Reliance Industries commissions final phase of para-xylene project

With this, RIL to emerge as the second largest producer of para-xylene in the world

Reliance to shutdown distillation unit of Jamnagar SEZ refinery for 3 weeks

Last Updated : Apr 21 2017 | 1:29 PM IST

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has successful commissioned the second and final phase of para-xylene (PX) project comprising PX crystallisers trains, trans-alkylation and aromatic extraction units at Jamnagar.

Earlier in December 2016, RIL had announced successful commissioning of the first phase comprising train 1 of PX plant. Train 2 as part of second phase has been commissioned earlier this month and the last train 3, is at an advanced stage of commissioning and will begin production later this quarter.

This plant is built with crystallisation technology from BP which is highly energy efficient. With the commissioning of this plant, RIL’s PX capacity will be more than double. Reliance will emerge as the world’s second largest producer of PX with about 11 percent of global production.

Reliance Industries is currently executing major projects in its energy and materials chain at Jamnagar covering para-xylene, cracker complex along with downstream plants and gasification. These projects will add significant value to Reliance’s refining & petrochemical business and enable Jamnagar complex to achieve energy self-sufficiency. “The benefits of integration at the Jamnagar complex will set a new paradigm of scale and value addition in the refining and petrochemicals industry,” said RIL in a press release yesterday.

Para-xylene, cracker and downstream projects (MEG, linear low density and low density polyethylene) as well as gasification which is linked to RIL’s DTA refinery, have now been installed, mechanically complete and are in various stages of pre-commissioning and commissioning.

The cracker project has a unique configuration as this plant is tightly integrated with RIL’s refineries and will use refinery off-gases as feedstock. The project comprises 1.5 MMTPA ethylene cracker along with downstream facilities for producing LDPE, LLDPE and MEG. This cracker will have one of the lowest cost positions globally. Additionally, flexibility to crack propane will help optimise feed mix further in a volatile market environment. Reliance Industries has completed installation of cracker and downstream projects at Jamnagar in the previous quarter and pre-commissioning and start-up activities are in full swing.

“Gasification is one of the largest clean-fuel initiatives in the world. Gasification will make Jamnagar complex highly energy efficient with the lowest energy cost for any integrated refinery and petrochemicals facility globally,” said RIL in the release.

The installation and mechanical completion for the gasification project linked to DTA refinery has been completed in the previous quarter and the pre-commissioning and start-up activities are on in full swing. The installation and mechanical completion for the gasification linked to RIL’s SEZ refinery has also been substantially achieved and pre-commissioning activities are expected to start in the next quarter.