Highlights of Some of the Articles from the Print Edition

In this issue..

INDIA’S OIL RESERVES TO LAST JUST ANOTHER 19 YEARS - WHAT AFTER THAT ?

India’s oil reserves will last just another 19.3 years at the current rate of production, according to the BP Statistical Review of World energy 2007, which was released by the British multinational company recently.

Last year, the same study had said that India’s reserves would last for about 20 years. The lower estimate now reflects India’s inability to add to its proven oil reserves.

India is in the company of Australia, Italy and Brazil, whose reserves are also projected to last for 20 to 21 years from now. Iraq and Kuwait’s reserves are expected to last for more than 100 years at their current rate of production, while that of Saudi Arabia is projected to last for another 66 years.

The above estimate of India’s oil reserves lasting only for next twenty years should cause alarm in India. While it is possible that India may identify new source of oil deposits due to the vigorous exploration exercise that are presently taking place, the fact still remains that India’s oil reserves are not likely to last beyond next two to three decades. Government of India and the Planning Commission should be aware of the seriousness of the issue. However, there is no indication yet that alternate plans are being chalked out on a war footing.

While this is the story of crude oil, even the year upto which the coal deposits in India will last is a matter of concern. At the present level of exploitation of coal reserves, it is said that the coal deposits in India may not last beyond a few decades.

If the speculation about the reserves of crude oil and coal in India were to be believed, then India would become a net importer of crude oil and coal after two to three decades which are not far away.

Such total dependence on international sources for energy requirement will make India economically and politically vulnerable with many possible adverse consequences.

Steps have been taken in recent times to set up coal bed methane projects. Unfortunately, the progress in this regard have been painfully slow and it is still not certain as to whether the production of coal bed methane gas would make any meaningful impact on energy availability in India.

In recent times ,there have been a lot of hype about the bio fuel and its potential, particularly jatropha based bio diesel. Again, there have been more talk than action and the government is yet to firmly lay down its policy, with regard to pricing, extension of incentives and subsidies etc. There is tremendous level of uncertainty on the bio diesel front.

With regard to other non conventional sources like wind energy and solar energy, they are unlikely to be of large quantity to protect India from any possible crisis due to non availability of coal and crude oil.

With the recent move of the fertilizer industry in India to resort to use of natural gas instead of naphtha as feed stock, the demand for natural gas in India is likely to go up substantially in the next few years. Obviously, India is inevitably increasing its dependence on LNG imports, .pledging. industry and economy of India at the mercy of international LNG suppliers.

It is strange that Government of India has not worked out any strategic policies for protecting the interests of India, in the event of steep and adverse price hike of LNG by the global suppliers.

One obvious way out is to resort to the exploitation of hydrogen as energy source, on
which there can be no supply constraint. However, the technology is yet to be developed to store and use hydrogen. While some initial policy measures have been taken by government with regard to the technology development for use of hydrogen, little has been done in practice.

There are a lot of international research and development efforts taking place on exploitation of hydrogen sources and India appears to be far behind the development work being carried out in other countries.

Hydrogen is still remaining largely as a subject for seminar discussions and .matter of exciting possibilities in India. The Government of India without any further loss of time should work out short term and long term plans for utilization of hydrogen energy in India, which has to be necessarily based on technology development exercise. The warning that the crude oil would last for only 19 years gives a time target for India to put the Hydrogen Energy Plan into action.

Probiotics are defined as cultures of live microorganisms that help maintain the natural balance of organisms (microflora) in the intestine. Probiotics when ingested in sufficient amount confer beneficial health effects on the host.

The demand for probiotics is increasing in functional food areas and animal feed additives industry

Product description and specification

Probiotics are nutrition supplements and is different from bio-therapeutic agents.

The normal human digestive tract contains about 400 types of bacteria that reduce the growth of harmful bacteria and promote a healthy digestive system. The largest group of probiotic bacteria in the intestine is lactic acid bacteria, of which Lactobacilus acidophilus, found in yogurt, is the best known.

Food products containing probiotics typically are classified as a subset of functional foods, a category that claims to have a positive effect on health.

General characteristics of probiotics

Probiotics should have one or more of the following feature:

• Should be able to adhere to the gut wall
• Should be effective in the gut. Therefore it must survive the stomach, bile salts and several digestive enzymes such as pepsin and pancreatin
• Produce antimicrobial substances
• Stimulate the immune system
• Possess health improving features
• Able to be processed into a product; yoghurt, powder or capsule
• Should be alive in the product and stable during storage

This article describes the following details:

• Bacteria with probiotic features
  • Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria
  • Streptococcus
  • Lactococcus
  • Bacillus
• Composition of Probiotics
• Commercially used Probiotics species
  • Lactobacillus species
  • Bifidobacterium species
  • Streptococcus species
  • S.Thermophilus
• Forms of Probiotics
• Product application
  • Application sector
• Functions of probiotics
• Replacing the lost beneficial bacteria
• Stimulating immunity
• Competing for nutrients
• Beneficial effects of usage of probiotics
• Global supply scenario
  • World production level of probiotics formulation
  • Selected global manufacturers
  • Global demand scenario
  • Functional food industry
  • Animal feed
  • Agriculture and other miscellaneous sector
• Process outline
  • Seed Preparation
  • Fermentation and Centrifugation
  • Spray Drying
  • Standardization
  • Formulation

Sebacic acid is a dicarboxylic acid and is a derivative of castor oil.

Producer’s Specification

Name of the producer: Hengshui Dongfeng Chemical Co, China

Form: Powder

Form: Grain

Product Application

This article further discusses the following details :

• INDIAN SCENARIO
  • Indian producers
  • Import Details
  • Export Details
  • Indian Demand
  • Substitution possibilities
• MANUFACTURING PROCESS
  • Production of Sebacic acid from Castor oil
  • Production of Sebacic acid from Adipic acid
• GLOBAL SCENARIO
  • Global Supply
  • Important Global Manufacturers
  • Global demand
• RECOMMENDATIONS

Hydrazine hydrate is a colourless liquid and an azeotrope and it can exist in both the solid and the liquid phase.

The demand for hydrazine hydrate, which is largely used in the water treatment sector is steadily going up. The Indian production of hydrazine hydrate is inadequate and the import level are increasing.

This article discusses the investment opportunity for Hydrazine hydrate.

GRADES AND SPECIFICATIONS:

Hydrazine hydrate is marketed in various concentrations (aqueous solutions from 24% to 100%):

PRODUCT APPLICATION

Water treatment

An important application for hydrazine hydrate is in corrosion protection in closed water cycles. As an antioxidant, it protects pipes from rust and premature aging, particularly in the steam circuits of heating and power plants, thus significantly increasing plant reliability.

Hydrazine hydrate is an oxygen scavenger for water used in industrial boilers and high pressure steam generators (thermal and nuclear power plants).

Other applications

Hydrazine hydrate is used to make intermediates for crop protection products (herbicides and pesticides), active pharmaceutical ingredients, synthesis of organic compounds,blowing agents and auto air bag propelants It is also used as rocket fuel in space application.

Fuel cells based on oxidation of hydrazine either with oxygen or hydrogen peroxide have been extensively studied.

24% to 55% solutions are used mainly for water and effluent treatment

60% to 100% solutions are used for synthesis and manufacturing of hydrazine derivatives

This article further discusses the following details :

• Consumption norms in different user sector
• Indian producers
• Indian Imports
• Price
• Present Indian Demand
• Pattern of Demand
• Alternative Manufacturing Process
• Process developed by IICT, Hyderabad
• Global scenario

o Global producers and their capacity level
o Expansion projects in Chinas
o Regionwise global capacity pattern
o Global demand
o Global consumption pattern
o Anti-dumping duty in China
o Prognosis

With major capacity expansion still some time away, the Indian cement industry is counting on plant de-bottlenecking and efficiency gains to enhance production in the short run.

Demand for better infrastructure in India is pushing up usage of cement in what is the world’s second largest cement market after China.

Cement prices have risen by about 16% in the past one year.

This article discusses the following details :

• Project of ACC
• Project of Ambuja Cements Ltd.
• Project of Grasim
• Installed Capacity of Indian Cement Industry
• Capacity utilization of the industry
• Production and export
• Per capital production
• Cement companies take sea-route to cut costs

ADVANCES IN ION EXCHANGE TECHNOLOGY

An ion exchange resin is an insoluble matrix normally in the form of small beads, approximately 1 to 2 mm diameter, fabricated from an organic polymer substrate. The ‘trapping’ of ions takes place with a simultaneous release of other ions; thus the process is called ion exchange.

Most typical ion exchange resins are based on cross linked polystyrene.

There are the following four general types of ion exchange resin which differ in their functional groups:

• Strongly acidic- sulphonic acid groups;
• Weakly acidic-carboxylic acid groups;
• Strongly basic-trimethylammonium groups;
• Weakly basic-amino groups.

`Strong’ resins have a greater affinity for al ionized constituents in water and are capable of removing even weakly ionized constituents such as acetates and silica.

`Weak’ resins are ineffective at removing weakly ionized constituents. However, their exchange capacities are two or three times that of strong resins and can be regenerated more efficiently.

Ion exchange resins have a higher affinity for polyvalent ions. So divalent ions are removed first as water passes through a resin bed. Monovalent ions such as sodium can be displaced by divalent ions in the exhaustion cycle and will leak into the product stream first.

While the manufacturing processes have been developed to reduce costs, improve the consistency of the resin quality etc. the resins appear to have only subtly changed in recent years.

Some collaborative developments between equipment manufacturers and resin manufacturers have taken place to develop `customised’ resins which may be more suitable for specific applications, for example .doping. the resin. There have also been developments in ion exchange resins used in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, e.g. catalyzing certain reactions, isolating and purifying pharmaceutical active ingredients. Some ion exchange resins are used as active ingredients and some are also used as excipients in pharmaceutical formulations

This article further discusses the following details :

• Pretreatment systems
• Macroreticular anion exchange resin
• Hot water sanitisation
• Purification systems
• Scion short cycle ion exchange
• Recent developments
• Continuous Electrodeionisation technologies (CEDI)
• Skid mounted systems

TATA GROUP’S TITANIUM DIOXIDE PROJECT IN TAMIL NADU, INDIA

Tata Group have announced several times in the past about setting up of Titanium dioxide (TiO2) project Tamil Nadu, India. Several schedules were announced. It now appears that the time has come for this TiO2 project.

Even at present, one is not sure as to whether the project would ultimately materialise, since the political parties and local agitators have started criticising the project and are making it look as if it is more a subject of politics than industries and development.

It is unfortunate that the well intentioned titanium dioxide scheme of Tata Group is being subjected to such campaign and the Tata Group management are being forced to spend considerable time and energy in providing explanation on matters which are well known. In the process, Tata Group is losing valuable time and opportunities in implementing the project.

Titanium dioxide is a versatile pigment produced from ilmenite ore. India has special advantages with regard to titanium dioxide since India possesses more than 150 milion metric tonnes of ilmenite deposits, which are estimated to be around 14% of the total world reserves.

Titanium dioxide content of the ilmenite available in India is highest compared to other ilmenite deposits in the world. Though India possesses 14% of the world reserves of ilmenite, Indian production of titanium dioxide is around 1% of the global production.

The international production of titanium dioxide pigment is around 4.5 milion metric tonnes per annum and Indian production is around 55000 metric tonnes per annum. One can clearly see that India has been losing glorious opportunities in the field of titanium dioxide and Tata Group is now trying to exploit the situation to India’s advantage.

Tata Group itself has already delayed the project considerably, as it was not able to make up it’s mind in the past amongst the various alternate project opportunities available to it and has been moving slowly and carefully in the matter. Some how, it has now made up its mind. This decision of Tata Group should be encouraged.

Tata Group has provided explanations to allay the apprehension of the political parties and agitators over its proposed Rs.25000 million titanium dioxide project in Tamil Nadu.

The apprehension about the project relates to possible demolition of dwelling units and large scale eviction of people, destruction of agriculture land and means of livelihood, over exploitation of water resources, possibility of radiation risks and job for the local people.

Tata Group says that about 10,000 acres of land will be acquired for the project at the market rates. Government records say that less than 5% of the total project area is wetland.The project area will not disturb any existing dwellings, religious places and public roads. The residents in the area will continue to live without any disturbance due to this project.

Tata Group further says that the company will develop the mined out land and improve the vegetation cover of the area.The project activity will make the entire area greener.

About the exploitation of ground or river water, the company said that the mineral occur only in the top layer , whereas, the water table is much below the sand. Therefore ground water profile will not be affected.

Tata Group argues that since the project site is far away from the sea, there will not be any seawater incursion.The sand contains only 10% minerals, the balance 90% will be put back on the mined out area, after extraction of minerals.

About the elimination of radiation hazard, it says that the mineral sand contains monazite, a radioactive mineral.The monazite tailings will be handled safely and disposed of strictly as per the guidelines of department of atomic energy and thus there will not
be any health hazard due to radiation.

Titanium dioxide project of Tata Group offers tremendous opportunities for India and the region. Tata Group getting into the field would ensure that adequate funds would be provided not only for the setting up the project at present but also for the future development.

The politicians and agitators should view the titanium dioxide project in proper perspectives instead of taking the issue to the streets. Industrialisation is a national necessity and some times it can even be a compromise decision. Matured outlook is necessary so that neither the commonman would be affected nor the opportunities for growth of India would be lost.

OTHER ARTICLES

• Nanorisk guide
• Anti Dumping page
• Update on Carbon trading
• Safety and Accident Page
• Scaling up of Ethylene Crackers
• Technology Development – International/India
• News Round up – International/India
• China News
• Projects from Ethanol
• African Plant halts Bleeding, speeds healing
• Update on Biofuel
• Pharma page – International
• Update on Biotechnology
• Agro Chemical page
• Pesticide page
• Environmental page
• Energy page
• Business Opportunities
• Price details
• Tender
• Information on Chemical of your choice-Ask for Chemical Facts Free
• New Projects-International
• Directory of Chemical Industries in China – Manufacturers, Trading Houses and Promotional Organisations- Part XLII
• Chemicals Imported at Chennai Port during the month of April 2007
• Chemicals Imported at Chennai Port during the month of May 2007

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