Atul Limited

UNIT PROFILE :-

Atul Limited is one of the leading manufacturers of over 500 products including

agrochemicals, Bulk Chemicals, Bulk drugs & bulk drug intermediates, Cresols & cresol

derivatives, Dyes & dye intermediates, Epoxy resins & epoxy hardeners, Formaldehyde,

Speciality chemicals and Wood adhesives. Atul Limited ( formerly Atul Products Ltd) was

established in 1947 on the banks of river Par in Valsad district of Gujarat 200 km north of

Mumbai, stretching over in 1300 acres area.

[2] ENERGY CONSUMPTION :-

Atul Limited Consumes Energy in the form of Coal, Fuel oils and Electricity both purchased

and Generated. Atul Limited consumed 1519.94 lac kWh electrical energy and 543463

million kCal thermal energy during 2001-02.

[3] ENERGY CONSERVATION COMMITMENT, POLICY AND SET-UP :-

Atul Limited has six strategic business units:-

3.1 Agrochemicals

3.2 Aromatics

3.3 Bulk Chemicals & Intermediates

3.4 Colors

3.5 Pharmaceuticals

3.6 Polymers

With Technology Unit at corporate level. Each business unit has energy conservation team

headed by Vice President (Technology). The team members are from various disciplines.

The Energy Conservation activities are basically divided into three parts and given prime

importance since 1990.

(a) Energy Audit :-

The team conducts the Energy Audit of each plant once a year and identifies the

areas of improvement.

(b) Implementation of Energy Conservation Measures :-

The team prepares feasibility reports of various proposals identified during the

plant Energy Audits. The team monitors the implementation of such proposals by

respective units.

(c) Awareness among the employees :-

The team organises seminars, lectures, video shows, competitions, display

stickers, banners, posters, etc. and distribute booklets to all employees to bring

awareness among the employees and their family members.

[4] ENERGY CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENTS :-

Various energy conservation schemes have been implemented major of which are

highlighted herebelow

1. Installing of Natural Gas Engine based Cogeneration Set.

2. Modified PCD purification process from steam distillation to Vacuum distillation.

3. Use of energy efficient agitator inplace of conventional agitators.

4. Installing of molten sulphur filters in sulphuric acid plant to prevent pressure drops in SO3

gas stream due to ash.

5. Heat Recovery from Sulphuric Acid plant and using for SO3 generation inplace of steam.

6. Converting HSD fired DG Set to Dual fuel fired unit to operate on a combination of HSD

and Natural Gas

7. Modification of process of product extraction from Nitrobenzene by using RVD

instead of steam distillation filtration and drying.

8. Installation of PSA based nitrogen plant inplace of LDO Fired plant.

9. Installing of Variable frequency drive on Blackley mills

10. Installation of Induced draft counter flow cooling towers with PVC fills inplace of

forced draft cooling tower with wooden splatter plates

11. Replacing of 60 HP motors of CW pumps by 75 HP and operating two pumps

instead of three pumps earlier being operated in throttled condition to prevent

overloading.

12. Replacement of Blended lamps by CFL lamps (87 ftgs)

13. Relocating capacitor bank from distribution end to user end.

14. Replacement of old cooling water pumps by new high efficiency pumps

15. Installation of Effimax system on boilers operating on N Gas.

16. Replacing of MS tube bundle in heat exchangers by SS tube bundle to prevent

corrosion and adherence of scale.

17. Installation of Gas-O-Max on gas fired boilers.

18. Installation of gas meters in Cresol II plant to monitor and control gas consumption

in fusion units.

19. Installation of additional 400 KVAR capacitors

20. Using thermostatic steam traps inplace of TD and IB traps on steam traced and

jacketed lines.

21. Use of Perlitemp Insulation inplace of Mineral wool insulation

22. Circulating reactor mass through external heat exchangers so that cooling can be

done using cooling water instead of Chilled water.

23. Connecting underloaded motors in star.

24. Operating chilled brine plant at 0 deg C as required by the process instead of -10

deg C as was the original practice.

25. Installing of Pressure powered pump inplace of centrifugal pump for condensate

recovery

26. Adding extra nozzles in spray dryer to improve atomisation of slurry and proper

mixing with drying air to increase drying efficiency and capacity.

27. Reducing aeration time in filter press by dividing press into section and providing

two air inlets and alternating between forward and reverse aeration.

27 measures were implemented during the year resulting in annual saving of Rs 511.68

lacs against an investment of Rs 466.75 lacs. The specific electrical energy consumption

has come down from 1850.9 kWh/MT in 1999-00 to 1686.22 kWh/MT in 2001-02 whereas

specific thermal energy has reduced from 6.075 x 106 in 1999-00 to 5.617 x 106 in 2001-02.

In recognition of the commitment of the management towards Energy Conservation:

4.1 Atul Limited received The Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Award for Energy

Conservation & Pollution Control in the year 1992-93 from International Greenland

Society.

4.2 Erstwhile Atic Industries Limited now a part of Colors Division of Atul Limited were

awarded the National Energy Conservation Award second prize in Chemical

Sector for two consecutive years 1994 and 1995.

4.3 Atul Limited was awarded the National Energy Conservation Award second prize

in Chemical Sector for the year 1996.

4.4 Atul Limited was awarded by Federation of Gujarat Industries for Excellence in

Energy Conservation for the year 1997.

4.5 Atul Limited was awarded the National Energy Conservation Award Certificate of

Merit in Chemical Sector for the year 1998.

4.6 Atul Limited was awarded ICMA Award for Excellence in Energy Conservation and

Management for the year 1998.

4.7 Atul Limited was awarded the National Energy Conservation Award second prize

in Chemical Sector for the year 2000.

4.8 Atul Limited was awarded the National Energy Conservation Award Certificate of

Merit in Chemical Sector for the year 2001.

[5] ENERGY CONSERVATION PLANS AND TARGETS :-

To improve the energy performance further and to conserve energy, the following projects

are under process :-

5.1 To modernise power plant and installation of 50 TPH AFBC boiler. Investment Rs.

2000 lac the project is in advance stage and shall be commissioned during the

current year.

5.2 Installation of second Natural Gas Engine based Cogeneration set.

5.3 Heat recovery from second Sulphuric Acid Plant and generate additional steam.

5.4 Recovery of flash steam from condensate, at higher pressure.

5.5 Modernisation of utility plants by new state of art technology, Replacing VCR by

Vapour Absorption systems, replacing old wooden splatter plate cooling tower by

energy efficient cooling towers, etc.

5.6 Conversion of Stoker bed boiler to fluid bed combustion boiler.

5.7 Further replace conventional agitators by energy efficient agitators.

5.8 Implementation of all newly developed concept such as Auto control on tray

dryers, intermittent stirring, Speed Reduction, Auto Stop of drives, Auto Control of

compressed air etc. at remaining places.

5.9 To carry out in depth process study to identify areas where process can be

modified to save energy.

[6] ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY :-

Atul Limited has been having primary treatment facility for liquid effluent for over a decade

and has provided for secondary (Biological) and tertiary treatment using state of art

‘Degremont’ technology able to handle 20,000 M3/day. Erstwhile Atic Industries have

installed an Effluent Treatment Plant with technology from Pielkenrood Water Treatment,

Netherland of 10,000 M3/day capacity. The total investment in the ETP is around Rs. 30

crores. The treated effluents meets the specified standards and are transported in

pipelines to be discharged in zones demarcated for this purpose. Numerous scrubbing

systems and Electrostatic precipitators are an integral part of all manufacturing activities.

Analysis of vent gases and ambient air is done routinely. Organic chemical waste is

incinerated. Extensive tree plantation has been an ongoing activity in the complex. To-day

the complex has more than 3,00,000 trees.

Atul has received various awards for Safety and Award from Federation of Gujarat Industry

for Excellence in Environment Protection in 1994.