Mangalore Refinery to invest Rs 595 crore on RO plant

The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), a subsidiary of oil and natural gas major ONGC, has proposed to set up a reverse osmosis (RO) based Desalination Plant at Mangaluru at a cost of Rs 595 crore.

The desalination plant, which will have a capacity of 13 million gallons per day (MGD), will help the company to reduce dependency on fresh water. The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has provided 15 acre land for the proposed project.

The project has received permission from the Government of Karnataka. The plant is expected to be completed by 2020, a top company official said.

“The project is seen as a measure to mitigate the risk of river water as a single source of water. An alternative source of water is being planned through the installation of a desalination plant,” said Shashi Shanker, chairman, MRPL, in his report to shareholders.

Currently, MRPL requires around 13 MGD of water and it gets around 2.5-3 MGD treated sewage water beside 7-8 MGD of freshwater. Balance water is sourced from its own internal sources.

Shanker said out of the total capacity, around 2 MGD water will be supplied to Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF). The MRPL is currently operating an RO plant with a capacity of 3.4 MGD for processing the municipal sewage.

Further, with a vision of achieving Zero Effluent Discharge to Sea, except during monsoon, MRPL is undertaking an ambitious Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) project of 400 m3/h capacity with a capital expenditure of Rs 339 crore. The feasibility study for the project has already been completed by Engineers India Limited. Post implementation of ZLD plant, the specific freshwater requirement of MRPL is expected to reduce by 15%, Shanker said.

This grassroots refinery has a capacity to process 15 million metric tonnes per annum crude and is the only refinery in India to have two hydrocrackers producing premium diesel. It also has a Polypropylene unit with a capacity of 4,40,000 MT per annum. The refinery is gearing up to produce BS-VI standard diesel by March 2019 and petrol in December 2019.

2G Ethanol project

The MRPL is also setting up a 2G Ethanol project. Land for the same has been identified and is being acquired through KIADB. Licensor selection for the technology is in progress and the project is expected to get commissioned by 2021.

The company has also obtained environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for proposed BS-VI (Stage-1) Auto Fuel Quality Compliance & Associated Projects Facilities.

Among other new initiatives, Carbon Foot Printing (CFP) study is undertaken in the refinery by Emergent Ventures for GHG (greenhouse gas) accounting and deriving the roadmap for carbon neutrality.