RIL commissions giant ethane project in Gujarat

Reliance Industries (RIL) on Wednesday announced the commissioning of its ethane gas project at its Dahej manufacturing facility in Gujarat, including the ethane receipt and handling facilities and ethane cracking, all within a record three years.

The project uses shale gas ethane transported from the US, which has emerged as a major producer.

"The project involved securing ethane refrigeration capacity in the US Gulf coast, delivery of dedicated Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) to carry ethane from the US Gulf Coast to the West Coast of India, construction of ethane receipt and handling facilities, pipelines and upgrade of crackers (to receive ethane) at Dahej, Hazira and Nagothane manufacturing facilities," RIL said in a statement here.

The Mukesh Ambani-led RIL said: "The execution of this project at this scale and magnitude is a first in the world."

The complex technologies in this project involved "marine transportation of cryogenic ethane, handling of ethane at (-)90 degrees centigrade, supply of ethane to the crackers in an energy efficient way and pump ethane from Dahej to other locations."

"The supply of ethane to our crackers at Dahej, Hazira and Nagothane will improve the cost competitiveness of our existing crackers and enable us to optimize the portfolio in a volatile market environment."

--IANS

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