in the processes in many process equipment and bring down the temperatures, as otherwise they can disrupt the operations.

Basically, a cooling tower is a heat exchanger, expelling heat into the atmosphere and returning the cold water to chiller. Air and water are brought in direct contact with each other to reduce the gathered heat in water through evaporation and the cooled water is then reused.

This book on Cooling Towers by PN Narayana Pillai, brings into it his over 36 years of experience with FACT Engineering and Design Organization (FEDO), a premier EPC company in India, where he was the General Manager. Pillai has covered the CoolinTowers, comprehensively from preliminary aspects to its operations and maintenance.

In about eleven chapters the book covers the basic operating principles and types of cooling towers in the introduction; cooling tower standards and codes, selection, design, tower fill design, performance evaluation and field testing, improving energy efficiency, etc. The book has included all latest state of the art developments till date.

There are about five appendices, which provide the list of cooling towers designed and built by the author in India, Report on Experimental Cooling Tower, Manual on Design, A thesis on axial flow fans and enthalpy of air-water vapour mixture.

Every chapter is well illustrated with pictures as well as figures and diagrams explaining theory, principle design etc and mathematical calculations right through.

Pillai’s several decades of hands on experience in the design, operations and maintenance of many process equipment and in particular cooling towers has really helped in providing the reader with an in-depth understanding on all aspects of cooling towers. This would help not only the working engineers in process industries as a refresher, but even students who can get a very good grasp of the subject.

Chemical Industry Digest – January 2023 Issue

Chemical Industry Digest
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Chemical Industry Digest – January 2023 Issue

Chemingineering – Heat Pumps 
– K Sahasranaman, Independent Consultant – Process Engineering, Energy, Utilities and Safety
A 150 year old contraption – the heat pump – is suddenly seeing its fortunes shooting up. As it can use any kind of heat including waste heat at lower temperatures and transfer it to higher temperatures, it is finding widespread use from domestic heating to industry, particularly in countries in Europe, stricken by the energy crisis in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Indian Chemical Industry in 2022-2023 and Outlook for 2023
– Aashish Kasad, Saral Barlota, EY.
An overview of how the industry fared in 2022 and the prospects for 2023.

An Overview of Decarbonisation Initiatives for Indian Refineries
– Jagadesh Donepudi, KBC
There are multiple pathways for decarbonisation of refineries. Integrating both conventional forms of energy and renewables and optimizing energy efficiency from current assets, refineries can meet emission targets in the most economical manner, as well described in the article.

Net-zero Transition for Oil and Gas Sector: Systems Approach for Sustainability 
– Yogendra Shastri, Gaurav Chaudhari, Sminu Bhaskaran, Shirish Kedare, IIT Bombay
The oil and gas sector will be significantly affected by the net-zero transition. There are various promising strategies that can be adopted for such transition. Not only has the sector to make their operations less carbon intensive, it will also need to adopt to changing market dynamics through revised business models. A holistic approach is explained.

Hydrogen Applications for Sustainable Energy
– Rick Rys, ARC Advisory Group
As the energy crisis deepens, there is a lot of attention to shifts to a hydrogen economy. Some amount of hype is created as though a quick transition is possible without realising some of the practical difficulties in the production, transportation and storage of hydrogen.

Invest, Insure and Innovate in Uncertain Times
– Dr Paige Marie Morse, Aspen Technology
As the unprecedented covid crisis abated, the world is thrown into another bout of unpredictable uncertainity due to the Russian – Ukraine war. Meeting such external challenges needs investing in latest technologies, building resilience and innovation.

Latest Developments in Refinery to Petrochemical Integration (Crude Oil to Chemicals)
– Karan Chechi, ChemAnalyst
Refineries are moving away from stand alone to integrating with petrochemicals production. As the need for transportation fuels comes down dramatically, excess crude would need to be converted more and more into petrochemicals. Many direct conversion routes have emerged as outlined here.

Promising Future for Indian Petrochemicals Industry
– Vikash Kumar, Gaurav Singh, Sruthi Chirra, ChemBizR
With the likelihood of crude prices coming down as energy transitions intensify, petrochemical production from crude can benefit. With India’s burgeoning population and rise in living standards, petrochemical demand can only go up and the overall environment from crude prices to newer technologies are coming together for the benefit of the petrochemical industry.

Agrochemicals will Lead the Second Green Revolution
– Sanjiv Lal, Rallis India .
This article summarises the importance of agrochemicals or crop protection chemicals and many new generation biobased technologies that are gathering momentum.

Warehousing for Specialty Chemicals
– Varun Gada, LP Logiscience LLP
Chemicals storage and transportation is unlike for any other material as chemicals can be hazardous, toxic, flammable, reactive to air and moisture.

This needs many specialized techniques for its safe handling and storage. Latest generation technologies, which are available are needed for this and hence only organisations specialized with such expertise should be given this responsibility.

Invest, Insure and Innovate in Uncertain Times

Dr. Paige Marie Morse
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Invest, Insure and Innovate in Uncertain Times

Abstract

The unprecedented covid crisis brought the world virtually to halt. Just as this crisis abated came the Russia-Ukraine war, which has added hugely to the uncertainities the world has been battling. But human beings have infinite capability in facing up to such external challenges, though it all takes a toll. This article recommends investing in future technologies, insuring against uncertainities by building resilence and ofcourse innovating to meet the future.

The United Nations released its latest report on the status of Human Development across the globe in September. It may not be a surprise to learn that progress has stalled in recent years as the impact of global crises and local climate disasters has taken its toll. The global Human Development Index declined for the past two years, reversing the progress of the previous five years. Prior to this report, the Index was tracking steady upward progress since its inception in 19901  and progress had been particularly strong in Asia.
The challenge for industry leaders is to make progress despite ongoing external challenges. First, the COVID-19 pandemic, which the International Monetary Fund has described as “a crisis like no other,” created an unprecedented business environment in 2020 whose effects continue to linger. Just as some market recovery was starting, the second major shock of the conflict in Europe and associated energy and inflation impact has carried through to economies and businesses worldwide. The ongoing supply chain chaos has further exacerbated these effects.
These overlapping calamities have created a new uncertainty complex that permeates communities and businesses, says the UN Development Program (UNDP), requiring even stronger and more creative responses. “The transformations in energy and materials required now… portend even more upheavals, which some believe to be as large as the shift from agricultural to industrial societies.”
Thankfully the outcome is not all doom and gloom, as the report recommends several processes and pathways to progress, highlighting “three I’s” to chart a new course:
  • Investment for future capabilities, from renewable energy to preparedness for pandemics;
  • Insurance to prepare our societies for the ups and downs of an uncertain world; and
  • Innovation in technology, economics, and culture to build capacities to respond to whatever challenges come next.
The vital lessons and approaches discussed for these themes are targeted at policy activities, although they have relevance to the challenges being faced by companies in the process industries and the increasing importance of ESG reporting and performance.
Digitalization solutions are especially relevant for companies in the process industry as they respond to external drivers and target operational excellence to meet to deliver on sustainability goals. These three I’s provide a helpful framework for the activities needed for progress.

Invest for the Future

As companies explore and scale new technologies for renewable energies, they need creative solutions to assess the development and economics of projects. Many new technologies are emerging that target new energy sources or alternative product offerings that emit less CO2 and generate less waste in processing.
For carbon capture and storage (CCS), risk modeling technologies offer the most practical and economically feasible options that align with specific carbon reduction goals. For example, industry leaders are using subsurface geophysical and geological modeling software to quickly determine the best reservoir targets for reliable, long-term carbon storage.2
Valuable investment in the process industry goes beyond capital allocation to include building the skills of your labor force. Targeted training courses provide technical details to ensure they are well-prepared for the safety, operational and reliability demands of current and future assets.

Insurance for operational resilience

Markets have become more volatile as communities and companies work through alternatives and uncertainties of the energy transition. Regional disparities in supply and energy options are creating unfamiliar and often isolated conditions that can significantly impact profitability and operational capabilities, and companies must be able to respond quickly.
Large price swings in feedstocks and products, as well as raw material availability, require flexibility in operations. Digital solutions provide visibility on emission and waste metrics, in addition to financial impact, and give operators the insight to respond to market shifts while staying within regulatory boundaries. And supply chain solutions help companies optimize scheduling as customer and raw material needs vary, using alternative scenarios to define optimal outcomes to meet customer demand.
Enterprise visibility was a key drive for Birla Carbon for a data solution: “Adopting the right technology positions companies to be resilient, productive, and agile leaders of their industries tomorrow,” according to Santosh Panday, AGM – Manufacturing IT, Digital & OT. “This is made possible by increased profitability and greater sustainability in operations.”3
Innovate to address growing challenges:
“Innovation will be at the heart of successfully navigating the many unforeseen, unknowable challenges ahead,” as highlighted in the report. Many companies are working on new technologies to meet ambitious net zero targets over the next few decades. This work requires significant resources; both for research and development now and for capital allocation for large scale assets later.
Artificial intelligence offers significant improvement by enhancing human capabilities, not replacing, but, instead, augmenting innovation strategies. This is particularly relevant for automated tasks that serve to improve technology developments, such as autonomous vehicles, medical diagnoses and inventory management.
Research efforts are accelerated using simulation capabilities to evaluate alternatives and reduce laboratory experiments (along with the related time and expenses). Accurate modeling is a crucial requirement to select the right processes to design the most energy-efficient and sustainable solutions and to include economic analysis at each stage.
ACME Group highlighted the value of modeling technologies in the design and optimization of its green hydrogen and green ammonia projects planned in India and Oman4.
New processes and products can then be more successfully scaled and duplicated using capital project solutions that integrate critical design and siting decisions early in the planning phase. This alignment and early timing also reduce project risk for engineering and cost management, helping to speed the scale-up and expansion of new processes.
“Countries face a fork in the road on future progress,” notes Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Director for Asia and the Pacific.5 “Governments can scale up policies and investments that address economic opportunity while protecting natural assets and can invest in knowledge and innovation to help societies adapt to the world of uncertainties we face. Or they can proceed down unsustainable pathways.”

Reference

  1. Human Development Report 2021-22, United Nations Development Program, 8 September 2022.
  2. https://www.khaosodenglish.com/sponsored/2022/09/15/achieving-sustainability-with-carbon-capture-utilization-and-storage-ccus/
  3. https://chemindigest.com/birla-carbon-selects-aspen-technology-for-industrial-data-capitalization/
  4. https://www.energetica-india.net/news/acme-selects-aspen-technology-for-asset-optimization-at-its-green-hydrogen-and-green-ammonia-plants
  5.  https://www.undp.org/asia-pacific/press-releases/multiple-crises-halt-progress-9-out-10-countries-fall-backwards-human-development-undp-report-warns.

Warehousing for Specialty Chemicals – look for a warehousing partner with the right chemistry!

Varun Gada
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Warehousing for Specialty Chemicals – look for a warehousing partner with the right chemistry!

Abstract

Storage of chemicals, be it commodity chemicals or specialty chemicals is a highly specialised field, unlike storage of any other material. There are chemicals that can catch fire if it comes in contact with moisture or water and some even in air. Some may emit hazardous or toxic fumes. All these have to be taken care of in warehousing of chemicals, with safety first and rest to follow in terms of quick turnaround of incoming/outgoing chemical materials, transportation etc. Coming to the aid of warehousing are latest technologies from sensors to IIoT, AI and so on. Therefore the warehousing company should be a super specialist.

The size of the chemicals warehousing and storage market globally is forecasted to increase by $7327.51 million, growing at a steady rate of CAGR ~ 3.88%. It is predicted that the APAC region alone will contribute a large chunk of ~ 41%. For obvious reasons, the sector is an essential area of business – whether it is the processing of plastics, paints, food production, pharmaceutical business, or be it automobile manufacturing or engineering, the use of chemicals is fundamental. By 2026, the Indian Specialty Chemical market is predicted to double its market share. In order to store these chemicals, a warehousing partner is important, who is a right fit.

Safety First

Storage of specialty chemicals and their safety involves understanding the nature of the product prior to its storage. Warehouses must give utmost importance to understanding how the product would react to multiple circumstances like leakage, heat, fire, water, poor handling, etc. The largest threat to any storage is fire. It is a misunderstood fact that the storage of chemicals is dangerous. If the right precautions are taken with effective infrastructure and guidance from the fire department, the threats can be largely minimized. It would be quite important to understand that storing even cotton clothes without a good firefighting mechanism could be more dangerous than storing specialty chemicals. By the nature of cotton clothes, they can catch fire faster than a packaged specialty chemical if there is an ignition source near the product. It is, therefore, necessary to choose a warehousing partner who has a robust and foolproof Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for creating an infrastructure and storage that is safe for various kinds of specialty chemicals. In fact, your warehouse partner should be well-versed with the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) of each of the products, which informs about the sensitive details of material handling and storing. Some of the infrastructure-related guidelines that one should look at are as follows:

  • National Building Code laid down by the Government of India, should be kept as base guidelines for the entire building & safety system design and implementation
  • Only flameproof and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) approved electrical fittings with Flame Retardant, Low Smoke Low Halogen (FRLS) wiring should be in the premises to eliminate all ignition sources
  • Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) Sprinklers to ensure adequate water spray in case of a sprinkler burst.
  • A bleed line system to ensure that if there is any kind of chemical leakage and gets mixed with water then this contaminated water only travels through the bleed line for safe collection in containment tanks and disposal thereof
  • Water Storage for adequate firefighting for up to 3-4 hours to ensure that there is enough water until the firefighting department arrives, in case of an emergency
  • Insulation throughout the warehouse to ensure a low temperature is maintained vis-à-vis the external environment.
  • Beam detectors, heat detectors and smoke detectors to ensure early intervention
  • Global standard lightning arrestors to ensure building safety, even when lightning strikes
  • Anti-static mats
  • Flameproof air-conditioning systems
  • Adequate ventilation of at least 6 air changes per hour
    After the infrastructural safety, then comes the expertise in operating the safety systems of the warehouse. The warehouse partner needs to ensure that there is a well-trained and expert team that is able to use the safe infrastructure correctly at the time of any untoward incident to ensure human and cargo safety. Incorrect usage of safety systems can increase the risk and multiplythe severity of the incident. For example, if there is a sprinkler burst next to a water-reactive chemical (sodium based), it would add fuel to the fire. One should ensure that the warehousing partner has a robust HSSE (Health Safety Security & Environment) system in place.

Effective tech adoption can go a long way in ensuring safety. Through innovations like smart sensors which can be programmed for early detection of any leakages or emissions, it is possible to get an alert within seconds of even the slightest leak, allowing for real time proactive measures that can go a long way in averting a huge safety hazard.
Apart from this, here are a list of recommendations that need to be a part of every chemical warehouse safety set up:

  • Adequate and industry-standard PPE for staff handling goods
  • Road Safety – Vehicle checklist, inspection, DG handling & training
  • Ensuring that a secure perimeter is established around the warehouse by a 24×7 security staff & CCTV monitoring of the premises is done from a third independent location
  • Licences & other compliances necessary for such specialized storage
  • Environment safety to ensure no spills/leakages are affecting the ecosystem around.
    Additionally, multiple training methods throughout the year, some of which are:
  • Periodic training for staff to handle chemical spills & leakages
  • Training staff and conducting regular mock drills for fire safety, evacuation, and other operational drills
  • Training a first aid team of responders who are trained by doctors
  • Training our MHE (Material Handling Equipment) drivers to drive safely
  • Joint training exercises done with the Local Fire Department so even they are well versed with the infrastructure available on site

While safety is of utmost priority there are some important features a warehouse should have:
Does the warehouse have a smart technology enabled management solution?
Warehouse management or WMS uses a series of IoT, AI and ML solutions to effectively monitor and keep track of the inventory. This helps in significant ways, including setting up faster and effective load and unloading of cargo, employing safer transport SOP’s and keeping track of the inventory,to integrating all of this with smart sensors and safety protocols. Effective storage of speciality chemicals is a key aspect of a wider supply chain network and hence should be looked upon as a vital focus point in the process.
Does the warehouse have a Business Continuity Plan in place?
In case of an incident and the facility is not operational for sometime,then in order to ensure that your business does not suffer:

  • Adequate space at multiple warehouse locations in the same city for any contingencies
  • Maintaining data in the cloud to ensure the business is continued from any location
    Do they offer value-added services and have robust capabilities?
    Some perks will help here, for example:
  • Chemical blending: You may be selling customized blended products. A warehouse partner who can do this work for you, as per your standards, would be desirable
  • State-of-the-art storage systems:heavy-duty pallet racking system for customised storage solutions enhances flexibility, accessibility, and output
  • Hazardous Chemical Storage: Some chemicals are volatile and potentially hazardous. These would require special care and a specially trained workforce to handle this. Your warehousing provider should be able to handle these requirements as per GOI norms and industry standards

Conclusion

Chemicals and Speciality Chemicals storage can be a complex subject if your warehousing provider is not familiar with them. Hence one should look for providers/partners who have adequate experience. In a high-risk environment, a partner who has the right chemistry with you and whom you can trust, becomes extremely important. m

How Dehumidification Solution Retains the Quality of Pharmaceutical Products Throughout the Shelf Life

Rajesh Marwah
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How Dehumidification Solution Retains the Quality of Pharmaceutical Products Throughout the Shelf Life

Abstract

Moisture in the pharma products manufacturing process from raw materials to the final products, storage and delivery, can create product quality deterioration. Hence dehumidification during the entire chain of process is very important. This article briefly states where all in the process it is important. And that MSMEs can benefit from outsourced rental dehumidification structure.

Introduction

The pharmaceutical industry holds a crucial position in healthcare as it is essential for healthcare. The quality of the pharmaceutical product is equally important to determine the recovery of the patient. Therefore, it is one of the most strictly regulated industries across the world that requires it to conform to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifications, to maintain the product quality as per the industry standards.

While complying with the specifications, manufacturers must be vigilant enough to look for potential threats to the manufacturing process. Moisture is one of the significant threats to the process because various pharmaceutical products are highly hygroscopic, and readily absorb moisture from the surrounding air. This necessitates the employment of a dehumidification system to curb the influence of moisture on the products. It is required for various processes entailing dry powder/ vial filing, tablet coating, packaging of drugs and tablets, storage of hygroscopic materials, compression of powder into tablets, sugar coating, and storage of finished products.

Understanding the repercussions in detail can help the industry make proper decision for timely installation of an effective dehumidification system.

Powder Milling: Atmospheric moisture offers great resistance to grinding and pulverizing operations. Moisture makes the material resilient, making it difficult to grind. Many times, materials cling to the grinding machine and offer great resistance to conveying of material further for pneumatic processes.

Compounding of Tablets: While compounding the tablets, unwanted moisture impedes the desired reaction from taking place which ends up in the formation of an undesirable end product. Consequently, many other compounds are moisture reactive which highly compromises the quality of the product and shortens the shelf life as well.

Tablet Compression: The powdered materials undergo lumping and caking by absorbing moisture. It requires a perfectly dry state to be compressed into a tablet. Humidity not just causes the failure of the tableting process but in certain cases initiates the decomposition of drugs that reduces their medicinal value.

Soft Gelatin Capsule: In soft gelatin manufacturing, the main essence lies in congealing the gelatin, which is only possible in the ideal set of environmental conditions. Excessive high temperature and humidity intervene solidification of capsules by initiating softening in the gelatin. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate moisture continuously to prevent superficial surface hardening.

Even during encapsulation and packing, the level of humidity should be within the range of 30±5% at 23°C. The drying of soft gel capsules is very tricky and requires very controlled temperature and humidity conditions that should not exceed 20 during the drying process. Failing to comply with any of the conditions ends up in making the capsule either brittle or extra soft.

Storage & Packaging: Considering that pharmaceutical materials are highly susceptible to undergo reaction in the presence of moisture, maintaining low humidity is essential even during storage & packaging. Irrespective of the type of storage, be it in the powdered form, capsule, or aluminum foil storage, in uncontrolled humidity, the materials tend to regain moisture, ruining the entire precautions and efforts taken to manufacture the products.

Likewise, during packaging, if conveying of powdered substances to packaging areas is done in high humidity, it causes sticking and clustering of the powder to the conveyor. Hence, dehumidification is very much needed to protect the integrity of the product through the last mile and ensure the quality of products till the expiry of the shelf life.

It is evident that failing to install dehumidification solutions can lead to problems like deterioration of hygroscopic material; organic corrosion; biochemical reactions; growth of micro-organisms; decomposition due to unwanted chemical reactions. All the factors together lead to shorter shelf-life of the products. It can severely contribute to the rejection of the products for not meeting the industry standards.

Hence, a dehumidification solution is a prerequisite throughout the processing, manufacturing, storage, research, and testing of the pharmaceutical product. Ideally, the system must be installed in the manufacturing unit but there are many companies that outsource the manufacturing, for which opting for a rented dehumidification solution can come in handy for solving problem.

Editors note:
Certain companies like TDS provide the best-in-class dehumidifiers on rent to achieve precise climate control during the drying, processing, storage, and packaging of pharmaceutical materials.

Chemical Industry Digest – December 2022

Chemical Industry Digest
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Chemical Industry Digest – December 2022

Chemingineering – Delta Hazop
– K Sahasranaman, Independent Consultant
Our Columnist talks in detail about Delta Hazop, an extremely effective tool for identifying and assessing significant risk in operating plants. Delta Hazop complements conventional Hazop, focusing on the subtle and creeping changes that accumulate over the years in a process plant.

Top Management Role and Responsibility in Preventing Process Safety Related Accidents in Process Industry
– S K Hazra, Expert Safety Professional
Many accidents happen due to lack of proper knowledge and understanding of the process. In this article, the author emphasizes that top managements must be totally seized of the safety functions. MSME managements need to totally change their notions and embrace safety knowledge.

Process Safety: Revisiting Evergreen Practices
– Andrew Layton, Matt Manley, Shaun Mohammed, Jim Watt, KBC
Risks in chemical processes exist and have the potential to turn into accidents; however, the risks can be minimised. This can be done by adhering to and adopting time tested process safety techniques as discussed in the article.

Salient Aspects of Hazard Management
– Ravisankar K, Technical Safety Consultant
Over the years, the chemical industry has created through its learning experiences, a suite of hazard management techniques. Safer process designs can avoid and reduce to a great extent hazard operability. This article covers some of the important aspects of hazard management.

Do You Validate Your Safety Instrumented Functions (SIFs)?
– Shivendra Kapoor
Validation of every instrument is important. This to a great extent prevents unwanted
hazards in a process plant. The author through the article highlights personal experiences
while conducting validation of safety instrumented

Fire Safety in LPG Tanks and Anatomy of Bleve
– Onur OZUTKU, Milangaz
LPG is an important source of energy in our daily lives. However it is also highly flammable material. In this article the author explains the various potential hazards from storage tanks and pipelines for LPG. Many safety measures, do’s and don’ts are clearly outlined.

HPCES Model for Averting Industrial Disasters by Ensuring Adequate Control Over Hazards
– Balamurugan N, IOCL
To avoid potential hazards, HPCES model would be of great help. This not only reduces risks to acceptable levels, but also ensures safety of equipment and personnel. This includes, job description and hazard identification being communicated to workmen very clearly from top to bottom.

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