IndianOil's Mathura Refinery – Blending Technology with Ecology.
New Delhi 24-Sep-2018
Since its inception in 1982, IndianOil's Mathura Refinery has been a model for seamless synchronisation of petroleum refining and environment management. It has carefully crafted the blueprint of its journey, with continuously upgraded technologies and processes, to protect and preserve the precious heritage of the eco-sensitive Taj Trapezium. Refining Nature's wealth to get the best in the most eco-friendly manner remains the Refinery's major thrust area.
IndianOil, India's top-ranked Indian corporate in Fortune's ‘Global 500' ranking, has adopted cutting-edge technologies and collaborative R&D to produce green fuels and minimise emissions, besides pioneering a wide range of initiatives for making its operations ecologically benign and sustainable. With sustained efforts, both petroleum refining and environment management have been seamlessly synchronized.
As India's leading refiner, IndianOil has a well-etched environment-consciousness based on the premise that sustainable development rests on the three pillars of economic growth, development and protection of environment.
This philosophy can be seen in action at IndianOil's sixth refinery located in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, as well. The Refinery was set up in 1982 with the mandate of meeting the energy needs of the strategic National Capital Region as well as the densely populated Northwestern India.
Energising the Heart of India
Mathura Refinery, the sixth among IndianOil's 11 refineries, was commissioned in 1982 to meet the petroleum products demand in the strategic northwestern region of the country, which includes the National Capital Region.
Located along the Delhi-Agra National Highway about 150 km from Delhi, the Refinery has modern secondary processing units for production of light and middle distillates such as LPG, petrol and diesel much in demand in the region.
The Refinery's close proximity to the globally acclaimed architectural wonder – the Taj Mahal in Agra – gives IndianOil the onerous responsibility to contribute to the preservation of the monument's rich heritage by ensuring sustainable and environment-friendly operations in its vicinity at all times.
Industry Pioneer in Environment-Consciousness
Beginning with an installed capacity of 6 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), IndianOil's Mathura Refinery has ably borne the responsibility of protecting and preserving the precious heritage of the Taj Mahal and the ambient ecology.
Given its location in the sensitive Taj Trapezium Zone, Mathura Refinery has unfailingly adhered to the most stringent environment management norms right from Day One. Incidentally, it was the first industrial unit in India for which an Environmental Impact Assessment was carried out in 1977, well before the refinery came up.
As an industrial unit rooted in environment-consciousness, Mathura Refinery has over the years implemented the recommendations of various Government agencies as well as the Supreme Court of India in a time-bound manner:
• The Refinery has its own captive power plant with three gas turbines that run on environment-friendly natural gas and not on coal.
• Right from inception in 1982, the Refinery set up four Ambient Air Monitoring Stations (three towards Agra at Farah, Sikandra and Keetham and one in the Bharatpur bird sanctuary) to monitor ambient sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission levels on a continuous basis. The data shows that the refinery operations have no adverse impact on the air quality of the region.
• IndianOil has been sharing the emission data from these air monitoring stations as well as from its refinery stacks on a real-time basis with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) since the year 2006.
The ambient air quality data for the last five years is as given below:
*Data obtained from http://cpcb.chemtrols.com/
Limit: 20 microgram/m3
The data from the ambient air quality monitoring stations indicates that the sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions decrease gradually as we move from the nearest station at Farah (situated at an aerial distance of 9 km) towards Keetham (28 km aerial distance from the refinery). The emissions then increase as we move further away from the refinery at Sikandra, which is at 35 km aerial distance. Thus, it can be inferred that Mathura Refinery has no impact on the increase in SO2 emissions as we move from the refinery towards Sikandra.
• To doubly ensure that its refinery operations in no way impact the glory of the Taj, IndianOil has gone a step ahead and set up not one but two Sulphur Recovery Units (SRUs) as well as a stand-by unit at Mathura Refinery to abide by the SO2 emission stipulations laid down by the statutory bodies. Thus, Mathura Refinery earned the distinction of being the first refinery in the country to operate with two SRUs.
• In 1999, new Sulphur Recovery Units with enhanced efficiency of up to 99.5% recovery of sulphur were brought in to replace the old units, thereby further bringing down the SO2 emission levels.
• In addition, a Tail-Gas Recovery Unit was commissioned in the year 2005 to ensure recovery of up to 99.9% of sulphur through the Sulphur Recovery Unit (SRU).
• Milestones in Journey to Greener Fuels
o Right from inception, Mathura Refinery perfectly illustrated IndianOil's vision of syncing technological advancements with ecological balance. As early as in 1995, the Refinery emerged as a pioneer in supplying low-lead and then lead-free petrol in the region by setting up catalytic reformers.
o The Refinery commissioned a Hydrocracker unit in the year 2000 (within four years of the Supreme Court directive) that not only reduced SO2 emissions further but helped produce cleaner, greener fuels.
o With the addition of two major units in the year 2005, namely Diesel Hydro-Treating Unit and MS Quality Upgradation Unit, Mathura Refinery was well equipped to produce Euro-III grade diesel and petrol from 1st April, 2005 (the timeline for supply of the green fuels in National Capital Region and 11 select cities) in line with the Auto Fuel Policy roadmap.
o While the country at large switched over to use of Euro-IV grade transportation fuels from April 1, 2017, Mathura Refinery began supplying Euro-IV grade petrol & diesel to Delhi National Capital Territory (NCT) from January 2010 itself and even met the 1st April, 2010 timeline set for the entire National Capital Region (NCR).
o In fact, Mathura Refinery was also the first to supply BS-VI grade petrol and diesel to fuel stations in NCT/Delhi, comfortably meeting the advanced 1st April, 2018 target while the rest of the country will switch over to BS-VI by April 2020.
• IndianOil has developed scientifically designed green belts at all its operating refineries to serve as pollution sinks and to enhance the aesthetic look of the surrounding area. In Mathura too, extensive tree plantation was taken up in and around the Refinery, the township and surrounding villages and in the Mathura-Agra region as well as the Taj & Sikandra reserve forest area.
• The benign nature of refinery operations at Mathura is reflected in the quality of effluent discharge that meets the Minimal National Standards (MINAS) set by CPCB.
Eco-park as a Green Oasis
• The greatest validation of the Refinery's green initiatives lies in the sprawling Ecological Park at the heart of its operations. Spread over nearly 4.5 acres, the park thrives on the treated effluent from the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP), with its water channels nurturing rich aquatic and avian life. The presence of the winged visitors, the most sensitive of nature's creations, at the mini bird sanctuary for local and migratory birds in the midst of the refinery vouches for its effective environment management systems. It is a delight to watch nearly a 100 species of birds, including 30 migratory species, nesting in the safe environs of the park, surrounded by over 45 varieties of trees and shrubs, creating a lush-green oasis. The mini bird sanctuary serves as a bio-indicator and stands testimony to the fact that industry and ecology can coexist in harmony.
Other Initiatives
• As part of its commitment to the local community, IndianOil set up the Swarna Jayanti Samudaik Hospital in Mathura in 1999. This 50-bed hospital provides free medical assistance to destitutes and treatment at subsidised rates to others. Two mobile dispensaries have also been put into service to provide medical care to nearby villagers.
• From the year 2020-21, Mathura Refinery will stop drawing fresh water for industrial use from raw water sources and will instead use treated sewage water. The Refinery has entered into an agreement with the National Mission for Clean Ganga for using treated effluent (20 million litres per day) from a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) being set up in Mathura-Vrindavan area, instead of fresh river water, for refinery operations. The STP will supply treated water to Mathura Refinery from the year 2020-21 through a 10-km dedicated pipeline. After the commissioning of the TTP-RO at STP, Mathura Refinery will stop drawing fresh water for industrial use from the raw water sources and use treated sewage for its non-potable use. The fresh water that the refinery was using earlier will thus be available for various other uses like irrigation, etc. This underlines the Refinery's commitment towards the conservation of Yamuna river ecology.
Contribution to Exchequer
For the year 2017-18, Mathura Refinery's contributed Rs. 11,355.20 crore to the Central exchequer and Rs. 519.68 crore to the State exchequer. The refinery's contribution to the Central & State exchequers in the last five years is as below:
Growth with a Green Conscience
Maximising high-value, eco-friendly products has been Mathura Refinery's forte for more than 36 years now. Operating at 8.0 MMTPA capacity since the year 2000, the Refinery has etched out a distinctive identity for itself as a green refinery by adopting effective measures for environment protection.
The Refinery has carefully crafted the blueprint of its journey pegged around the premise of its processing units employing state-of-the-art technologies, which again are upgraded on a continuous basis. It has been a model for seamless synchronisation of petroleum refining and environment management. Refining Nature's wealth to get the best in the most eco-friendly manner remains its major thrust area.
