India’s ambitious infrastructure projects for traffic congestion raise the annual bitumen demand from 4.8 to 7 MT within the next years. Hence, the Indian Oil Company Ltd. (IOCL), India’s largest commercial enterprise, invested in another bitumen plant. In February 2017, IOCL commissioned together with the Pörner Group, the bitumen technology company, a new Biturox® bitumen plant, at Barauni Refinery, near Patna in East India. This is the 4th plant operated by IOCL based on Biturox® technology. Pörner again provided the license and engineering services.
Presently about 65% of India’s bitumen is produced in Pörner Biturox® plants. By now ten of India’s 23 refineries produce bitumen with high viscosity by Biturox® plants.
To reduce bitumen imports, IOCL invested in construction of a new bitumen plant with proven Pörner Biturox® technology for bitumen with high viscosity grades. Since February 2017 the plant has been producing on-spec road paving bitumen VG-10, 20, 30 & 40 with a capacity of 150,000 TPA.
The Biturox® process provides IOCL a high flexibility in the choice of feedstock: it is possible to process refinery intermediate products VR (vacuum residues) as well as HVGO (heavy vacuum gas oil) from different crudes of the Middle East.