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Prevent Purchase Requisition Pitfalls – S. Raghava Chari

Chemical Industry Digest
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Prevent Purchase Requisition Pitfalls – S. Raghava Chari

Prepare Purchase Requisitions very carefully. Even the smallest error that often creeps in inadvertently could cost thousands of rupees by way of delayed deliveries, wrong useless supplies, and other expenses. Case Studies in this article discuss and illustrate these aspects.

Word Purchase Requisitions Clearly in simple language
Wording Purchase Requisitions (PR) clearly, in simple language, and offering scope to the vendor to suggest alternatives develops best and most economical quotations soonest by eliminating needless clarifications. The same applies to Purchase Orders (PO) also. In addition, it prevents wrong deliveries too. The case studies that follow illustrate these principles::
Case Study 1: PR for Leak Tight Control Valves
The author found that the process licensor had wrongly selected high leak 0.5% leak class double seat CVs valves for the three vent applications of his ammonia plant. These large CVs – one of 8” and 2 more of 6” – leaked enormous quantities of expensive reformed gas (RFG) estimated to cost the plant over Rs 10 million annually. His proposal to replace the leaky valve body assemblies (VBA) with more leak tight valves advertised by a famous CV manufacturer was not well received, perhaps due to the project (Piping, Instruments & Drawings (P&ID) managers overlooking this during the project stage. The author persisted and demonstrated the high air leak by a bench test during a short plant shutdown due to other problems. The group accepted his appeal to listen to his detailed explanation in a meeting: he explained that the permitted bench test leak for the double seat CVs is 0.5% of the valves full rated flow capacity which is around 1.5 times that of 100% production flow rates. In addition, because of the differential thermal expansion of the carbon steel body and SS trim the leak would be much more than the bench tested 0.5% leak. Hence, practically speaking, the leaks would be around 1% of the valves max flow rates under service conditions. The three valves chosen for 150% of max production flow rates obviously leaks around 4.5% of rated production flow RFG – an enormous waste indeed. The dazed, but somewhat convinced managers accepted his proposal and approved replacing the valve bodies.
Attachment to his PR was as under:
“Replacement leak tight soft seat valve body assemblies to assemble on to the existing actuators of previously supplied control valve + actuator assemblies. Other conditions are the same as in previous PO.

After a month the vendor replied that soft seat valve bodies to use with existing actuator and to suit the service conditions are not available. After protracted 6-months long, back and forth correspondence the vendor quoted 0.01% leak class Balanced Plug Valve Body assemblies for PCV 126 and 127 for mounting on to the existing actuators, and a full valve + actuator assembly for PCV 125 as a larger actuator was necessary.
Had the author added the below given row 4 in the

PR in the very beginning, the protracted correspondence and its associated expenses, six month replacements arrival delays and almost `5-million worth leak losses could have been eliminated. Post new valve installation specific consumption figures confirmed around 2% loss due to leaks. The management too should have encouraged the author and approved his proposal sooner to realize the benefits.
Case Study 2: Encourage Vendors to offer alternatives also:
The compelled to buy indigenous Ammonia tank vapor recovery system’s less than 20% availability despite enormous maintenance efforts and expenses resulted in around 500 kg/hour of ammonia venting. Besides the astronomical sums of money loss, environment regulations threatened factory closure.
The tired author made a plant engineer develop specifications and raise a PR for importing compressors to replace the indigenous ones which were the problems’ root cause. Having learnt from case study 1 the author included the below given in all PRs:
1. Vendors’ alternative offers if any are welcome
2. Pl furnish few users addresses
3. Please furnish specifications of motors > 50 KW if any for indigenous purchase.
A US vendor offered a skid mounted plant less motor and few user addresses, instead of the 4 Nos. of piston compressors, at a marginally higher price. The users confirmed the skid worked and in fact it was ‘fit & forget’!
The package though marginally of a higher price was indeed a worthy purchase with the below listed advantages:
1. Bolted on the readied foundation it went on line within two days of arrival
2. It accepted the surplus 450 HP, 3000 RPM, 3.3 KV motor
3. Zero ammonia venting paid the cost of the package within two weeks
4. Saved factory closure by pollution authorities
5. It was indeed a fit & forget device as a user assured
Keying in errors can kill! Despite enormous care in keying in requirements in PRs the practice of keying in * to select mode choices and similar items leads to costly mistakes and wasted money as Case Studies 3 and 4 of the bygone typewriter days show:
Case Study 3:
An engineer wrote 16”x300# Carbon Steel Gate Valve on a paper and handed it to a typist along with a page of preprinted specifications sheet to type out a PR. The typist inadvertently typed it as 18”x300#. The engineer too missed it while signing the PR and it reached the foreign purchase agent. Fortunately the buyer of the foreign agent questioned back, “do you really want 18”x300# gate valve? Plants rarely use 18” pipelines; they use either 16 or 20”. This wise feedback alerted the engineer and he found he too had missed the typo error, when he signed the PR. He sent General Manager signed appreciation letter to the foreign agent’s buyer profusely thanking him for the timely caution and him going beyond the call of duty. The buyer could have just processed the item mechanically and the company would have lost over `2 lakhs (1980 figures); in addition the project for saving `5 lakhs yearly for which the 16” valve was needed would have been delayed by 6 months or more.
Case Study 4
The author raised a PR for a Super-Efficient Moisture Separator (SEMS) for improving the performance of a huge centrifugal compressor for saving millions of rupees yearly. Since that was required during the TA scheduled 18 months hence, he had specified ‘sea freight’.
The warehouse person informed the author SEMS arrival 6-months later and requested him to draw from the stores within 3 days, as non-compliance report goes to the Managing Director. The information that the equipment weighing 6 T has come by air at higher than normal sea freight rates shocked the author. His and the buyer’s PO copy showed the *in the sea freight boxes! However, the vendor sent PO copy showed the* in the air freight box shown thus:
Ocean □ Road □ Air □ Rail □
A simple error has caused a great loss! The plant revised the PO thus: Mode of shipment ————– (Ocean, Air, Road, Rail; Type the proper word in the line).
Fortunately, the SEMS installed at the next opportune shutdown, performs better than vendor guarantee and saved lot of money year after year.
Consolidate Requirements of large parts to avail quantity discounts:
A huge refinery saved enormous amounts by this method. They consolidated the specifications of Electric Motors, couplings, and Mechanical Seals gathered from more than 2000 pumps from vendors and raised a PO for each of the entire lots from Motor, Mechanical Seal and Coupling Vendors, and saved around 10% costs. They instructed the Motors, Mech Seal and Coupling vendors to send the products to the different pump vendors who assembled these as needed. They followed similar practices for purchasing other common items and saved huge sums.

Handling Package Units – Balancing Act for the EPC Contractor Between Client and Vendor Needs – Neil Iyer

Chemical Industry Digest
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Handling Package Units – Balancing Act for the EPC Contractor Between Client and Vendor Needs – Neil Iyer

Abstract
Different perspectives of handling package units from the client and the EPC contractor lead to differences and consequent delays. There has to be a mechanism to address this right at the beginning of the project work for successful execution of projects.

This article presents some thoughts on how a well planned and methodical approach can address such issues.

Neil Iyer is an Independent Project Management Consultant with more than 45 years experience in the EPC Industry covering mainly Petrochemical, Refinery and Fertilizer projects. He has been a visiting faculty at the Larsen &Toubro Institute for Project Management as well as at S.P. Jain Institute for Management Research. He is the former Managing Director at Chemtex Engineering India Limited as well as the former President and CEO for the Indian Operations of Chemtex Global. Neil started his career as a Process Engineer at L&T and thereon moved into Project Management and has executed large lumpsum turnkey projects globally in Europe, China, and the Middle East while working with Simon Carves, Uhde India and Aker Solutions, the Netherlands where he was the Director of Projects.

I have felt the need to write on this subject because I am sure like me many other Project Managers from both the client’s side and EPC contractor’s side have similar experiences listed below:

  • Hot oil vaporisers were included in the lumpsum scope of the EPC contractor on a project with a very simple scope description – four hot oil vaporisers – 12 million kcal with a common stack. Since the package was on the critical path, the contractor’s engineers quickly developed the specification, obtained quotes and submitted to the client for approval. This started off a discussion between the two parties because the client had a different type in his mind as part of the scope which costed much more. While the EPC contractor proposed and included internal vaporisation type, the client was of the view that the scope covered an external vaporisation type. In view of the high cost difference between the two types especially considering four vaporisers, discussions were ongoing between the client and contractor for months resulting in a severe delay on the project. Ultimately the packages were taken out of the contractor’s scope – apart from the delay both sides stood to lose from the whole exercise.
  • An Incinerator package was included as part of a lumpsum EPC scope. Client’s specifications were included in the enquiry to the package vendors. Based on evaluation of the quotes an order was quickly placed with incinerator again being on the critical path. Once the P&Ids were developed by the vendor and forwarded to the client/ clients PMC via the contractor – unending discussions began on all kinds of technical issues like ducting versus piping, flap valves versus control valves, etc. The P&Ids took more than a year to get approved resulting in an overall delay as the vendor did not proceed with the execution of the order until the technical scope issues were resolved satisfactorily. The package was delivered more than a year later than the originally committed schedule. The EPC contractor also had a huge overrun in his man-hours for engineering the package.
  •  A boiler system was supplied by an Indian manufacturer for an onshore oil and gas project in the Netherlands. The rest of the supplies other than the main boiler did not conform to client requirements and modifications had to be carried out at site resulting in substantial additional costs for the clients especially considering labour rates in Europe, thus offsetting any advantage the client might have perceived to be having by buying in India.
    Invariably, a Project Manager spends 50 % of his time on a project dealing with issues like the above around package units. Each stakeholder on the project has a different understanding and objective with respect to the package units.
    From a client perspective, a package unit needs to conform to the requirements and specifications drawn for the main plant and he wishes uniformity and standardisation from point of view of operation, maintenance, spares management, etc.
    The EPC contractor’s thinking on the package unit depends on the type of contract he has with the client. For example if it is a services contract with a lumpsum price, he would like to think of the package unit as a black box so that minimum engineering hours are spent on the package unit by his engineers.
    For the package unit supplier, invariably their interest is in the main component for which they have the know-how or the design and the rest is to be supplied for the sake of it since no client would be willing to buy only the main equipment and build the package together. For example, a compressor manufacturer is mainly interested in the compressor itself but needs to package it with other equipment like knockout pots, coolers, control panel, some piping etc. which are all bought outs for them and they do not normally have a team to elaborate on these to meet the clients requirements apart from adding to their costs .
    So the question is, how can we go about handling package units on a project such that unending delays and heartburn on all sides can be avoided? Some thoughts on how a well planned and methodical approach may alleviate issues faced around package units on projects, are presented here.
    What is a package unit?
    A package unit is like a mini process unit involving scope and responsibilities from a number of technical disciplines placed under a single purchase order and at times may include installation at the site in the scope of the vendor .Typical examples are compressor systems, boiler systems, incinerators, flare systems, etc.
    Package unit plan
    The first step during the project proposal stage is to prepare a package unit plan which should be reviewed and commented by all the technical disciplines. This document should be a part of the project proposal so that the client can also review it and comment/agree on it.
    This document should clearly describe the scope of supply discipline wise, the specs that are applicable (client specs versus vendor standard), battery limits for the unit, interface points, scope for 3D modelling etc.
    Requisition Originating Engineer
    The EPC Contractor should appoint one Requisition Originating Engineer (ROE) for each package. This engineer assumes full responsibility for the whole package covering all disciplines. In case the package is a large and a complicated one, a Project Engineer should be appointed as the ROE. The ROE assumes what we call as cradle to grave responsibility on the package until it is completed, commissioned and handed over to the clients satisfaction. All correspondence with the vendor is to be carried out by the ROE so there is a single point of contact, who knows the complete scope and also understands what has been agreed with the client.
    Pre-enquiry vendor meetings
    The next important step is to have pre-enquiry meetings with all proposed vendors.
    During these meetings each of the vendors’ specific technology information, vendor preference on specs, vendor preferences on scope, 3D modelling capabilities etc. need to be discussed.
    Objectives of the meetings should be as a minimum:
  • Verification of process
  • Obtaining vendor info
  • Securing good bids
  • Reducing overall schedule
  • Verification of vendors capabilities
  • Preparation of good and complete enquiry specifications
    This will help in presenting a value added package to the client so that it fits in well with client expectations as well as takes care of vendor preferences and strengths.
    Enquiry /Purchase Specifications
    Key areas to be taken care of by the ROE are:
  • Ensure specific project requirements as agreed with the client are included
  • Obtain inputs from all technical
    diciplines so that their requirements are met
  • Obtain inputs from the construction group
  • Include a battery limit diagram
    covering all interfaces
  • Identify all applicable codes and
    standards
    It will be very useful if the client can review and approve these specs prior to PO being awarded so that there is no ambiguity in understanding the scope.
    Award meeting
    During this meeting the complete specifications are reviewed with the selected vendor along with participation by client /PMC so that any communication gaps are covered and there is a complete understanding and buy-in of the scope by all parties.
    Execution
    The rest of the sequence of execution is the same as for any equipment, excepting that it would be quite useful if the ROE maintains responsibility for the package until its completion. This means once the home office engineering is complete, the ROE moves to the site in order to interface between the construction team and the vendor to clarify any issues that may arise.
    Conclusion
    We all know that in every project there will be a few package units and that the way these package units are handled determines the success of the project to a great extent. All the parties involved have a responsibility to make sure that they agree on the specifications and requirements right at the start such that what is ordered meets the project and client specific requirements. The vendors have a responsibility to appoint a proper project team at their end to handle the package such that they understand the requirements and implement accordingly. The ROE needs to play his role as a catalyst from the beginning until completion of the package and it’s handover to the client.

Frederick Soddy (1877 – 1956)- A Pioneering Radiochemist

Veena Patwardhan
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Frederick Soddy (1877 – 1956)- A Pioneering Radiochemist

In 1900, a bright 23-year-old British chemist with a First-Class Honours degree in chemistry and two years of independent research at Oxford University under his belt was eager to begin life as an academic. But, he was sorely disappointed when no suitable job offers came his way. Learning of an opening at the University of Toronto on the retirement of the chemistry professor, he applied for the position and sailed to Canada for a personal interview. He failed to get the job. That young man’s name was Frederick Soddy.

Continuing his job search in Montreal, he was appointed to a much lower post as laboratory demonstrator at McGill University. This led to a historic alliance with the 29-year-old junior physics professor there – Ernest Rutherford. Their research revealing that radioactivity occurs when one element naturally changes into another, not only stunned the chemistry world but resulted in Soddy adding the word ‘isotope’ to the English dictionary later on and his work on isotopes winning for him the 1921 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Frederick Soddy was awarded the prize “for his contributions to our knowledge of the chemistry of radioactive substances, and his investigations into the origin an nature of isotopes”.

Early life

Soddy was born on 2 September 1877 in Eastbourne, Sussex, the youngest of seven children of a London merchant. He majored in Chemistry from Merton College, Oxford University in 1898, with another great scientist William Ramsay as his external examiner, moving on to carrying out independent research at the same university for the next two years.

After investigating the emanations of radioactive elements as they decayed into other elements and publishing several papers on radioactivity in collaboration with Ernest Rutherford, Soddy returned to England from Canada in 1903.

For the next year, he worked with his former teacher William Ramsay at University College in London. Based on spectroscopic studies, the two of them proved that helium gas was generated following the radioactive decay of radium. Rutherford who had also studied the emanations from radium had already predicted this as the weight of the alpha particles released by radium approximately matched that of the mass of helium atoms.

Soddy then taught as a lecturer in physical chemistry and radioactivity at the University of Glasgow for ten years (1904-1914), had a brief stint as professor at the University of Aberdeen that was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, and was then appointed as professor of chemistry at Oxford in 1919 where he taught till his retirement in 1937.

Astounded by the implication of their research findings proving that the atoms of a radioactive element changed into those of another element, Soddy had exclaimed, “Rutherford, this is transmutation.” An alarmed Rutherford had retorted, “For Mike’s sake Soddy don’t call it transmutation – they’ll have our heads off as alchemists.”

Significant achievements

At the time when Rutherford and Soddy collaborated on studying radioactive substances, the emanations from such materials had already been identified as alpha, beta, and gamma rays, but very little was known about the phenomenon of radioactivity. Some physicists held the view that previously absorbed energy was being re-emitted without the elements themselves undergoing any fundamental transformation.

Before Soddy joined him in Montreal, Rutherford, as an experienced physicist, had just discovered that thorium, like uranium, constantly gave off some radioactive gas that he had yet to identify. He was even more puzzled on finding that radium and actinium too produced similar emanations. He realised that for chemically separating the products of decay from the original source materials he would need expert chemical assistance. Soddy, a chemist with an excellent understanding of atomic formations, provided the proficient support Rutherford needed.

Astounded by the implication of their research findings proving that the atoms of a radioactive element changed into those of another element, Soddy had exclaimed, “Rutherford, this is transmutation.” An alarmed Rutherford had retorted, “For Mike’s sake Soddy don’t call it transmutation – they’ll have our heads off as alchemists.” And so, when they presented their findings in print, they described the phenomenon they had observed as “spontaneous transformation”. Though their collaboration was brief, lasting just for eighteen months, the Soddy-Rutherford research was extraordinarily fruitful and helped solve many of the puzzles related to radioactive elements.

While at the University of Glasgow, where he continued with his chemical work on radioactive materials, Soddy developed what he called the “displacement law” according to which “when an alpha or beta ray is emitted, the element moves to a different place in the periodic table”. Around the same time, the Polish-American physical chemist, Kazimierz Fajans, too discovered this same phenomenon which is known today as the radioactive displacement law of Fajans and Soddy. But Soddy’s most significant work here occurred in 1913 with his formulation of the concept of isotopes, a term derived from the ancient Greek words meaning ‘same place’. He discovered that the atoms of a radioactive element could have different weights, yet have the same chemical properties and occupy the same position in the periodic table. Despite their different weights, he asserted they were not different elements but isotopes of the same element. Some years later, J. J. Thomson showed that non-radioactive elements too can have multiple isotopes.

In the meantime, Soddy also began to become more socialist in his thinking and got involved in adult education, and even delivered several lectures on radiochemistry suggesting that one-day nuclear energy could be a source of abundant, cheap, and clean power, thus solving the problems of pollution and poverty. He however also warned that its uncontrolled release could result in horrific destruction. His lectures were published as a book titled ‘The Interpretation of Radium (1909). Inspired by Soddy’s book, H. G. Wells wrote ‘The World Set Free’ (1914) – a futuristic novel about biplanes dropping atomic bombs during some war in the future and the earth being destroyed by nuclear explosions and radioactive debris. Wells dedicated the book to Soddy. A prolific writer, Soddy authored a number of books some of the most well-known ones being ‘Matter and Energy’ (1912) and ‘The Story of Atomic Energy’ (1949).

In 1920, as a professor at Oxford, Soddy predicted that the rates of radioactive decay being known, isotopes could well be used for finding out the geologic age of rocks and fossils. His words came true a few decades later when Willard Libby developed modern radioactive dating techniques, winning the 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his achievement. Incidentally, Soddy had also rightly predicted that someday a single currency could unite Europe.

Later Life

When Soddy’s wife Winifred was alive, the two of them enjoyed trekking through hills and skiing together. He even supported her in her campaigns for women’s rights. Soon after her sudden death in 1936, he retired from Oxford University.

But even at Oxford, Soddy spent less time on research and radioactivity, taking a keen interest in economic and social issues. His views on these issues were unpopular and controversial but he was outspoken about his thinking and wrote several papers and books on these topics. He emphasised the need for drastically restructuring the global economy. He even wrote about a novel economic theory based on the laws of thermodynamics, arguing that ethics and morality should also be given as much importance as supply and demand in economics.

Around a year before he died on 22 September 1956 at the age of 79, he joined 17 other Nobel Prize winners in appealing to world leaders to give up nuclear weapons.

Soddy also began to become more socialist in his thinking and got involved in adult education, and even delivered several lectures on radiochemistry suggesting that one-day nuclear energy could be a source of abundant, cheap, and clean power, thus solving the problems of pollution and poverty. He however also warned that its uncontrolled release could result in horrific destruction.

Recognitions and awards

Besides the Nobel Prize, Soddy was also the recipient of many other richly deserved honours and awards. In 1910, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Oxford University bestowed an honorary degree on him, and in 1951 he was awarded the Albert Medal. In 1981, Sweden honoured him on a stamp, along with two other 1921 Nobel prize winners who were similarly honoured by being featured on stamps. The two others were Albert Einstein (Physics), and Anatole France (Literature). Also, a crater on the far side of the moon and the radioactive Uranium mineral Soddyite have been named after him.

In line with his personality and humanitarian outlook, and as someone with an interest in social issues and other subjects too in addition to chemistry, Soddy asked that most of his assets be used after his death for establishing a trust fund to help teachers and students visit unfamiliar communities inside and outside Britain. Fritz Paneth, the Austrian-born British chemist after whom the mineral panethite is named, had rightly said this about Soddy: “He was gifted in many ways, perhaps too many ways.”

References

1. Nobelprize.org: Frederick Soddy – Biographical -Nobel Media AB 2014, https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1921/soddy-bio.html

2. Marc A. Shampo Ph.D., Robert A. Kyle, MD, David P. Steensma, MD: Frederick Soddy -Pioneer in Radioactivity – Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Jun 2011; v 86(6)

3. Luisa Bonolis: Frederick Soddy (1877-1956) – Lindau Mediatheque, http://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/research-profile/laureate-soddy

4. Mike Sutton: Transmutations and isotopes –Chemistry World, 26 April 2006 Elisabeth Ratcliffe: Frederick Soddy – 175 Faces of Chemistry, September 2015, http://www.rsc.org/diversity/175-faces/all-faces/frederick-soddy

5. Norman W. Hunter, Rachel Roach: Frederick Soddy- Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, 1901-1992, James K. Laylin, Editor, American Chemical Society and Chemical Heritage Foundation, 1993.

 

Chemical Industry Digest- Feb 18

Chemical Industry Digest
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Chemical Industry Digest- Feb 18

Articles covered in this issue:

Cost Estimation and Cost Control of EPC Projects in Hydrocarbon Verticals
Rajat Kumar Dasgupta, RDMA Consultants Pvt Ltd.
This article talks about various aspects of cost estimation and cost control in EPC projects.

Handling Packaging units – Balancing Act for the EPC contractor between client and vendor needs
Neil Iyer, Project Management Consultant.
The author explains how different perspectives of handling package units from the client and the EPC contractor lead to differences and consequent delays. The article describes ways to manage these issues.

Prevent Purchase Requisition Pitfalls
S Raghava Chari, Industry Consultant.
Inadequately prepared purchase requisitions might lead to delayed deliveries, inappropriate supplies and cause unnecessary expenses. The author explains these pitfalls through many case studies and emphasises the need for accuracy in wording.

One Key Challenge in Instrumentation – P&IDs
Shivendra Kapoor, Chola MS Risk Services.
This article explains some of the issues related to documentation and drawings, particularly in P&IDs. The author shares his experience related to P&IDs.

Tips on overcoming obstacles to implement Green Chemistry
Nitesh H. Mehta, Newreka Green Synth Technologies P Ltd., Krishna B. Padia, Green ChemisTree Foundation.
There are challenges in adopting green chemistry, mainly mind-set myths which are discussed in the article. Highlights of recently held Green Chemistry Conference Exhibition are also presented.

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Chemingineering | The New Reality

K. Sahasranaman (Independent Industry Consultant)
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Chemingineering | The New Reality

 

After creating waves in the gaming and entertainment industry, Virtual Reality (VR) is poised to make inroads into many businesses. Our columnist explores how VR can benefit the Chemical Industry in areas of education, research, plant design and construction and operator training. The power of VR lies in boosting our powers of visualisation and imagination coupled with new interfaces to move things around. Will Chemical Industry shed its traditional conservatism and embrace this cutting-edge technology?

Next month Winter Olympics will be staged in Pyeongchang, South Korea and many of the exciting events like Alpine Skiing, Figure Skating, Ice Hockey etc will be broadcast around the world in Virtual Reality (VR), providing an immersive experience for millions of viewers. And when that happens VR would have arrived big time on the center stage of the world. Older readers would remember the days when people listened to cricket commentary, not even on radios owned by them but in-store displays. Grandmothers fueled our imagination by narrating folktales and epics, which then assumed a new shape as we read those accounts in comics and storybooks. The imagination got further altered and intensified as we watched those stories being enacted, first in 2D and then 3D. VR is expected to refine this experience even further. The power of VR lies in its ability to provide an order of magnitude boost to our visualisation and imagination. This can be harnessed not just for entertainment, but also education, research, training, design, construction, operation and maintenance. In the coming decade no industry is expected to be untouched by VR. VR is predicted to grow into a trillion-dollar industry by 2035.

Origins

VR is not such a new idea; it has been around for six decades. The father of VR is Morton Heilig, an American cinematographer, who in 1957 built the Sensorama Simulator, a machine that allowed you to virtually ride a bike while experiencing the sounds, vibrations, wind and even smells of the road. Probably too ahead of its time, it was a spectacular flop. The content of VR is created using CGI (Computer Generated Images) or by capturing images using a cluster of cameras to provide 360-degrees point of view. In the playback mode, sensors in the headset track the user’s head movements and alter the view accordingly. Optimal VR experience requires high resolution screens, and powerful processors so that images move in-sync with the user’s head providing a seamless experience. It is only recently that screen and processor technology have improved so much in both performance and price that VR is becoming commercially affordable.

Education

It is quite easy to foresee the benefits of VR in chemistry and chemical engineering education, where the students can get a deeper understanding of molecular structures, reaction mechanisms and other molecular-level phenomena. The earliest known application of VR in chemical engineering education was Vicher, a VR based simulator developed at University of Michigan in 1995. Vicher was used as an aid to teach Chemical Reaction Engineering to undergraduates. Students were able to travel through pipes and enter inside the reactor to observe the reaction. The objective of the model was to get a better appreciation of the reaction mechanisms both outside and inside the catalyst. It is remarkable that John Bell and Scott Fogler were able to build such a VR model way back in 1995 from “primitive” hardware, compared to what is available today. VR transforms learning into an enjoyable experience as students feel empowered and have control over the learning process. VR is advantageous for learning the abstract concepts of chemistry and chemical engineering, particularly for spatially-challenged students as it does away with the traditional language-based instruction, that would often commence with “imagine you are on….”

Research

Perhaps the most mind-bending application of VR is in discovering new molecules. Scientists at Novartis, for example, are using VR headsets to immerse themselves in a protein and walk around, with a view to understand how drugs interact with proteins in our body. By this way, they hope to alter the molecular structure of a drug and thus improve its efficacy in arresting a disease. VR has great potential to speed up the discovery of new drugs.

Plant Design and Construction

Forty years ago, the only tools for plant design were paper, pencil and tons of imagination. Then came the plastic model in 1980s. They improved visualisation considerably, but were cumbersome to construct and handle. The plastic models usually ended up as displays in the reception area to be showcased to VIP visitors. Computer Aided Design (CAD) generated 3D models are now the mainstay of plant engineering. While the 3D models facilitate collaborative efforts in plant design, the workflow gets mired in multiple time-consuming reviews for operability, accessibility, constructability and safety. Reviews are performed on computer monitors or projected screens and the comments generated during these reviews are usually captured on paper and then painstakingly incorporated into the model. The iterative process of create – review – recreate – review takes time and effort. This is where VR would make a world of difference. It has the potential to reduce the cycle time by boosting collaborative effort and an entirely different human-model interface. The alterations could be done in real-time through hand gestures and eye movements. The reduction in engineering efforts and time would be very significant.

Such collaborative visualisations can be extended to the construction phase, usually the most difficult and complex phase of the project.  Supervisors equipped with VR headsets can track the progress of construction in real-time.

Operator Training

While building new plants, many chemical companies invest in Operator Training Simulator to prepare their personnel for plant operation. This simulator only addresses the control room staff. Adding VR environment to such a simulator will not only raise the training experience to a new level but also expand it to include the field operators who are in the “firing line”. With human failing responsible for over 90% of industrial accidents, improved and regular operator training on a VR platform will minimise catastrophic incidents. Stressful conditions associated with an emergency like fire or explosion can be simulated realistically and operators’ response can be measured. This will improve the preparedness to deal with disasters.

Final Thoughts

VR is now a very mature technology. In the Gartner Hype Cycle (referred to in previous editions of this column), VR is on the Plateau of Productivity and is marching ahead for widespread commercial adoption. VR is poised to grow and thrive in a culture that is becoming increasingly comfortable with processing images and less adept at handling text. Many businesses are likely to gain significant competitive advantage from VR. As also pointed out, on more than one occasion, the chemical industry is a laggard when it comes to adopting new tools and techniques. It will show little urgency to adopt VR. VR does not need chemical industry; chemical industry needs VR. Chemical industry has to seize the initiative and get developers to build relevant applications for it on VR platform.

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

Union Budget 2018 – An analysis by Dr.K.S.Murthy

Chemical Industry Digest
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An analysis by Dr.K.S.Murthy, based on the lecture delivered by Mr.Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar on 3rd February 2018 at Sri Shanmukhananda Sabha:

The economic survey gave discouraging picture since the financial budget has left much to be desiredaccording to the stock market. In view of this, V.Sankar Aiyar Memorial Committee featured Mr.Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar to analysethe position consequent to the Union Budget presented by Honorable Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 1st February 2018 in the Parliament.

Covering the Budgets since 1969, Mr.Aiyar said that the current budget is the latest political event before the next election and is not economic eventof the year. The Government has decided in principle to change the fiscal year to the calendar year. FM is obliged to give away a lot of freebies for the governmentnot to be voted out. There is no relationship to freebies given and electoral outcome. This Budget is notable for what it did notdo and it is a positive development. There were no changes but modest increase and certain sharing out. Total budget spending out was 10.1% which is less than projected growth of GDP or nominal GDP of 11%.

  • Budget did not:produce interest free farm loans; announce series of new subsidiaries and freebies,realizesubsidiaries for petrol and dieselor grant the middle class higher income tax exemption.
  • Universal healthcare for all which created excitement and people calling it Modi Care (like ObamaCare – universal coverage of everybody, insurance-based system in USA).
  • Budget provided mere 2000-cr and the total estimate outlay is about 12,000-cr. There is a proposal to increase public health spending by 1% of GDP (175,000-cr) and spending 10,000-cr extra. This is supposed to cover limited hospitalization costs for limited number of diseases. Cost has been brought down by putting the limitations and it is not clear whether it will cover diagnostic, x-ray, MRI, blood, plasma, automation, kidneys etc.
  • In case of logistic scheme, the coverage is Rs.5 lacs (Rajasthan scheme up to 3.75 lacs with a premium of Rs.500). The sums and coverage involved are limited.
  • Major thrusts: The focus is on rural spending because of rural distress and farmers’ agitations. The other is employment.
  • Schemes like infrastructure, rural structure and new schemes put together and it is expected to create 351-cr of employment. The increase in total budget spending is not even faster than the rate of GDP growth. Infrastructure growth is 6 lac-cr.
  • New schemes are Operation Green for vegetables,perishablesalong the lines of operation flood. Further, 10,000-cr for fisheries and animal husbandry.
  • Upgradation of 22,000 rural marketing centers linked to national platform and free from restrictions like EPMCR to enable farmers send their produce directly to bulkbuyers so they need notsell only to their agents. If the state governments agree, this could be a positive step as they deal with APMCI.
  • New innovations are marginal ad are not going to be the game changers.
  • Minimum Support Price:basically, for rice and wheat. Farmers are diversifying in a big way growing wide variety of crops. Prices are volatile for potatoes and onions.Government announcing MSP for all kinds of crops and now edging towards fixed prices for all crops. In 2006, Swaminathan Committee went into the rural areas to explore how agricultural prices could be fixed. Taking into account actual cost, trends (national and international), ways of producing economies, it comes to different price levels for different crops. They simplified to take actual input costsplus imputed costs of the farmer’s level and add 50% margin on top of that for MSP. It is apparent that there is no proper analysis to go about. Do we have the same rate of return in every single industry? Regardless of what your industry is and fix 50% margin after covering all the costs. Incentive structure in a cost plus thing is wrong and more so with agriculture.
  • KCR practiced an idea in Telangana: Gavea flat sum of incentive money per acre to control cost besides benefitting a small fellow to ward off distance. This is the better way of doing and hoped the government will revise the policies.
  • Flaws of budget: Fiscal slippage; returning to import substitution policy which failed in the past. Fiscal deficit to come down in stages to 3% of GDP as on 2008 and revenue deficit should go down to zero. The FM put off that target to achieve due to something either with budgeting or implementation.
  • FRBMA (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act) would be passed to build about 3% by 2021 while giving up revenue deficit. Total revenue debt to GDP is about 47% which will be brought down to 40%. Economy is picking up with 7.5% growth; world economy is moving as also our export in such boom conditions.
  • Fiscal management is a serious question apart from minimum support license. There is a wide increase in import duties on several items. Average import duty was 10% in early 2000 and we are going in the opposite direction. Duties have gone up from10% to 15% (in some cases 20%, 25% and 50% in few cases) on items like electronics, mobile phones, furniture, auto parts, processed foods, perfumes, toys etc. and before the budget the increase in duties on electronicsand food items were 30% thereby we are reverting to old import substitution days.
  • Make in India scheme has become protect in India scheme. After infant industry protection, it grows up and looking at the long list, this argument does not apply. Nobody has changed the labor laws to allow flexibility of labor. Now fixed term labor contracts allowed for labor intensive industries like textiles and footwear and alsoextended to all the industries. Moving to informal from formal sector (committed to PF, ESI) has been a problem.
  • Crashing Sensex by 800 points is nothing to do with budget, besides S&P Dow Jones (2.84%) Indices crashing due to global (trends)phenomena. Some people thought it was due to tax proposals. Long term capital gains for long time. Bond and interest rates by Central Bank kept much lower for many years due to prices going high and now they are beginning to rise.
  • Indian debt market is driven by foreign influence. Equity market (mutual fund) is dependent on stock market and bond market is dependent on foreign investments. This is yet again a global phenomenon and there is going to be a drag on the economy.
  • Prime Minister promised with conviction he was going to give jobs to people in the remotest corners of India and he could not succeed in meeting the rate of job creation regardless of government statistics and this will continue to be a major issue in the next year.
  • Increase in tax on personal and corporate tax is from 3% to 4%. For the salaried class, standard deduction given was Rs.40,000 besides number of assorted tax breaks for senior citizens. On balance, unremarkable change to the question of corporate tax. To become competitive with other Asian countries, import duties were reduced from 30% to 25%. Effective rate of tax paid by the big companies is 24% (South East Asia at 20%). Earlier there was clarity and direction of globalization, now there are muddles of ideas, part of uncertainty which is going to affect stock market.
  • Mudra scheme: 10.38-cr loans sanctioned so far totaling 4.6 lac-cr. This has not been translated into industrial dynamism. Rates of industrial growth has been low, lack of clarity on how well these loans are usedand earlier payment for nonperformance. No strict monitoring of the scheme for better financing of small and medium sector in a responsible way.
  • Disinvestment was planned to be 32,000-cr, which is going to be one lac-cr. Assets available without labor force can be sold. Asset recycling is promising. Having built the roads, lease them to private sector for long term, collect the money for building new force and new roads. FM is silent about asset recycling and did not chose this way. In his speech, one of the things he said was that they have created 7 million new formal centers while there are already formal centers estimated to be 40 million.

Mr.Aiyar concluded that he doesn’t like some parts of budget such as MSP, fiscal slippage, protectionism and is happy with the measures to boost employment, on the rural side APMC market to push vegetables and perishables. Global trends and good growth in the coming years is going to depend upon substantial revival of export growth. The budget is expecting 50% growth of exports. Only with exports demand, people would be willing to invest.

Question-Answer discussion: Mr.Aiyar fielded questions of the participants with viable answers, clarified doubts and misconceptions and offered advice. Dr.V.Rangaraj, Vice-President proposed vote of thanks to the speaker and audience.

Sheril Vaidhyan, President, DuPont South Asia view’s on Union Budget 2018

Chemical Industry Digest
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“The Union Budget 2018 is forward looking and focuses on job creation with an emphasis onrural healthcare, education and employment along with raising disposable income of citizens to revitalize the economy post demonetization thereby encouraging stability and growth. Flagship schemes announced by the Prime Minister earlier in his term such as “Make in India”, “Skill India”, “Digital India” have been strengthened to address the objectives of overall development. Steps taken towards making India a more taxcompliant country are welcome and will boost tax buoyancy and growth.

We applaud the enhanced focus on the agriculture sector that will help provide the resources necessary to help rural communities prosper and provide access to a safe, diverse and nutritious food supply across the country. It is encouraging to note the introduction of Operation Green to help rural farmers’ needs like food storage and crop distribution. Ground water irrigation and subsidies to farmers using solar power are positive steps to accelerate the agri-income support programs. The Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost and the government would take some concrete steps towards bringing more efficient farming techniques to farmers located in far flung areas of the country. It will be heartening to see a well-defined program that supports crop insurance along with farmers’ credit.

The 2018 budget promises to boost India’s manufacturing and infrastructure development. We are confident that measures announced by the government today will lead to a better quality of life for all citizens of India.” – Sheril Vaidhyan, President, DuPont South Asia

Ajay Durrani, Managing Director, Covestro India view’s on Union Budget 2018

Chemical Industry Digest
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The budget is on the expected lines since this was the last budget of the current tenure of Narendra Modi-led government. As Finance Minister mentioned this budget is pro people and pro farmers. The thrust on agriculture and health related schemes and provisions will have a trickledown effect on various other sectors too. Operation Greens which has been allocated a sum of Rs. 500 crore is a good start. However, use of cold chains and solar powered dryers could have been incentivized. Nonetheless, the emphasis on building a research driven economy through Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme is commendable, and is a right step in the direction of building an innovation driven economy. Policies such as imposing customs duty on electronics and electrical products will boost indigenous manufacturing and fuel more employment opportunities.”

Post budget reaction from R.S.Jalan, MD, GHCL

Chemical Industry Digest
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“The 20 percent higher allocation in infrastructure development in this budget shows the government’s thrust on renewing spurt in economic activity. The allocation of Rs 5.97 lakh crore for infrastructure spends which include the completion of 35,000 km under the Bharatmala project and targeted completion of 9000 km of national highways by end of FY19  will have a positive impact on the overall growth of the country. The textile sector gets an increased  allocation of Rs 7,148 crores from Rs 6,230 crores in the last budget. Overall the budget is very balanced with a youthful flavor on one hand which  focuses on growth and supporting innovation within the economy with special incentives for small and medium enterprises and on the other hand has something for the senior citizens as well as women”.

Carbon – The multi-faceted wonder element

Veena Patwardhan
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Carbon – The multi-faceted wonder element

Carbon, the wondrous element with amazing properties, forms the foundation for all known life forms on earth. Carbon atoms are the major component of many important substances and also polymers in the body including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, DNA, and RNA, and synthetic polymers such as nylon, polyethylene, polystyrene etc. Even steel, the metal that hugely influences our lives is an alloy of iron and carbon. Some of the strongest materials used today in place of metals are made of carbon fibres. Not only are we made of carbon, this remarkable element forms the backbone of the food we eat, the homes we live in, our transport systems, the things we use in daily life, global economies, and more.

Also, carbon’s potential to form countless different compounds by bonding with atoms of almost all the elements of the periodic table in numerous ways – in linear and branched chains of varying complexity, and rings, and also by way of single, double, and triple bonds – is unmatched by any other element. Let it react with hydrogen and oxygen, and you could produce myriads of compounds ranging from glucose to gasoline. In fact, an entire discipline of chemistry, organic chemistry, involves the study of just carbon compounds. To date, scientists have been able to identify around ten million carbon-containing compounds. And they’re still counting!

From soot to the stars
Known to man for millennia, from the soot formed by burning candles to the stars in the sky, carbon is present all around us. It got its name from the Latin word for coal – carbo. But, in addition to coal, that is mostly made up of carbon, and the well known allotropes diamond and graphite, carbon is present all over the earth in the form of chemical compounds such as CO2 that is a component of our atmosphere and also dissolved in the waters of lakes, rivers, and seas, calcium carbonate found in rocks of limestone, chalk, and marble, and hydrocarbons in the deposits of petroleum, and natural gas.

Revolutionary discoveries of the twentieth century 

In 1946, Willard Libby, a chemistry professor at the University of Chicago, put forward an innovative method for dating organic materials by measuring their content of C-14, the radioactive isotope of carbon discovered just a few years earlier in 1940. It was widely acknowledged as a ground-breaking discovery. The celebrated British archaeologist Colin Renfrew hailed the carbon dating method as “the radiocarbon revolution”. Not surprising, since Libby’s discovery impacted not only the realm of chemistry, but also brought about radical changes in the fields of archaeology, geology, and anthropology by enabling more precise dating and understanding of historical chronologies.

When Libby began his research work in 1945, it was known that C-14 moved freely through the atmosphere, the different ecosystems, and the oceans through what is known as the carbon cycle. Libby discovered that plants absorb a specific amount of C-14 along with the carbon they absorb for photosynthesis. Realising that C-14 present in the atmosphere would somehow get into living matter, he thought that, theoretically, if the amount of this radioactive isotope in anything could be measured, one could calculate that object’s age based on the half-life of the isotope.

Using specially developed equipment, that he and his group called the ‘anti-coincidence counter’, Libby first tested samples of redwood and fir trees, whose age was already known from their annual growth rings. Next, he tested artifacts from museums including a piece of timber from the Egyptian pharaoh Senusret III’s funerary boat whose age was known from the historical record of the pharaoh’s death. The age estimated by Libby through his carbon dating technique was found to be remarkably close to the known age for all the samples he tested. Till the introduction of Libby’s innovative method of dating, archaeological artifacts, fossils, and organic remains were dated approximately, just going by the layer of the site in which they had been discovered, assuming that the site’s layers were created chronologically.

Libby’s carbon dating method invalidated many previously held beliefs, such as the notion that civilisation originated in Europe and then spread throughout the world. The new dating of man-made artifacts found in different continents helped archaeologists establish that civilisations developed independently in sites across the world. The carbon dating method can be used to date materials as old as 50,000 years. For his phenomenal discovery, Libby was awarded the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1960.

While Libby’s discovery rewrote human history and what we previously knew about the earth, the discovery of a new three-dimensional allotrope of carbon rewrote what was taught to students about carbon. Till 1985, when the British chemistry professor Harold Kroto, and the American chemistry professors Richard Smalley and Robert Curl discovered a previously unknown pure carbon molecule, C60, the world only knew of two distinct allotropes of carbon – diamond and graphite. In fact, at first a few scientists were cynical about their discovery, carbon being a diligently researched and studied element since long. They questioned how such a radically different carbon molecule could have gone undetected till then.

The three pioneering scientists named the new carbon allotrope buckminsterfullerene. They had chosen to name it after the American architect Buckminster Fuller, because it was the design of the geodesic domes he had created in the 1960s that provided the vital clue to the structure of the highly stable and neutral 60-atom carbon molecule they had discovered. They realised that the atoms of the C60 molecule could only be arranged in the form of a hollow cage. The aesthetic appeal of the structure, a truncated icosahedron with 12 pentagonal and 20 hexagonal faces, shaped like a microscopic soccer ball, led many to dub C60 as the ‘beautiful molecule’. In 1996, Curl, Kroto, and Smalley won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery of what is now known as fullerenes. In his Nobel Prize speech, Harold Kroto, the son of German refugees, had jokingly referred to how in his school in England he felt like the odd one out as his other classmates had typical English names like Higginbottom.

Measured in nanometres, fullerenes are nanomaterials that could be carbon molecules in the shape of hollow spheres (buckyballs), tubes (nanotubes), and some other shapes as well. Buckminster fullerene, the most common naturally occurring fullerene, can be found in minute quantities of soot. Today, fullerenes have not only opened a new branch in organic chemistry they also form the vital core of nanotechnology. Fullerenes are used in novel drug delivery systems that specifically target tumour cells. Research is also being carried out on the use of carbon nanotubes for converting sea water into drinking water more efficiently than the traditional technologies.

Significant developments in the twenty-first century 

Often referred to as the ‘miracle material’, graphene, the world’s thinnest material, was isolated in 2004 by researchers Andre Geim and Prof Kostya Novoselov who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for this pioneering work. Comprising a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal mesh, graphene is several times stronger than steel, more flexible than rubber, and conducts electricity much better than copper. The hottest carbon-related research today is centred on graphene, through mass production of this wonder material is still a challenge.

Graphene has immense potential for use in the manufacture of composite materials, photovoltaic cells, and optical electronics, and as an ultrafiltration medium and substitute for silicon in electrical systems.

One of the serious problems scientists are grappling with in the 21st century is global warming, something closely linked to the rise in atmospheric carbon. Since the Industrial Revolution, that enormously increased fuel combustion, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has also increased significantly. At the same time, fossil fuels, that are formed naturally over a long period of hundreds of millions of years, are being rapidly depleted.

Currently, one of the strategies suggested for reversing the global warming process and slowing down the consumption of fossil fuels is the methanol economy. This could involve using hydrogen (produced efficiently from water using alternative energy resources) for the reductive conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol, a much cleaner and cheaper fuel that could replace fossil fuels. Currently, like China, the Indian government too, is pushing for a methanol economy.

References

Nobel Laureate George A. Olah: Carbon – C&EN, 8 September 2003

Elton Santos: New form of carbon discovered that is harder than diamond but flexible as rubber – The Conversation, 24 June 2017

Royal Society of Chemistry: Periodic Table – Carbon – http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/6/carbon

By Holli Riebeek: The Carbon Cycle – Earth Observatory, NASA, 16 June 2011

JRank Articles: Why Carbon is special – http://science.jrank.org/pages/1202/Carbon-Why-carbon-special.html

JRank Articles: The Chemistry of Carbon – http://science.jrank.org/pages/1201/Carbon-chemistry-carbon.html

Simon H. Friedman: The four worlds of Carbon – Nature Chemistry, 23 April 2012

Stephanie Pappas: Facts About Carbon – Livescience.com, 29 September 2017

Kevin Bullis: The methanol economy- MIT Technical Review, 2 March 2006

University of Manchester: The story of graphene – http://www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/explore/the-story-ofgraphene/Nobelprize.org.

Nobel Media AB 2014: Sir Harold Kroto – Biographical –https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/kroto-bio.html

American Chemical Society National Historic Chemical Landmarks: Discovery of Fullerenes – http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/fullerenes.html

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