Details of the consultancy/process development work done
Work done in INDIA:
1) Color Frost (Bombay) Pvt. Ltd.
Dr. Pandit successfully designed, fabricated, erected and commissioned a recirculating type continuous glass annealing furnace of 20 tons/day capacity. This was the first of its kind developed in India at a cost of Rs. 15 lacs as against a cost of 2 crores of the imported furnace.
2) Sarang Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., Ankaleshwar
Dr. Pandit developed a complete manufacturing process for the manufacture sodium hydrosulfite using sodium formate (a byproduct of pentaerythritol industry). A plant of 5 tons/day capacity was designed and commissioned successfully. The total plane was constructed at a cost of 2 crores as against a cost of Rs. 10 crore of the imported technology of equivalent capacity.
3) Perfect Protein Pvt. Ltd., Mahad
A gas based process for the manufacture of dimethyl and trimethyl amine hydrochloride was developed. A plant of capacity 2 tons/day was constructed with manufacturing cost 30% lower due to energy saving and was run successfully for three years after which it had to be shut down due to the management problems.
4) Aroni Chemicals, Nagda
A new air-cooled reactor for the manufacture of AlCl3 was developed. A pilot plant of 250 kgs/day was constructed and run successfully. A full scale plant of 5 tons/day has been designed and awaiting construction.
5) Voltas Ltd., Bombay
A new treatment method was developed for the lubricating oil for their hermetic compressors. The resulting cost of the lubricating oil was Rs 50/lit as against the cost of Rs. 550/lit of the lubricating oil imported from Japan. A total of 40,000 lits. of lubricating oil was manufactured.
6) India Glycol Ltd., New Delhi
A new reactor design of the melter for fatty acid esterification plant was developed. The reactor costing Rs. 35 lacs reduced the melting time from 6 hrs to 2 hrs. The plant has been running successfully for the last four years.
7) M/s Asian Paints Ltd.
a) Process and equipment modifications of the long oil alkyd resin reactor has reduced the batch cycle times from 40 hrs to 12 hrs. The overall plant productivity per reactor has improved from 170 tons/month to 260 tons/month. This has resulted into cost saving of approximately 1 crore per reactor per year. This standardized design has now been implemented on 4 out of the 10 existing reactors across the country and is likely to save over 10 crores annually for company. The modification cost per reactor was less than Rs. 1 lac.
b) A new on line viscosity meter has been developed and is under trial. Imported on line viscosity costs Rs. 15 lacs as against Rs. 1 lac of the indigenously developed product.
c) Substantial energy and time savings have been achieved in paint manufacturing activity. It is difficult to exactly estimate the cost implications of the same but over 1/3rd increase in the productivity i.e. from 27,000 lits to 40,000 lits of paint production has been achieved in one plant alone. Other plants await implementation.
8) Marico Industries Ltd.
a) The capacity of the vegetable oil refining plant has been increased from 70 tons/day to 120 tons/day with the cost of modifications in the range of 35 to 40 lacs. The sale and turnover is likely to be higher by 2 to 3 crores annually with a payback period of 2 to 3 months.
b) The pregelatinised starch production capacity of 3.2 tons/day was achieved at half the drum speed, with the help of a detailed mathematical model and improvements based on the same. It is expected that after all the modifications, the plant will produce 10 tons/day of the product as against the rated capacity of 6 tons/day. This is likely to improve the sale turnover from 19 to 50 crores annually.
9) Godrej Soaps Ltd.
a) Only improvements in the plant operational strategies has resulted into increased reliability of the fatty alcohol manufacturing activity. Dr. Pandit along with Godrej soap plant personnel have made this plant at Walia near Ankaleshwar to produce 16000 tons of crude fatty alcohol in the past 6 months as against 3000 to 4000 tons being produced annually earlier. The sales turnover has jumped from 40 to 50 crores to 150 crores as a result of this. Marginally increased production costs are more than offset by increased productivity. Further improvements are being done.
b) Fatty acid hydrogenation process as a result of modifications have resulted into 6 batches of 5 tons capacity each as against 3 to 4 batches of the same capacity.
10) Herdilia Oxides and Electronics Ltd., Lote, Chiplun
A superior grade magnetic iron oxide was made using the existing facilities to successfully compete with the imported product. The production capacity of 80 tons/month has been achieved with this product, making it to be the largest company in India. This process analysis also resulted into substantial savings in the energy, manpower requirement and optimum equipment utilization.
11) Hindustan Lever Research Center (Andheri, Mumbai)
The two successfully completed assignments include;
a) Development of ultrasound based liquid atomisation process, resulting into uniform droplet sizes and elimination of secondary atomising phase. A prototype has been developed and tested. A publication will be appearing in the Journal of ultrasonics analysing the various issues involved in ultrasonic atomisation with specific design recommendations.
b) Studies in foam stability has resulted into the identification of the key operating parameters responsible for foam stability.
12) Godrej Industries Ltd. (GIL), Mumbai
A completely new plant for the fixed bed catalytic hydrogenation has been designed/fabricated and commissioned. The cost of the plant is about 2 crore which was only a technology fees of the imported technology. A scaled up plant treating 100 tons/day is under construction in an Export oriented unit of GIL.
13) US Vitamins:
A pilot plant facility consisting of 18 different reactors ranging from 2 liter to 4000 liter capacities were designed and optimized to synthesize 40 different pharmaceutical products. The optimization procedure has resulted into a considerable savings (about 9 additional reactors have been eliminated.
14) Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Ltd.:
A complete hydrodynamic and kinetic modeling of the DMT plant has been developed, which has also been validated with plant and laboratory trials. The role of the operational parameters on productivity and selectivity has been identified and the plant is being run optimally.
15) Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
Various process modifications/innovations have resulted into 3 patents being filed. The process details cannot be divulged for confidentiality reasons.
16) Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
The assignment involved the survey of Ultrasound assisted chemical transformations and the critical assessment of the future technological applications and implications.
The survey has been published in the form of EPRI bulletin under the headings of emerging technologies. The impact of this technology on world energy scenario and its usage in the chemical industry has been assessed.
This assignment was obtained by Dr. Pandit on the basis of his research and popular and commercial publications in the area of Sono-chemistry/Cavitation chemistry, which was very well received in the United States of America.
Work done Abroad:
1) Chemoxy Industries U.K. :
This assignment was related to the improvement in mixing related performance of a reactor.
2) Manor Vinegar Breweries Ltd., Brentford, U.K. :
This assignment related to the improvement in acetic acid fermenter by the use of our patented impeller.
3) Unilever Research Lab - Colworth, U.K. :
This assignment was related to the development of a strategy for foam control in stirred fermenter.
Work done in INDIA:
1) Color Frost (Bombay) Pvt. Ltd.
Dr. Pandit successfully designed, fabricated, erected and commissioned a recirculating type continuous glass annealing furnace of 20 tons/day capacity. This was the first of its kind developed in India at a cost of Rs. 15 lacs as against a cost of 2 crores of the imported furnace.
2) Sarang Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., Ankaleshwar
Dr. Pandit developed a complete manufacturing process for the manufacture sodium hydrosulfite using sodium formate (a byproduct of pentaerythritol industry). A plant of 5 tons/day capacity was designed and commissioned successfully. The total plane was constructed at a cost of 2 crores as against a cost of Rs. 10 crore of the imported technology of equivalent capacity.
3) Perfect Protein Pvt. Ltd., Mahad
A gas based process for the manufacture of dimethyl and trimethyl amine hydrochloride was developed. A plant of capacity 2 tons/day was constructed with manufacturing cost 30% lower due to energy saving and was run successfully for three years after which it had to be shut down due to the management problems.
4) Aroni Chemicals, Nagda
A new air-cooled reactor for the manufacture of AlCl3 was developed. A pilot plant of 250 kgs/day was constructed and run successfully. A full scale plant of 5 tons/day has been designed and awaiting construction.
5) Voltas Ltd., Bombay
A new treatment method was developed for the lubricating oil for their hermetic compressors. The resulting cost of the lubricating oil was Rs 50/lit as against the cost of Rs. 550/lit of the lubricating oil imported from Japan. A total of 40,000 lits. of lubricating oil was manufactured.
6) India Glycol Ltd., New Delhi
A new reactor design of the melter for fatty acid esterification plant was developed. The reactor costing Rs. 35 lacs reduced the melting time from 6 hrs to 2 hrs. The plant has been running successfully for the last four years.
7) M/s Asian Paints Ltd.
a) Process and equipment modifications of the long oil alkyd resin reactor has reduced the batch cycle times from 40 hrs to 12 hrs. The overall plant productivity per reactor has improved from 170 tons/month to 260 tons/month. This has resulted into cost saving of approximately 1 crore per reactor per year. This standardized design has now been implemented on 4 out of the 10 existing reactors across the country and is likely to save over 10 crores annually for company. The modification cost per reactor was less than Rs. 1 lac.
b) A new on line viscosity meter has been developed and is under trial. Imported on line viscosity costs Rs. 15 lacs as against Rs. 1 lac of the indigenously developed product.
c) Substantial energy and time savings have been achieved in paint manufacturing activity. It is difficult to exactly estimate the cost implications of the same but over 1/3rd increase in the productivity i.e. from 27,000 lits to 40,000 lits of paint production has been achieved in one plant alone. Other plants await implementation.
8) Marico Industries Ltd.
a) The capacity of the vegetable oil refining plant has been increased from 70 tons/day to 120 tons/day with the cost of modifications in the range of 35 to 40 lacs. The sale and turnover is likely to be higher by 2 to 3 crores annually with a payback period of 2 to 3 months.
b) The pregelatinised starch production capacity of 3.2 tons/day was achieved at half the drum speed, with the help of a detailed mathematical model and improvements based on the same. It is expected that after all the modifications, the plant will produce 10 tons/day of the product as against the rated capacity of 6 tons/day. This is likely to improve the sale turnover from 19 to 50 crores annually.
9) Godrej Soaps Ltd.
a) Only improvements in the plant operational strategies has resulted into increased reliability of the fatty alcohol manufacturing activity. Dr. Pandit along with Godrej soap plant personnel have made this plant at Walia near Ankaleshwar to produce 16000 tons of crude fatty alcohol in the past 6 months as against 3000 to 4000 tons being produced annually earlier. The sales turnover has jumped from 40 to 50 crores to 150 crores as a result of this. Marginally increased production costs are more than offset by increased productivity. Further improvements are being done.
b) Fatty acid hydrogenation process as a result of modifications have resulted into 6 batches of 5 tons capacity each as against 3 to 4 batches of the same capacity.
10) Herdilia Oxides and Electronics Ltd., Lote, Chiplun
A superior grade magnetic iron oxide was made using the existing facilities to successfully compete with the imported product. The production capacity of 80 tons/month has been achieved with this product, making it to be the largest company in India. This process analysis also resulted into substantial savings in the energy, manpower requirement and optimum equipment utilization.
11) Hindustan Lever Research Center (Andheri, Mumbai)
The two successfully completed assignments include;
a) Development of ultrasound based liquid atomisation process, resulting into uniform droplet sizes and elimination of secondary atomising phase. A prototype has been developed and tested. A publication will be appearing in the Journal of ultrasonics analysing the various issues involved in ultrasonic atomisation with specific design recommendations.
b) Studies in foam stability has resulted into the identification of the key operating parameters responsible for foam stability.
12) Godrej Industries Ltd. (GIL), Mumbai
A completely new plant for the fixed bed catalytic hydrogenation has been designed/fabricated and commissioned. The cost of the plant is about 2 crore which was only a technology fees of the imported technology. A scaled up plant treating 100 tons/day is under construction in an Export oriented unit of GIL.
13) US Vitamins:
A pilot plant facility consisting of 18 different reactors ranging from 2 liter to 4000 liter capacities were designed and optimized to synthesize 40 different pharmaceutical products. The optimization procedure has resulted into a considerable savings (about 9 additional reactors have been eliminated.
14) Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Ltd.:
A complete hydrodynamic and kinetic modeling of the DMT plant has been developed, which has also been validated with plant and laboratory trials. The role of the operational parameters on productivity and selectivity has been identified and the plant is being run optimally.
15) Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
Various process modifications/innovations have resulted into 3 patents being filed. The process details cannot be divulged for confidentiality reasons.
16) Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
The assignment involved the survey of Ultrasound assisted chemical transformations and the critical assessment of the future technological applications and implications.
The survey has been published in the form of EPRI bulletin under the headings of emerging technologies. The impact of this technology on world energy scenario and its usage in the chemical industry has been assessed.
This assignment was obtained by Dr. Pandit on the basis of his research and popular and commercial publications in the area of Sono-chemistry/Cavitation chemistry, which was very well received in the United States of America.
Work done Abroad:
1) Chemoxy Industries U.K. :
This assignment was related to the improvement in mixing related performance of a reactor.
2) Manor Vinegar Breweries Ltd., Brentford, U.K. :
This assignment related to the improvement in acetic acid fermenter by the use of our patented impeller.
3) Unilever Research Lab - Colworth, U.K. :
This assignment was related to the development of a strategy for foam control in stirred fermenter.