India’s BPCL plans 50,000 tonne/year super absorbent polymer line

MUMBAI (ICIS)–State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) plans build a 50,000 tonne/year super absorbent polymer (SAP) plant near its refinery and petrochemical complex in Kochi.

The company will initially develop a demonstration plant with a 200 tonnes/year capacity at the Kochi refinery complex in the southern Kerala state by October, using technology that was developed in house, BPCL said on 8 June.

The demonstration project will be followed by setting up of a commercial plant with a 50,000 tonne/year capacity, company executive director for refineries P Ravitej said in the statement,

The timeline and financial details of the project were not disclosed.

The SAP plant will get feedstock from a recently commissioned 160,000 tonne/year acrylic acid plant, which is part of BPCL’s propylene derivatives petrochemical project (PDPP) in Kochi, BPCL said.

Its acrylic acid plant, as well as its 38,000 tonne/year n-butanol line were commissioned in April this year.

SAP which is currently being imported into India is a niche petrochemical product used in diapers and female hygiene products.