Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (BPCL) Super Absorbent Polymer technology (SAP) demonstration plant of 200 tonne per annum at the Kochi Refinery was inaugurated recently. Commencement of SAP production at the refinery could result in setting up of ancillary industries in the vicinity including at the KINFRA’s new Ambalamugal Petrochemical Park.

Using the in-house acrylic acid as feedstock, SAP technology is used in various hygiene products such as diapers and other incontinence products. BPCL R&D has developed the technology for production of Hygiene grade SAP. This process is in-house developed and patented by BPCL R&D. SAP is produced using the Acrylic Acid which is manufactured at the new Propylene Derivatives Petrochemical Complex at Kochi Refinery.

“The technology, piping and instrumentation diagram, detail engineering and equipment specification were all in-house developed jointly by Corporate Research & Development Centre (CRDC) and Kochi Refinery team. No external agency was engaged in this project. Both the Polymerisation reactor and the drying units were shifted from BPCL’s CRDC at Noida. Other units like feed preparation unit, milling, coating and packing units were indigenously engineered and procured by the project team,” BPCL said in a press release.

The project was completed in just seven months. SAP is a polymer that can absorb and retain extremely large amounts of a liquid relative to its own mass. Therefore, SAP is one of the key components in sanitary napkins, baby diapers, under-pads and adult diapers. Presently, manufacturing units of these products in India are importing SAP. Large quantities of napkins, diapers and under-pads are also being imported.