SUMMER TRAINING REPORT

In

GAIL (INDIA)Limited,PATA
Submitted atMECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
GAIL(INDIA) LTD.PATA

Guided by:
Mr. R.K. SINGH
HOD
(M.E. Department)
GAIL INDIA LTD.

Submitted by:
UTKARSH SHUKLA
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MNNIT,ALLAHABAD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge my humble & .sincere
indebtedness to Mr. P.K. Jain (Training Officer) for providing excellent
facilities & encouragement despite of his multifarious responsibilities.
I am thankful to Mr. R.K. SINGH(HOD Mechanical DEPT.) for their
esteemed co-operation.
I wish to place on record my deep sense of reverence & gratitude to
Mr. Sushil Kumar for his keen interest, timeless efforts & constructive
criticism which have sustained my efforts at all stages of this
undertaking.
This work bears the impact of many persons who made significant
contribution in formal or informal way.I am thankful to all of them.
UTKARSH SHUKLA

INTRODUCTION
GAIL
GAIL (India) Limited is the largest state-owned natural gas processing and
distribution company in India, It is headquartered in New Delhi. It has
following business segments: Natural Gas, Liquid Hydrocarbon, Liquefied
petroleum gas Transmission, Petrochemical, City Gas Distribution,
Exploration and Production, GAILTEL and Electricity Generation. GAIL has
been conferred with the Maharatna status on 1 Feb 2013, by the
Government of India. Only six other Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) enjoy
this coveted status amongst all central CPSES.

HISTORY
GAIL (India) Limited was incorporated in August 1984-as a Central public
Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
(MoP&NG). The company used to be known as Gas Authority of lndia
Limited. It is India's principal gas transmission and marketing company.The
company was initially given the responsibility of construction, operation &
maintenance of the Hazira-Vijaiypur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline project. It
was one of the largest cross-country natural gas pipeline projects in the
world.This 7000-kilometre-long pipeline was built at a cost of 117 billion
(US$270 million) and it laid the foundation for development of market for
natural gas in India. GAIL commissioned the 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mil)
Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline in 1991. Between 1991 and 1993,
three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plants were constructed and some
regional pipelines acquired, enabling GAIL to begin its gas transportation in
various parts of India.GAIL began its city gas distribution in New Delhi in
1997 by setting up nine compressed natural gas (CNG) stations. In order to
secure gas for its mainstream business Exploration and production
department was created. Today GAIL is a partner in the Dawoo- OVL led
consortium in two offshore block in Myanmar which has made a gas
discovery. Bulk of its blocks are located in India in the prolific besins of
cambay, Assam-Arakan, Mahanadi, Krishna Godavary Deep water and
onland, Cauvery onland and deep water and western offshore. It is actively
scouting for foreign blocks both exploratory or discovery. GAIL today has

reached new milestones with its strategic diversification into

Petrochemicals, Telecom and Liquid Hydrocarbons besides gas
infrastructure. The company has also extended its presence in Power,
Liquefied Natural Gas re-gasification, bity Gas Distribution and Exploration
& Production through participation in equity and joint ventures.
Incorporating the new-found energy into its corporate identity, Gas Authority
of India was renamed GAIL (India) Limited on 22 November2002. GAIL
(India) Limited has shown organic growth in gas transmission through the
years by building large network of trunk pipelines covering length of around
10700 kilometers (6,600 mi). Leveraging on the core competencies, GAIL
played a key role as gas. Market developer in India for decades catering to
major industrial sectors like power, fertilizers, and city gas distribution. GAIL
transmits more than 160 mmscmd of gas through its dedicated pipelines
and have more than 70% market share in both gas transmission and
marketing.

INFRASTRUCTURE
GAIL owns the country's largest pipeline network, the cross-country 2300
km Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline with a capacity to handle 33.4
MMSCMD gas.
The company supplies gas to power plants for generation of over 4000 MW
of Power to fertilizer plants for production of 10 million tones of urea and to
several other industries. The regional pipelines are in Mumbai, Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Assam, Tripura,
Madhya Pradesh,Haryana,Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The Company has
established six Gas processing (LPG) Plants, four along the HVJ pipeline
two at Vijaipur, MP, one at Vaghodia, Gujarat and Auraiya, UP and one each
in Lakwa, Assam and Usar, Maharashtra. These plants have the capacity to
produce nearly 1 million tpa of LPG. GAIL has also set up several
compressor stations for boosting the gas pressure to desired levels for its
customers and internal users. GAIL also possesses a vast
telecommunication network that contributes significantly to the high level of
system reliability of operations, on-line real time communication and
monitoring higher productivity. GAIL became the first infrastructure Provider
Category 2 Licensee and signed the country's first Service Level Agreement
for leasing bandwidth in the Delhi-Vijaipur sector in 2001, through its
telecom business GAILTEL. GAIL Project offices have been set up where its
plants, complexes etc. are located. In 2001, GAIL commissioned world's

longest and first cross country LPG Transmission Pipeline from Jamnagar
to Loni.

OPERATIONS
Natural gas transmission
GAIL has built a network of trunk pipelines covering length of around 11,000
km. Leveraging on the core competencies, GAIL played a key role as gas
market developer in India for decades catering to major industrial sectors
like power, fertilizers, and city gas distribution. GAIL transmits more than
160 MMSCMD of gas through its dedicated pipelines and have more than
70% market shares in both gas transmission and marketing. However, there
are regional imbalances in gas supply across the country. To bridge this gap
in infrastructure, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in the year
2007,authorised five new pipelines to GAIL covering a length of over 5,500
km.

Gas marketing
Since inception in 1984, GAIL has been the undisputed leader in the
marketing, transmission and distribution of Natural Gas in lndia. As lndia's
leading Natural Gas Major, it has been instrumental in the development of
the Natural Gas market in the country.GAIL sells around 51% (excluding
internal usage) of Natural Gas sold in the country. Of this, 37% is to the
power sector and 260/o to the fertilizer sector. GAIL is supplying around 60
MMSCMD of Natural Gas from domestic sources to customers across
lndia.These customers range from the smallest of companies to mega
power and fertilizer plants. GAIL has adopted a Gas Management System
to handle multiple sources of supply and delivery of gas in a co-mingled
form and provide a seamless interface between shippers, customers,
transporters and suppliers. GAIL is present in 11 states, i.e., Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi,Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, and Tripura. They are further
extending their coverage to states of Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab,
Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Bihar through their upcoming pipelines.

LNG
By the end of 2OO9-10, the gas consumption in India stood at 165
MMSCMD with LNG occupying 15% (25 MMSCMD) of the entire gas
market. The proportion of imported LNG is expected to increase to
anywhere between 20% and 30% by 2015. GAIL has been playing a
principal role on its part in ensuring that Government's objective of
achieving energy security is achieved through a judicious mix of energy
portfolio.As a dominant player in the gas markets, GAIL play a major role in
sourcing of LNG and creation of the pipeline infrastructure to form an
efficient national grid that will ensure connectivity to all demand centers. To
achieve these objectives, GAIL is actively pursuing LNG sourcing from
major LNG producers/sellers all across the globe and has been adopting a
strategy to have a mixed portfolio of spot, Short/mid-term, and long-term
deals. To ensure long-term supplies in the past, GAIL has promoted
Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL), along with oil majors Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC), lndian Oil Corporation (lOC) and Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Limited (BPCL) for the import of LNG into lndia. PLL is
importing 7.5 MMTPA of LNG from Qatar for its Dahej Terminal on long term
contract basis. PLL will also be importing 1.44 MMTPA from Gorgon LNG
project, Australia for its Kochi Terminal. GAIL is also the sole transporter of
the entire RLNG and a major off-taker from both these contracts.
Further, from time-to-time GAIL had imported LNG on a spot basis to cater
to additional gas demand in lndia. GAIL imported its first spot cargo from
Algeria in May 2006 and within a shorter span has gone onto become a
major importer of LNG in Asia. GAIL has so far imported 5 spot cargos in
the first half of 2011 . ln addition, GAIL has imported 1 LNG cargo from the
international market through PLL.GAIL had also inked a short term deal with
Marubeni Corporation to purchase up to 0.50 MMTPA of LNG on a medium
term basis and has already received 3 LNG cargoes under the contract.The
Government of India has entrusted GAIL with the responsibility of reviving
the LNG terminal at Dabhol in Maharashtra, as well as sourcing LNG for the
terminal. GAIL is exploring all the possible options-for sourcing around 5
MMTPA of LNG for the Dabhol Terminal. GAL has stepped up efforts to
source LNG on a long term basis from various projects across the globe
including Qatar,Australia, Russia and US. Till now GAIL has signed 23
Master sales and Purchase agreement (MSPA) with various LNG suppliers
in its endeavor to source Spot & Medium Term from time to time' GAIL is
also in talks to add 6 to 8 additional suppliers under the umbrella.

Liquid hydrocarbons
GAIL is marketing Gas Processing Unit's (GPU's) products namely liquefied
petroleum gas, propene, pentane,naphtha and byproducts of polymer plant
namely MFO, propylene & hydrogenated C4 mix. LPG is being sold
exclucively to PSU oil marketing companies (OMCs) while other products
are sold directly to customers in retail segment.GAIL is lndia's major
producer of propane, popularly known as GAIL Propane. It is an ecofriendly
fuel and provides an effective way of reducing pollution and increasing
productivity.GAIL produces and markets pentane. It is primarily being used
for reprocessing into iso, normal & commercial pentane used in
EPS,PU,LAB industry.Acetone and phenol are being produced from
propylene by blending with benzene which are being mainly used in
pharmaceutical industry.
MFO is mainly used as fuel for heating, paint spraying, furniture polishing
etc. Naphtha is primarily used by power, fertilizer, steel and petrochemical
units. ln power, steel units it is used as a fuel,whereas in petrochemical,
chemical, fertilizer units it is used as a feedstock. GAIL is operating seven
gas processing units (GPU) located at Vijaipur (2 Units), Auraiya,
Vaghodia, Usar, Lakwa & Gandhar plant for production of LPG and GCU at
Pata plant for production of polymer. !n the process of production of main
products viz. LPG & polymer through GPU/GCU except Usar, the following
by-products- liquid hydrocarbons (LHC) are produced.

LPG production and transmission

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the most widely used domestic and
commercial fuel in lndia. Over the past four years GAIL has emerged as one
of the major LPG producers in the country. Around 90 per cent of the LPG is
consumed in lndia as fuel by the household sector, while the balance is sold
to industrial and commercial customers. GAIL has seven LPG Plants, two at
Vijaipur and one at Vaghodia, and one each in Lakwa (Assam),
Auraiya(UP), Gandhar (Gujarat) and Usar (Maharashtra), producing over 1
million TPA LPG and other liquid hydrocarbons. LPG is sold in bulk to LPG
retailing companies such IOCL, BPCL, HPCL and other liquid hydrocarbon
products are sold to industries.GAIL is the first company in lndia to own and
operate pipelines for LPG transmission. lt has 1,900 km LPG pipeline
network 1,300 km of which connects the western and northern parts of lndia
and 600 km of networks is in the southern part of the country connecting

Eastern Coast. The LPG transmission system has a capacity to transport

3.8 MMTPA of LPG. LPG transmission through pipelines was 3337 TMT in
the year 2010-11.GAIL has a share of about 10% of the lndian LPG market
in LPG production and 7% in LPG sales.

Petrochemicals
GAIL diversified from gas marketing and transmission into polymer business
by setting up North lndia's first gas based Petrochemicals complex. Even
without having any prior experience in petrochemicals,
GAIL commissioned the plant successfully in year1999 by rigorous team
work and project management capabilities. The petro-Chemical business is
one of the core focus area of GAIL.
GAIL has set up a world-scale gas cracker plant, petrochemical complex at
Pata in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh with an investment of 225 billion
(US$400 million). The plant has a design capacity to produce 1OO TPA of
ethylene (Expandable to.5 TPA).Downstream units include HDPE
production unit of 1-TPA capacity and an LLDPE/HDPE swing plant of 16TPA capacity. This complex recovers ethane propane (C2/C3) from natural
gas from Vijaipur through the HVJ pipeline for producing polymers.
Conversion of ethanl-propane (otherwise used as fuel) from natural gas will
give tremendous value addition. GAIL Pata is the only HDPE/LLDPE plant
operating in Northern lndia and has a dominant market share in North
India.The primary thrust markets for the polymers had been Western lndia,
but, with the entry of GAIL in the HDPE & LLDPE market Verticals, today
North lndia has also witnessed a rapid and significant growth in the polymer
downstream processing Verticals. ln a successful span of about a decades
of establishing and marketing its grades under the brand names G-Lex & GLene,GAIL has along side augmented its name plate capacity of HDPE
&LLDPE to 410000 MTPA by adding another dedicated HDPE downstream
polymerisation unit of 100,000 MTPA.The current per capita consumption of
plastics in lndia is about 1.8 kg compared with the world average of 17 kg.
Demand and supply projections indicate a progressively increasing
domestic offtake. Being the only plant outside western lndia, it offers easy
access to polymer consumers in Northern lndia and parts of central
lndia.GAIL has set up a joint venture, Brahmaputra cracker and Polymer
Limited BCPL,to construct a Greenfield petrochemical plant in Assam.
GAIL also has equity stake in OPAL petrochemical plant led by ONGC
Further, GAIL is co-promoter with 17% equity stake in ONGC petroadditions Limited (OPAL) which is implementing a green field petrochemical

complex of 1.1 MMTPA ethylene capacity at Dahej in the state of

Gujarat.Further, GAIL is working on augmenter of the installed capacity
further by putting up new plants of HDPE/LLDPE by 500 KTA at pata, which
is targeted to be operational by FY 2013-14.

City gas distribution

GAIL is the pioneer of city gas distribution in India. GAIL took many
initiatives to introduce PNG for households and CNG for the transport
sector to address the rising pollution levels. Pilot projects were launched in
early 1990s in two metros Delhi and Mumbai through joint venture
companies lndraprastha Gas Limited (lGL) and Mahanagar Gas Limited
(MGL) leading to the start of commercial operation of city gas projects. The
results of these ventures are quite visible through the improvement in air
quality in these cities.
Based on the success of IGL and MGL, GAIL has further set up six more
JVCs viz Bhagyanagar Gas Limited, Andhra Pradesh.Avantika Gas Limited
in Madhya Pradesh; Central U P Gas Limited & Green Gas Limited in Uttar
Pradesh; Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited in Pune Maharashtra and
Tripura Natural Gas Company Limited in Tripura. for CGD projects in
various cities. However, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas established
the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) with effect from
1-10-2007, under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act
2006, to regulate the refining, processing, storage, transportation,
distribution, marketing and sale of petroleum, petroleum products and
natural gas excluding production of crude oil and natural gas. The
Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act-2006 provides the legal
framework for the development of the natural gas pipelines and city or local
gas distribution networks. With the arrival of the PNGRB the implementation
of PNG in various cities is being taken up in a phased manner as and when
the bids are called for by the Regulator.

Exploration and Production

GAIL is participating in 31 exploration blocks, in Basins such as Mahanadi,
Mumbai Cambay, Assam-Arakan, Tripura Fold Belt,Gujarat Kutch, Krishna
Godavari, Cauvery and Cauvery Palar. GAIL has partnership in these
blocks with various companies such as ONGC, OlL, GSPC, Hardy
Exploration & Production, Petrogas,JOGPL, Eni and Daewoo as Operators.
Out of these 31 E&P blocks. 2 blocks are overseas (A-1 and A-3 blocks in

Myanmar).The blocks are in various stages of exploration, appraisal and

development. Hydrocarbon discoveries are in place in 7 E&P blocks in
blocks where GAIL is participating. The blocks with hydrocarbon discovery
are: MN-OSN -2000/2,CB-ONN-2000/1 ' Block A-1 and A- 3Myanmar,CYOS/2,AA-ONN-2002/1,CB-ONN-2003/2. production of crude oil is in
progress from Cambay onland block (CB-ONN-2000/1)@ 1250 BARRELS
per day. Development activities are in progress in 2 blocks in Burma(A.1
and A.3) and production of gas is expected from May 2013. Declaration of
Commerciality has been approved by the Government in Mahanadi offshore
(MNOSN- 2000/2)block. ln other blocks where hydrocarbon discoveries
have been made, appraisal is in progress.
GAIL is an active member of multi-organisation team (MOT) set-up up for
assessment of shale gas potential in lndian basins. GAIL is also a member
of National Gas Hydrate Program being coordinated by DGH and is actively
involved in activities related to Gas Hydrate exploration.

GAILTEL
GAILTEL,the Telecom & Telemetry services arm of GAIL(India) Limited,is
providing communication services for its business critical pipeline
Supervisory Control and data acquisition(SCADA),enterprise resource
planning for automation of organisation wide business processes and
inter/intra office communication apart from commercially leasing telecom
services to telecom operators across India since 2001.
GAILTEL services include long term lease of Dark fibre and duct under
IRU,tower space & collection facilities and point to point leased line
bandwidth .With SDH and DWDM as the core layer,GAILTEL network is
built largely along the highly secured cross country pipe line corridor and
insure highly reliable ,error free service to its internal and external
customers.

Power
Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt. Ltd. (RGPPL) is a joint venture company
between GAIL (lndia) Ltd, NTPC Limited, lndian Financial lnstitutions (lFls)
and MSEB Holding Company Limited. The promoters have incorporated
and registered the company as a private Iimited company on 8 July 2005.
The authorised share capital of the company is 20 billion and the
shareholdings of GAIL,NTPC and lFt's are 28 1/3% each and MSEB 15%.
The project is located at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra state about 340
km south of Mumbai. The project has power generation capacity of 2150
MW along with an integrated 5 MMTPA LNG terminal. Primary fuel for the
power plant is natural gas.

OVERVIEW OF GAIL PLANT/PATA

1. GAS PROCESSING UNIT
GAS SWEETENING UNITThe gas from the HVJ pipeline contains about 5 to 6 % COz by volume
which interferes with C2-C3 recovery in GPU where deep cryogenic
conditions are involved. ln view of this it is necessary to remove CO2
conditions are involved. ln view of feed gas enters the bottom of the
absorber where it contacts counter currently with the descending lean by
solution. The acid gas component in the gas is absorbed the solvent and
the sweet gas leaves from the top of the absorber. The rich solvent solution
loaded with acid components is drawn from the absorber bottom and
flashed in to the flash drum to recover dissolved heavy hydrocarbons, The
flashed rich solution is then fed to the regenerator through a lean/rich
exchanger. ln the regenerator the acid components are stripped off by the
reboiled vapor generated through the regenerator reboiler and the solvent is
recovered as lean solvent which is recycled as absorber top.

C2-C3 EXTRECTION UNITThe sweetened gas is compressed and cooled in feed gas cooler to
separate moisture. This gas is then passed through molecular seive dryer
for drying the gas further. The dehydrated gas is next cooled in three
stages. ln the first stage, the gas is cooled by de-methaniser bottom
reboiler, chiller 1 and side reboiler. The liquid produced is separated in
separator l. ln the second stage, gas is sent to chillier 2 for further cooling
and the liquid produced is separated in separator ll. ln third stage, the gas is
process. A part of the exit gas from intermediate stage of the exit gas result
in temperature reduction in the plant to -117" C, The cold gas molecular
sieve regeneration,pipeline.is utilized in the compressor is used for
recompressed and recycled back to HVJ.

2. GAS CRACKER UNIT

In gas cracking unit, the feed c2/c3 is cracked in hollow furnace tubes at
high temperature in the presence of steam. The furnace output is cooled in
quench tower by direct water quench and the cooled gas is sent to cracked
gas compressor (CGC)for pressure boost up. The cracked gas is scrubbed
for carbon dioxide using caustic wash and then sent for dehydration in
molecular sieve dryers. The dry gas is next passed on to de-methaniser
section where all gases other than methane and
hydrogen are condensed into liquid. Uncondensed methane and hydrogen
mixture from the de-methaniser is expanded to achieve the low temperature
required for hydrocarbon separation. Methane is recycled back to fuel gas
system, while hydrogen is used for the production of pure H2, which is
required for hydrogenation reaction terminator. The liquid from demethaniser is sent to de-ethaniser, which
splits up the feed to ethane and ethylene products at the top and the
heavier at the bottom. The ethane-ethylene mix from de-ethaniser top is
processed for removal of acetylene and is thereafter sent to ethylene
column for further separation. ln the etheylene column, the ethane-ethylene
mixture is separated into ethylene product at the top and ethane at the
bottom which is again recycled back to furnace for cracking. The heavier
bottoms from de-ethaniser is fed to de-propaniser which separates the
propane-propylene mixture at the top and all the heavier fractions at the
bottom. The propane propylene mixtures are separated in the propylene
column where by-product propylene goes as the top product and propane is
obtained at the bottom. This propane is again recycled back to furnace for
production of ethylene and piopylene. The heavy fraction from depropaniser
bottom is fed to the de-butanizer which separates the feed into C4 mix
byproduct at the top and gasoline by product at the bottom. expanded in an
expander to cool down to 100"C. The cold gas is then fed to de-methaniser
column for recovery of ethane (C2) and propane (C3). Liquids produced in
separator I and separator ll are also fed to this column for distillation. The
liquid from bottom of the de-methaniser column is pumped to C2 and C3
storage. The gases from the top of the demethaniser column are cooled
down In condenser and the condensate is separated in reflux drum and
pumped back to the column.

3. HIGH DENSITY POLY-ETHYLENE UNIT

The high-density polyethylene plant (HDPE) uses the slurry process for
making polyethylene (PE). The process consists of feeding ethylene to
reactors containing catalyst, hydrogen and propylene or butene-l along with
hexane for making tailor made PE product to suit customer application
requirements. The slurry from reactors (polymerizers) is fed to centrifuge
where the solvent hexane gets separated from the polymer powder. This
powder is next fed to a dryer for drying. The dry powder is fed to an
extruder to get pellets of required size, which are subsequently bagged for
shipment. The recovered hexane from centrifuge and dryer is sent to
hexane recovery section, where the hexane is stripped to yield byproduct
low polymer. The stripped hexane is next dehydrated for removal of
moisture and recycled back for reuse.

4. LLDPE/HDPE SWING PLANT

The process in linear low-density polyethylene/high density polyethylene
(LLDPE/HDPE) swing plant utilizes solution phase reaction system for
polyethylene manufacture. Solvent cyclohexane and co-monomer butene-1
are pumped to absorber-cooler where ethylene is fed to form reactor feed
solution. The reactor operates at high pressure and temperature to yield
PE. The control of the properties of the polymer is normally achieved by
varying the feed quantity and injection of catalysts and hydrogen. The
catalysts present in the solution in excess is next deactivated by deactivator
addition. The solution is then preheated before passing through an adsorber
for the removal of the deactivated catalysts. The adsorbed material is
depressurized in two stages, at intermediate pressure separator (IPS) and
low-pressure separator (LPS) for flashing off of unreacted ethylene, solvent
and monomers, which are recycled for recovery. The polymer melt from
LPS is next passed through extruder to form pellets which is steam
stripped, dried, blended and bagged for dispatch. The recycle vapor stream
from IPS and LPS is fed to low boiler (LB) column to yield unrecovered
ethylene, co-monomer, extra product and cyclohexane as bottom product.
The solvent stream from LB column is then fed to high boiler (H B) column
from where recycle solvent is available as top product and high boilers (low
molecular weight polymers) as the bottom product. The ethylene stream

from LB column is sent to the ethylene column from where ethylene vapor
obtained from the top is recycled back to cracker for recovery. The bottom
product from ethylene column is sent to the comonomer column from where
pure co-monomer is obtained as top product and solvent is recovered as
bottom product. The bottom product from the
HB column is sent to the RB column from where low molecular weight
polymer is taken out as grease.

5. LIQUID PETROLIUM PLANT

Liquid hydrocarbon from gas processing unit (GPU) is fed to LPG plant C2C3 distillation column to have C2-C3 as top product and propane (C3) and
heavier hydrocarbons as bottom withdrawal. This bottom liquid is fed to
propane recovery column where top product is propane and bottom
withdrawal is C3 and heavier hydrocarbons. This bottom hydrocarbon
mixture is then fed to LPG column to have LPG (C3/C ) as top product and
natural gasoline (NGL) as bottom product. NGL comprises pentane (C5)
and heavier hydrocarbons (C6 and above) which can be termed as special
boiling point solvent (SBPS). Based on the demand/supply scenario of
propane, the propane column is used for the production of pentane and
SBPS by fractionating NGL, which is available as bottom product of LPG
column. The SBPS column can be reverted back to propane column
whenever propane production is required.

GAIL PATA PETROCHEMICAL COMPLEX

The main operation of this petrochemical complex is to produce G-lex and
G-lene from the natural gas.
ln this complex :
Firstly, sweetening of the natural gas is done which is the process of
removing methane from the natural gas (about 97- 98% of methane is
removed) and then except C2 and some of the C3 families all the other
higher hydrocarbons are removed. This whole process is done under Gas
Processing unit(GPU).
The C3 and C4 families of hydrocarbons are sent to the L.P.G. plant for the
L.P.G. gas production.
Then the C2-C3 rich gas is sent to Gas Cracking Unit(GCU) where cracking
of the rich gas is done to convert it into ethane and propene and then it is
sent for further refining in de-etheniser and de-propeniser .
This ethene and propene is extruded to high density polythene (HDPE-I
and HDPE-Il) and linear low density polythene (LLDPE) which are further
processed to G-lex and G-lene.
Then there is integrated operative production and services (lOP&S) unit
which includes the power plant ,DM plant etc. and storage and packaging
unit of the finished products.

About G-Lex
G-lex is the brand name of HDPE resins produced from dedicated (HDPE)
plants of GAIL (lndia) Ltd. G-Lex HDPE resin grades are manufactured by
using CX slurry process technology of M/s Mitsui Chemicals, Japan. The
technology offers a wide range of high quality HDPE resin grades.

G-Lex HDPE Resin Grades

G-lex HDPE resin grades offer excellent mechanical strength, high impact
strength, easy process-ability, good low temperature impact resistance,
high stiffness and superior ESCR for higher performance benefits in the end
product. With medium to high molecular weight and narrow to very wide
molecular weight distribution, G-lex resin grades open the door to vast
array of application opportunities in pressure pipes, OFC ducts, blow
moulded containers, thin films, monofilament, ralfia etc. All the grades
conform to BIS regulation for food contact applications.

About g-lene
G-lene hd and G-lene ll is the brand name of HDPE and LLDPE
manufactured and marketed by GAIL (lndia) Ltd. These grades are
manufactured using "Sclairtech" solution process technology of M/s Nova
Chemicals, Canada. This process provides variety of grades ranging from
LLDPE to HDPE. All the grades conform to BIS specification for food
contact applications.

Features
G-lene HDPE features include excellent gloss and Iow degree of warpage,
high impact strength and stiffness offering an optimal mix of chemical
resistance and mechanical performance for various applications. Theses
grades offer greater ability to meet the diverse and innovative requirement
of the market with exceptionally high quality performance in both extrusion
and molding applications. G-lene HDPE grade densities ranges from 0.941
gm/cc to 0.965 gm/cc and MFI in the ranges from 0.30 to 18.

POWER PLANT-A BIRDS VIEW

STEAM NETWORK AT GAIL

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UB # 1 DATA
REGISTRATION NUMBER MAKE DESIGNATION CAPACITY OPERATING TEMPERATURE OPERATING PRESSURE TYPE HEATING SURFACE FURNACE WIDTH FURNACE DEPTH NO. OF BURNERS TYPE OF BURNERS MAX. -RICH GAS
MIN. - RICH GAS

UP - 5509
BHPV
F 17.3/26 VU60 60/2.0 36
120 TPH
505 Deg. C
105 KG/SQ. CM
NATURAL CIRCULATION, BI-DRUM, FRONT WALL FIRED,
FORCED DRAFT FURNACE, RADIANT CLOSED BOTTOM,
OIL / GAS FIRING
3644 SQ. METER
5283 MM
7925 MM
04 (FOUR)
LOW NOX BURNERS
9732 Kg/Hr.
2536 Kg/Hr.

LIGHT-UP PRECAUTIONS: 1- WHENEVER THE BURNER IS NOT IN OPERATION, MANUAL ISOLATION VALVE OF ITS GBTV MUST BE
CLOSED.
2- BEFORE OPENNING GBTV FROM DCS, ITS VENT VALVE MUST BE CLOSED FROM FROM FIELD.
3- DURING LIGHT-UP AT STEAM DRUM PRESSURE 2.0 TO 3.0 KG/SQ. CM, ALL AIR VENT VALVES MUST BE
CLOSED.

UB # 2 DATA
REGISTRATION NUMBER
MAKE DESIGNATION REGISTRATION
NUMBER CAPACITY
OPERATING
TEMPERATURE
MAKE OPERATING PRESSURE -

DESIGNATION -

CAPACITY
TYPE
OPERATING TEMPERATURE -

UB- 5459
# 3 DATA
UP
BHPV
F 17.3/26 VU60 60/2.0 36
UP
5670
120 -TPH
505
Deg.
BHEL C
105 KG/SQ. CM
F
4877/6706 VU60 1524/51.0 10970
NATURAL CIRCULATION, BI-DRUM, FRONT WALL FIRED,
120
TPH DRAFT FURNACE, RADIANT CLOSED BOTTOM, OIL/
FORCED
505
C
GASDeg.
FIRING

HEATING
SURFACE
OPERATING
PRESSURE
FURNACE WIDTH TYPE FURNACE DEPTH NO. OF BURNERS TYPE OF BURNERS MAX. -RICH GAS
HEATING
MIN.
- RICHSURFACE
GAS

3644KG/SQ.
SQ. METER
105
CM

FURNACE WIDTH -

4877 MM

FURNACE DEPTH -

6706 MM

NO. OF BURNERS -

04 (FOUR)

TYPE OF BURNERS -

TURBULENT, LOW NOX BURNERS

MAX.- RICH GAS

MIN. - RICH GAS

8645 Kg/h
2616 Kg/h

5283 MM

FRONT
7925 MM

WALL

FIRED,

04 (FOUR)
CIRCULATION,
PRESSURISED
LOW NOX BURNERS
SUPPORTED VU60 BOILER.
9732 Kg/Hr.
4884
SQ. METER
2536 Kg/Hr.

BI-DRUM,

NATURAL

FURNACE, BOOTOM

BOILERS
GENERAL DESCRIPTIONThe steam generator is a natural circulation water tube design arranged for forced
draft firing. Basically it is a two drum vertically bent tube arrangement with watercooled furnace walls combined with convective boiler bank surface. The furnace is
specifically designed to suit for 1Oo/o excess air operation for gas firing. The complete
furnace section is of the welded wall type arranged as a gas and pressure tight
envelope. The complete steam generator is of the bottom supported design resting on
concrete pedestals. The conservatively sized upper and lower drums are connected by
the bank tubes .The steam drum is provided with simple and efficient drum internals,
resulting in high steam quality at all loads of boiler outputs.Unheated downcomers are
located in the boiler bank sides.The boiler bank tubes ate arranged in line for best heat
absorption, minimum tube draft loss and for easy inspection and cleaning.Adequate
peepholes are provided to watch the flame .The feed water from economizer is fed
into the steam drum.Circulation is maintained in the boiler bank through the
downcomers. From the bottom drum, water flows through the heat absorbing furnace
tubes and back into steam drum.After separation of moisture in the steam drum the
saturated steam flows into the superheaters.
The superheater system has two sections. They are radiant platen pendent section
(arranged at the outlet of furnace) and the final superheater adjacent to platen
section.A desuperheater is provided in-between the two superheaters for controlling
the superheater temperature.The firing system consists of 4 No. of burners designed
for gas firing located in the font wall. Gas igniters are provided for lighting the
burner.The flame scanning system is provided to monitor the main flame condition in
the furnace.1 No. Forced draft fan with dual drive (motor/steam turbine) will supply the
complete combustion air at the required pressure to the boiler.A bare tube in line
economizer is provided as the last heat recovery section.

Blowdown - Removes boiler water with a high concentration of solids which is

replaced by feedwater containing a low concentration of solids. lntermittent
blowdown (lBD) to remove suspended solids in boiler water. Continuous
blowdown (CBD) to remove dissolved solids in boiler water.

WATER AND STEAM CIRCUIT

DOSN

BF
P

_________k
r

ECONOMISER

-------------

DESUPERHEATING

WATER/STEAM
SUPERHEATER
------------DRUM
Ik.

WATI :R

STEAM

WATER WALL

WATI :R

MUD DRUM

STEAM HEADER

DEAERATOR

Spray Valves
Distnbuting Pans

Condensate Inlet Atmospheric Vanes

Water Box
Relief Valve

Hood Enclosure
Tray Access Door
Steam Baffle

Deaerating Trays

Steam Inlet
High Pressure Heater
Drain Inlet
Equalizers
Deaerated
Water
Outlet

Thermometer

Flash Preventer (Optional)

Outlet to Service
Manhole

Level Gauge

DEARATORS
Reason for Deaeration
Corrosion of iron or steel in boilers or boilers feed water piping is
caused by three fundamental factors:
1 . Feedwater temperature
2. Feed water Ph value
3. Feedwater oxygen content
Temperature and ph value influence the aggressiveness of
corrosion.The higher the temperature, and the lower the pH value the
increased aggressiveness of the feedwater. The dissolved oxygen
content of the feedwater is a large factor in determining the amount of
corrosion that will take place. The presence of oxygen, and other noncondensable gases, in the feedwater is a major cause of corrosion in
the feedwater piping, Boiler and condensate handling equipment.

Deaerator Principles
Deaeration is the mechanical removal of dissolved gases from the
boiler feedwater.
There are three principles :
1 The incoming feedwater must be heated to the full saturation
temperature, corresponding to the steam pressure maintained
inside the deaerator . This will lower the solubility of the dissolved
gases to zero.
2 The heated feedwater must be mechanically agitated. This is
accomplished in a tray deaerator by first spraying the water in a
thin film into a steam atmosphere. Creating a thin film reduces
the distance the gas bubble has to travel to be released from the
water. Next, the water is cascaded over a bank of slotted trays,
further reducing the surface tension of the water. This allows for
the removal of any gases not liberated by the initial spraying.
3. Adequate steam supply must be passed through the water, in both
the spray section and the tray section to sweep out the gases from the
water .
. Oxygen scavenging is done using HYDRAZINE.

. MORPHOLINE is used to decrease the pH.

. Tri-SODIUM PHOSPHATE is used for reducing slag formation.

ECONOMISER

The purpose of the economizer is to preheat the boiler feed water before it
is introduced into the steam drum, and to recover some of the heat from the
fuel gases leaving the boiler. The economiser is located in the second pass
of the boiler. Each section is composed of a number of parallel tube circuits,
arranged in horizontal rows. All tube circuits originate from inlet header and
discharge into outlet header.
Feed water is supplied to the economiser inlet header from FEED
CONTROL STATION. The feed water flow is in counter flow to the hot fuel
gases. Most efficient heat transfer is thereby accomplished. From the outlet
header, the feed water is led to the drum.

BOILER FEED WATER PUMP

Feedwater Pumps are used with feedwater regulators to pump feedwater to
the boiler. Pressure must be sufficient to overcome boiler water Pressure.
For maximum safety, plant is having two steam driven feedwater pumps
and three motor driven feedwater pumps. All the Feedwater pumps are,
centrifugal multi stage type.

DUAL DRIVE FD FANS

Centrifugal Single Suction Fans are being used to handle Clean Air.
The Fan output is usually controlled by adjustable inlet dampers.
The fan is driven by motor/turbine through coupling.

SUPERHEATER
The main purpose of a superheater in a steam system is to raise the temperature
of steam above the saturation temperature for a given pressure. This further
raises it's energy content and makes it less likely to condense back onto water
inside of a steam engine.The main advantage of superheating steam is to
significantly increase the efficiency of a steam engine,
It is non drainable superheater, pendant type, whenever the boiler is shut down,
the lower bends of each pass retain the condensate produced from the residual
steam in the superheater.On startup, this condensate must be carefully reevaporated and the steam released through a vent before the turbines are driven.
A convection superheater is placed in the path of hot gas.Radiant-type units are
located in or near the furnace and receive their heat by radiation.

DESUPERHEATER
. Desuperheaters are provided in the stream line between PSH & FSH to permit
reduction of steam line between PSH temperature when necessary and to
maintain the temperature at design values within the Iimits. Temperature
reduction is accomplished by injecting spray water into the path of the steam
through a nozzle. The spray water source is from the boiler feed water system. It
is essential that the spray water be chemically pure to avoid contamination of
main steam.

BURNER
4 nos. of Dual Fuel Burner per boilers are mounted on common windbox. The
windbox is designed in such a manner that combustion air is uniformly distributed
to all the burners.The combustion air entry to the burner is through air register
which is controlled by pneumatically operated air cylinder.
The dual Fuel Burner is fitted with 1 No. of oil gun with steam atomiser tip
assembly and 8 Nos. of Gas Poker Assembly. The ignition system which is
supplied along with burner is capable of lighting liquid as well as gaseous fuel on
giving light up command to ignitor.
The flame scanners system shall provide the continuous monitoring of the flame
inside the furnace which shall provide safety to the boiler. In the event of Flame
outage of individual burner the flame monitoring system shall give signal to close

gas valves together with other interlocks for safe tripping of the burner's isolation
valves. ln the event of all four burners flame failure it will trip master fuel trip
valve.

Safety Valves
Safety Valves are the most important fittings on the boiler. They should open to
release pressure when pressure inside the boiler exceeds the maximum
allowable working pressure.
Safety valves are installed at the highest part of the steam side of the boiler. No
other valve shall be installed between the boiler and the safety valve.
Safety valve capacity is measured in the amount of the steam that can be
discharged per hour. The safety valve wil! remain open until sufficient steam is
released and there is a specific amount of drop in pressure. This drop in pressure
is the blowdown of the safety valve. Spring loaded safety valves are the most
common safety valves. A spring exerts pressure on the valve against the valve
seat to keep the valve closed. When pressure inside the boiler exceeds the set
popping pressure, the pressure forces the valve open to release.

Boiler Efficiency
Boiler Efficiency can be termed as the heat load of the generated steam to heat
supplied by fuel over the same Period.
Heat load of generated steam= Gs (H-Hw) kcal/s Where Gs = rate of steam
generation, kg/s
Rate of heat supplied by the fuel = Gf x (CVf) kcal/s where Gf = rate of fuel
burning, kg/s
Efficiency: rl= Gs (H - Hw)/ Gf (CVf)
EFFICIENCY CALCULATION BY INDIRECT METHOD
Boiler efficiency is also calculated based on heat loss method :
The various losses in percentage are given below :
Lossl : Heat going out with flue gas. (2.45%)
Loss2 : H2O(0.15%)

Loss3 : H2O from combustion of H2 in fuel ( 12.01%)

Loss4 : Un- Burnt Carbon (0.001%)
Loss5 : Radiation (0.32%)
Loss6 : Unaccounted & manufacture's margin(0.50%)
Total losses : 15.43 %
Efficiency : 100- Total losses = 84.57%

Boiler shut down

Start reducing boiler load gradually. Reduce the firing rate in line with reducing
the steam flow.
Shut-Down the Burners one at a time, Starting with the upper elevation .
All fires should be out when the boiler is off the line.
Run the Fans for at least 10 minutes after Shutting down.
Maintain the water level in drum.
When the drum pressure comes down to 2 Kg/Cm2, open drum air vent valves

GAS CRACKER UNIT

CRACKINGCracking is defined as the process of dissociation of
high molecular weight hydrocarbons into smaller fragments in the
absence of oxygen.There are 2 types of cracking process:
1. THERMAL CRACKING- Cracking takes place by the application of heat alone.It
is also called pyrolysis.
2. CATALYTIC CRACKING-Catalysts are the agents for the cracking.
Gas cracking unit mainly consists of following1 .HOT SECTION-

1. Furnace
2. Quench Tower
3. Cracked Gas Compressor
2. COLD SECTION-

1. cracked Gas drying

2. De -Methaniser
3. Hydrogen unit (PSA)
4. De-Ethaniser
5. CZ- Hydrogenation
6. Ethylene Tower
7. De-Propaniser

8. C1-Hydrogenation
9. Propylene Stripper
10.

De-Butaniser

11.

C4 hydrogenation

12.
Refrigeration system
The C2/C3 hydrocarbon is cracked and compressed in hot section and
Ethylene, Hydrogen, Propylene, C4mix, C5+ are separated (distilled) in cold
section.
Ethylene and Hydrogen are main product, whereas Propylene, C4 mix and
C5+ are separated as by products.

FURNACEThe pyrolysis furnace area consists of five 24W 144 type furnaces for 100,000
MTA ethylene capacity each based on 8000 hours /year. Furnaces are both
wall and floor fired and utilize gaseous fuels.
An industrial furnace or direct fired heater is equipment used to provide heat
for a process or can serve as reactor which provides heats of reaction.
Furnace designs vary as to its function, heating duty, type of fuel and method
of introducing combustion air. However most process furnaces have a
common features.
The hydrocarbon enters the furnace via two feed control valves. The flow is
then split into a total of six parallel passes (three per control valve) which feed
the HC Preheat-l bank i.e. three passes entering at each end of the convection
section.
The six passes leaving the HC Preheat I bank are routed to the HC Preheat-2
which heats the feed to a high enough temperature to ensure no condensation
of the dilution steam after mixing with the hvdrocarbons. Dilution steam enters
the furnace through two control valves and splits into a total of six passes,
three at each end of the convection section.The six parallel passes of
hydrocarbon leaving the HC Preheat-l bank are

individually combined with the six dilution steam passes via mixing tees
located at the inlet of HC + DS bank. This bank heats the hydrocarbon and
steam mixture to a temperature(480 deg. C) just below that where incipient
cracking occurs. Two parallel passes leaving the HC + DS bank are combined
together into one mixing fitting (three mixing fittings per furnace). At the exit of
each mixing fittings, the hydrocarbon and dilution steam stream is split into
four lines, each line feeding two radiant coils. Thus, there are eight radiant
coils per mixing fitting. The mixing fittings equalizes the temperature of the
passes ensuring uniform temperature at the entrance of the radiant coils
supplied by it.A critical flow venturi nozzle is installed at the inlet of each
radiant coil. As long as the absolute pressure ratio (exit / inlet) across the
nozzle is less than 0.85, critical flow exists. This implies that the flow is a
function of upstream pressure only and entirely independent of downstream
pressure. Equal flow distribution through all the radiant coils is assured even
though the pressure drop in one or more of the radiant coils should increase
due to uneven coking. The economizer bank preheats boiler feed water
required for SVH steam production in parallel with the secondary transfer line
exchanger (TLX-2). The BF\V streams leaving the economizer and TLX-2 are
combined together and enter the SVH steam drum through a single inlet
nozzle.The saturated steam from the SVH steam drum is superheated in the
HPSS bank prior to being exported from the furnace area. The steam flow is
split into four parallel passes at the inlet of the bank. After three tube rows of
superheating, the steam flow is combined and routed to an Attemperator
station where BFW is injected and vaporized at a controlled flow so as to
maintain exported steam superheat temperature at the targeted 510 degree.
From the Attemperator station, the steam flows back to the final two rows
(again arranged in four passes) of the HPSS bank. The steam leaving these
last two rows is combined and routed to the main SVH header.

RADIANT SECTIONThe twenty four W type radiant coils are arranged in a vertical plane located
centrally along the length of the radiant box. Each radiant coil is four legged,
triple swaged (i.e. successive legs of the coil have a larger inside diameter
than the preceding leg) with a nominal length of 144 feet (43.89 m). The inside
diameters of the four legs are 63.5 mm, 69.8 mm,76.2 mm and 82.6 mm
respectively. Each coil enters and exits the radiant section at the top (arch)

level.The floor burners are base loaded. The wall burners are modulated to
control radiant coil outlet temperature. The normal capacity of wall and floor
burners is 60% wall / 40% floor of the total heat release. But the design heat
release of the floor burners is !25% of the normal capacity. This allows a wall /
floor ratio of 50/50 during normal operation.

QUENCH SYSTEMUSX-D QUENCH EXCHANGERS-

Two radiant coil outlets are conveyed together into a common transfer line
leading to one USX. There are twelve USX-D per furnace, mounted vertically,
along the side of the radiant box. The cracked gas is rapidly quenched and the
recovered heat is used to generate SVH steam.
The USX is a double pipe exchanger. The cracked gas flows through the inner
pipe while BFW/Steam is in the outer annulus. The inner pipe has a !27 mm ID
and an effective heat transfer length of 12800 mm. BFW circulation on the
shell side of the exchanger is by thermo-syphon action from the SVH steam
Crum. This exchanger has a special design with special thermal expansion.
Continuous steam purge is provided to keep tube expansions spacers clean.
The rapid quenching of the cracked gas minimizes secondary reactions (which
result in ethylene yield degradation). The large diameter of USX-D allows for
coke lay down over the operating cycle. The cracked effluent flows in a
streamlined pattern, without any back mixing. The process streams from the
twelve USX-Ds are connected to two separate close coupled, large diameter
coke collection headers. The low velocities in the header allow any coke
particles in the cracked gas to drop out. This significantly reduces the tube
sheet fouling of the transfer line exchangers installed downstream the
headers.
PRIMARY TRANSFFER LINE EXCHANGER-

The pyrolysis effluent from the two coke collection headers is combined
together and quenched further in the primary transfer line exchanger (TLX 1)
generating SVH steam.
The TLX-1 is a shell and tube type exchanger with the process stream in
the tubes and BFW/steam in the shell side. lt has 230 tubes of 44'45 mm
OD per shell and a heat transfer length of 6100 mm. BFW circulation is by
Thermo-syphon action from the steam drum.

SECONDARY TRANSFER LINE EXCHANGER-

The effluent leaving TLX-1 is routed to a secondary transfer line

exchanger (TLX-2) which is used for preheating BFW. Boiler feed water
flow through TLX- 2 is controlled to maintain BFW exit temperature at
282.2 degree.The process steam is on the tube side. The TLX-2
exchanger has 230 tubes of 44'45 mm OD per shell and a heat transfer
length of 7620 mm.The quenched pyrolysis effluent leaving TLX-2 is
routed to the common header leading to the quench water tower 10-CC203
CRACKED GAS COMPRESSOR-

Cracked gas compressor compresses the cracked gas coming from QT

overhead at o.42 KSCG to 25.g KSCG in four stages with intercooler
arrangement. water and hydrocarbons condensed between stages are
separated from the pyrolysis gas in inter stage separators.Hydrogen
sulfide and CO2 are removed from the pyrolysis gas between the 3rd and
4th stage of the compression system by scrubbing with dilute caustic soda
solution.The solution circulating over the top section of the scrubbing
tower contains 8 to 10% free NaOH while the solution in the lower section
contains 2% free caustic.
DEHYDRATOR-

The effluent from the 4th stage discharge drum is fed to one of two CG
dehydrators. Molecular Sieves are used as desiccants' Of the two
dryers.one is in normal operation while the other is held in a standby
operation or is being regenerated by heating with residue gas to 240
degree.complete removal of water from the pyrolysis gas is required in
preparation for the cryogenic treatment.
DEMETHANISER(DM)-

In DM,methane and hydrogen are removed from the cracked gas coming
from CG dehydrator outlet by distillation. The lowest temperature in DM
section is -147 degree. Three types of refrigerant (C3R followed by C2R
followed by LP residue gas from expander outlet at -762 degree) are
used to cool the cracked gas progressively from 12'C to -147 degree.The
gas is cooled and passed through three knock out drums to progressively

1.
2.
3.
4.

knock out the heavier hydrocarbons. The liquid hydrocarbon stream is

fed to DM column.
DM consists of 4 distillation columns:
Demethaniser Prestripper (DMPS)
Demethaniser (DM)
Demethaniser rectifier (DMR)
Demethaniser overhead rectifier (DMOR)
High pressure residue gas (HP RG) comprising of hydrogen and methane is
separated from the top of DM and goes to expander/compressor.The low
pressure RG (LP RG) at -162o C from expander is used as refrigerant in DM
and then it is recompressed in Expander/compressor and then heated and
recycled as fuel gas in the furnaces.
PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION POINT-

The poly-bed PSA unit for hydrogen purifications is designed to deliver a

constant, continuous flow of high purity hydrogen. The process operates on a
repeated cycle having two basic steps adsorption and regeneration.Two
vessels are on adsorption and the others are in various stages of regeneration.
Five adsorbent beds are provided for maximum recovery of product gas.
DE-ETHANISER(DE)-

The DE tower receives feed from the DM system.The stream from DM Prestripper bottom enters 29th tray. In reboiler heating medium is quench water.
Overheads from DE are condensed using C3R and sent to the reflux drum,
whose overheads vapor are sent as hydrogenation feed while bottoms are
pumped as reflux to DE.
C2 HYDROGENERAION UNIT-

In C2 hydrogenation adiabatic reactors acetylene reacts with hydrogen

selectively in presence of catalyst to produce ethylene' There are three
reactors with two reactors are always in line in lead and guard position. one
reactor is in standby. The maximum permissible acetylene at the reactor outlet
is 1 ppm.

ETHYLENE TOWER-

Vapor feed from C2 hydrogenation enters the 70th tray of the tower. It is
provided with 116 trays. It has two sets of reboilers:
1.Bottom reboiler 2.lntermediate reboiler
It has four condensers cooled by C3R. Ethylene product is withdrawn as liquid
from tray no.9. Bottom product liquid ethane is recycled back to furnace.
Product ethylene liquid from tray no. 9 is bifurcated to two streams. 1.Stream
#1 goes to ethylene product sphere where it is stored at -32 degree.
2.Stream #2 goes to double walled ethylene tank at - 100 degree where it is
stored at almost atmospheric pressure and at -100 degree.
DE-PROPANISER-

The bottom effluent of DE column is fed to this column at 22nd tray. This
column has 58 trays. The overhead vapor is condensed using C3R. The
bottom product is routed to De-butaniser for further processing.
C3 HYDROGENATION UNIT-

The liquid stream from DP overhead is routed to the C3-Hydrogenation system

to selectively hydrogenate Methyl acetylene and propadiene to propylene by
reacting with pure hydrogen in catalytic reactor. The hydrogenation takes place
in two reactors working in series called primary and finishing reactor. There is
a spare reactor either in regeneration or standby mode. The product free from
C3-acetylene is fed to propylene column to separate propylene and propane.
PROPYLENE STRIPPER-

Effluent from C3 hydrogenation unit feeds propylene stripper. Overhead

vapors from the column are totally condensed in propylene condenser. There
is a pasteurization section at the top of propylene stripper for removal of noncondensable.
Propylene product is withdrawn as liquid from the bottom of pasteurizing
section. Reboiling is done using quench water. The stripper bottom stream
consists of propane recycle, which is recycled to the furnace.

DE-BUTANISER-

Feed to the debutanizer is supplied at tray no 30. via. The tower overhead is
condensed against cooling water. C4 product is taken from the discharge of
reflux pump to C4 hydrogenation unit. The tower net bottoms stream,
consisting of C5 & heavier components is sent to the Gasoline product cooler.
After cooling it goes to Mixed Fuel Oil (MFO) storage in IOP&S.
C4 HYDROGENATION UNIT-

The purpose of c4 hydrogenation unit is to convert butadiene present in the C4

Feed selectively into Butene-1 .The raw C4 cut coming from De butaniser is
hydrogenated in a single stage reactor. The product containing mainly butane1 and 1,3- butadiene less than 2% is sent to sphere.Both ethylene and
propylene are used as refrigerant in GCU.

CONCLUSION
The vocational training at GAIL India Limited gave me the insight into the
wide variety of machines and manufacturing techniques. The plant visits
made at each stage of the internship facilitated this. The projects allotted
also helped in dealing with individual plants to gain deeper
understanding.
Industrial trainings and internships are the only opportunities for an
Engineering student to get acquainted with the real life in industries and I
feel I could do that to the best of my ability.
The projects helped me put my knowledge of Mechanical Engineering to
proper use. It also gave me inspiration to take up more such projects so
that we could model these units even before installing them in the
industry. Interacting with the Engineers in the field as well as in the
control panels was really inspiring as it proved to be an eye opener for
me as far as my career as a Mechanical Engineer is concerned.