Alkali BulletinAlkali Bulletin(For Restricted Circulation) April 2019Volume XLI No. 04

Dear Reader,

The Indian government suspended LOC trade with Pakistan effective 19th April 2019, citing reports of misuse of trade routes for smuggling illegal weapons, narcotics and counterfeit currencies, etc. into India. Earlier in February, India revoked the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status accorded to Pakistan and hiked customs duties on all imports from Pakistan to 200 per cent. This measure will provide further relief against clandestine imports that adversely affected our industry.

It is one year since the notification on mandatory compliance of caustic soda to BIS specification was issued. Although the notification was to come into immediate effect, its enforcement was delayed by almost six months. The delay resulted in non-compliant material to be imported causing concern among the domestic industry. The impact of the measure was diluted. The domestic producers of caustic soda took adequate measures to ensure uninterrupted supplies, allaying unfounded fears of shortage in availability to consumers. In keeping with its commitment, the domestic producers stepped up production and synergised their efforts to meet the requirements. The close monitoring by the government ensured its success.

On 30th April 2019, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) gave an order setting new standards for the quality of treated sewage as the base for all cities in the countries. The new standards for discharge of treated effluents into water bodies are to be applicable on existing STPs as well. Disposal of domestic sewage from cities and towns is the biggest source of water pollution in India. According to one estimate, the extent of surface water pollution due to untreated sewage may be as high as 80%. Unfortunately, sanitation has not kept pace with water supply in India so much so that almost 80% of the water supplied for domestic use comes back as waste water to pollute fresh water and soil. It is estimated that 75-80 per cent of water pollution in terms of volume of water polluted is from domestic sewerage. There is a large gap between generation and treatment of wastewater in India. Even the treatment capacity existing is also not effectively utilized due to operation and maintenance problem. CPCB conducted an extensive study on the availability and functioning of STPs a few years ago. The report based on the study conclusively established that chlorination is effective in meeting the requirement of treated wastewater quality before it can be safely discharged to water bodies. With chlorine abundantly available, implementation of the NGT order will be possible. AMAI plans to partner with various agencies in extending support for implementation of the NGT order.

K. Srinivasan Secretary General

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I. ARTICLES & FEATURES

A Report on Vinyl India 2019 – Ms. Harjeet Kaur Anand, Joint Director (Technical), AMAI 1

Material Characteristics and Selection for Corrosion Prevention (Part II) - Dr. S.K. Chakravorty, Consultant Plant Engineering 11

Green Chemistry – A Sustainable Approach – Mr. Subhash Tandon, Advisor Technical Services, AMAI 16

Process Plants : Digitize for Opex – Dr. M.P. Sukumaran Nair, Director, Centre for Green Technology and Management, Cochin 19

March Against Asbestos - Mr. Gregory A Cade, Principal Attorney Environmental Litigation Group, US 21

Optimum Efficiency - Buildings Adopting Advanced HVAC Systems 22

Recycling – An Essential Measure for the Circular Economy 24

First Aid Training Programme – A Report by Babji Choudhary, SHE Dept, Century Rayon (Under Management & Operation of Grasim Industries Limited) 27

Incident Report No.107:Chlorine Gas Leakage from a Cylinder at Tubewell in Dera Bassi 28

Beacon-Messages for Manufacturing Personnel 30

II. NEWS DIGESTGeneral

Performance review of export promotion councils to start soon 33

India may extend deadline for imposing retaliatory tariff on 29 US items by 14 days 33

USTR puts India on ‘Priority Watch List’, alleges IP rights violations 33

Water from Ulhas River not fit for drinking: Lab report 34

Trade suspension across LoC will not impact big biz 34

Exports up 11% in March, 9% in FY19 34

Tamil Nadu set to regain top slot in clean energy with fresh capacity addition 35

India gives China list of items, including chemicals, with potential for increased exports 35

Protectionism, commodity prices, inadequate liquidity are major challenges for exporters: FIEO 35

Toxic threat to the Buckingham Canal in Chennai’s Ennore 36

Global energy demand rose by 2.3% in 2018, its fastest pace in the last decade: IEA 36

Tax refund in the works for exports to US 37

More duty-free imports from China will jeopardise India’s trade equation 37

Scientists Rewind emissions clock by turning CO2 into coal RMIT university 38

UN meet dilutes Indian plan to phase out single-use plastic 38

CONTENTS

Chlorine Emergency Response Network Toll free no. 1800-11-1735

Chemicals and Petrochemicals

Toxic Chemicals finding way into Sirsa river 39

Turning Waste Water Algae into Specialty Chemicals 39

Useful Chemicals from Desalination Waste 39

India is Recycling Plastic Waste - More than Japan, US & Europe 40

Shell joins industry consortium on waste-to-chemistry project 40

Global Chemicals Output Remains Slow in First Quarter 41

III. UPCOMING SEMINARS/CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS

ICIS & Tecnon Orbichem to organise The 23rd World Chlor-Alkali Conferecne on 20-21 June 2019 in Singapore – AMAI is Media Partner 44

Disclaimer: Information published in this magazine is reproduced from various sources. Every effort is made to minimize errors while reproducing for publication in Alkali Bulletin. However, readers are requested to verify and make appropriate enquiries and satisfy themselves about the veracity of information published in this magazine before use. The publisher or AMAI will not be responsible for decisions taken by readers based on information published in Alkali Bulletin.

Alkali Bulletin April, 2019

PROJECT EXECUTION Project Management Plant Design & Engineering Procurement services Installation and commissioning Delivery as turnkey or skid mounted units Installation and commissioning

AFTER-SALES SERVICES Spare Parts / Spare Parts Package Field service Plant Inspection Revamping Overhaul Technical helpline / Site assistance Training & Qualification

OUR CORE COMPETENCIES.

How often do we dismiss readings that are not normal as “erroneous?” While this may be the case, shouldn’t we first assume that the instrument is reading correctly? Then, try to understand why the reading is not normal. Use other process instruments and related information to perform a more comprehensive assessment of what

is happening in your process. What else can you do to understand if the instrument is failed or correct? For example, can you take a process

sample for analysis to help understand the situation? Can you look at local temperature or pressure gages in the field? Can you look through a sight glass on top of a tank to see the level?

Get help from your co-workers, supervisors, and engineering support. Ask “What are the possible consequences if this reading is correct?” Asking the question may lead to reviews

that could uncover unexpected hazards. If the “erroneous” reading warns of a significant threat, work with your supervisors and technical support

engineers. Understand what action you should be taking to prevent a possible incident if it turns out that the instrument reading is correct.

In a good process safety culture, everybody should believe instruments, unless a thorough assessment indicates that an instrument reading is wrong.

This issue sponsored by

http://www.aiche.org/CCPS/Publications/Beacon/index.aspxMessages for Manufacturing Personnel

Think about what an “abnormal” instrument reading could mean!

www.aiche.org/ccps

April 2019

©AIChE 2019. All rights reserved. Reproduction for non-commercial, educational purposes is encouraged. However, reproduction for any commercial purpose without express written consent of AIChE is strictly prohibited. Contact us at ccps_beacon@aiche.org or 646-495-1371.

The Beacon is usually available in Afrikaans, Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Marathi, Mongolian, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

What if that “wrong” instrument reading is correct?An explosion at a large US chemical manufacturing site caused 16 fatalities and more than 300 injuries.

There were significant property damage and business interruption losses as well. The explosion occurred during startup of a distillation column. It is believed that the trays in the column were damaged early in the startup. The tray damage caused poor separation. There was an abnormally high nitrobenzene concentration in the bottom of the column – a concentration which was unstable.

There are many lessons from this incident (see references). This Beacon focuses on one – a “bad” temperature indication in the distillation column. Hours before the explosion, the column was put on total reflux because of startup difficulties. Later, a control system technician was asked to replace a thermocouple on a tray in the column below the feed tray. The reason – it was reading 121°C when it “should have been reading 102 °C.” The conclusion at the time was that the thermocouple had failed. In hindsight, the

What Can You Do?

References: Process Safety Progress 23 (3), September 2004, pp. 221–228, and Process Safety Progress 35 (1), March 2016, pp. 103–106.

thermocouple was probably reading correctly. Computer modeling of the column, done many years after the incident and assuming damage to the trays in the bottom of the column, predicted increased nitrobenzene concentration. This would account for the observed temperature of 121°C.

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15931 A4 AW.indd 1 10/05/2019 15:56

Published by ALKALI MANUFACTURES ASSOCIATION OF INDIA 3rd Floor, Pankaj Chambers, Preet Vihar Commercial Complex, Vikas Marg, Delhi 110092 Ph: 011-22432003, 22410150 Email:hkanand@ama-india.org; info@ama-india.org; website: www.ama-india.org

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