World’s largest INDMAX FCC unit successfully commissioned at Paradip Refinery
New Delhi   25-Apr-2016

The world’s largest IndMax fluid-catalytic-cracking (FCC) unit, jointly licensed by CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. (IOCL), was successfully commissioned at IndianOil’s Paradip Refinery, Odisha, India, in early December 2015. The start-up is a major landmark for the petroleum industry and represents one of the largest single-train, high olefin yield FCC units globally, says CB&I.

IndMax is a breakthrough technology for converting heavy petroleum oils and low-value residues into high yields of propylene, ethylene and butylenes — building blocks for petrochemicals and alkylate. This process combines the proprietary and innovative IndMax catalyst and process concepts developed by the research and development center of IOCL with CB&I’s state-of-the-art FCC technology and design features. CB&I licenses more than 90 refining and petrochemical technologies and is the sole licensor of the IndMax FCC technology worldwide.

One of the biggest challenges refiners face is upgrading bottom-of-the barrel residues into high yields of light olefins. IndMax FCC is a technology that produces a very high yield of propylene (18–24 wt.% on fresh feed) and gasoline with a research octane number (RON) of 95–102 from various heavy petroleum fractions. With successful commissioning of this world’s largest IndMax unit, CB&I and IOCL’s partnership is well positioned to provide profitable technological solutions to refiners around the world.