Industries plan maintenance shutdown during summer

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Mar 07, 2017: As summer starts to set in, chemical fertilizer major Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) shut down for 45 days for annual maintenance from Friday, and petrochemical major Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) has planned 25-day shutdown of some facilities from April 17.

 

While MCF has shut owing to reaching its sanctioned production capacity for the financial year (3.8 lakh tonnes of urea), MRPL plans to be ready for an emergency situation like the previous year. The district administration had prohibited industries from drawing Netravati waters last April to give drinking water to Mangaluru city.

Sources in the MCF told The Hindu that the company has achieved the target set for this financial year and cannot produce any more urea. However, it has to recommence production from mid-April to have enough urea before the commencement of the kharif season.

MCF’s daily water requirement is about 1.8 million gallons per day, catered to by MCC. The company also recycles used water to get about 0.25 MGD every day. About 50,000 tonnes of urea is required pre-kharif season and MCF can produce it before June at the rate of 40,000 tonne production capacity per month.

MRPL managing director H. Kumar said that 25-day maintenance shutdown is planned from April 17. Director (Refinery) M. Venkatesh said the company has planned routine maintenance shut down of the Petrochemical Fluidised Catalytic Cracking Unit and Polypropylene Unit of Phase III that reduces water consumption considerably.

MRPL uses about 8 MGD freshwater from Netravati, about 3 MGD treated sewage and another 3 MGD from internal recycling per day.

Courtesy: The hindu