An industrial
visit to Nirma Ltd. Bhavnagar On August 01, 2009
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Thirty three BSc Chemistry
student alon with three faculty members had been for an industrial
visit to NIRMA LTD. Bhavnagar on 1st August 2009
Nirma Ltd. Company spreads to 55 KM near the seacoast. There are
total six production units with the major production being Soda Ash.
The two major byproducts are Sodium chloride and Distilled water.
The other three important products are Soap, Washing powder and
Washing cake.
First we visited the main department of the company which is Quality
Assurance Department. Here Dr, KC Pathak, the Manager of the Quality
Assurance section interacted with the students briefing them on the
Quality Assurance Process. He also detailed the importance of
quality assurance and the process of analysis of the chemicals. In
this department both the raw material and final product are
analyzed. First the raw material required for the production is
analyzed and then complete batch product is analyzed.
The main instruments used in the process of analysis are
(1) Tinto meter
(2) Ion meter
(3) Conductivity meter
(4) UV spectrometer
(5) Flame photometer
(6) Viscometer
(7) Weighing balance
The main equipments in laboratory are
(1) desiccators
(2) magnetic starrier
(3) hot plates
(4) R.O. purifier plant
After the initial interaction, we were guided to the different
production units
(1) Soda Ash (Na2CO3)
Soda Ash is the major product of Nirma. Total investment for this
plant is Rs. 1,140 Cr. Capacity of the plant is 650,000 TPA, and 40
MW Captive co-generation plant. This is the Only Soda Ash plant in
the world with full DCS controls. It is awarded by ICMA for Best
Total Water Management Practices in Chemical Industry Category.
The byproduct of soda ash plant is mineral water, after removal of
salt from sea water. The plant capacity of RODM plant is 770 m3/hr.
The main department of plant is the central control department,
because the plant is fully automated plant and controlled form this
department. The computerized operated plant divided into seven main
section are coded 100 to 700. The person who operates the computer
to control plant is directly connected to plant supervisor through
phone or wireless.
(2) Edible Salt (NaCl)
Edible salt is the Asia’s largest salt works in Nirma. It is spread
over 30,000 acres. And capacity of edible salt production is 288,000
TPA and 300 ton per day. It is human contact free process from water
to packaging. There is 14 machines in a unit and 58 pouch are packed
in a minute.
The salt plant detail as under
Section-100: Preparation and purification of Brine
The ammonical brine is produced in this department; brine is
prepared by adding 312 g of salt in 1000 ml water. It is purified by
adding soda ash and milk of lime.
Section-200: CO2 and lime production
CO2 is produced in this section by heating calcium carbonate and
coke at 1000oC for 40 hrs
Section-300: Ammonia recovery
Ammonia does not take part in the reaction and acts as a catalyst
for the reaction between CO2 and brine. Finally it is removed in the
form of ammonium chloride.
Section-400: Carbonation
The carbonation tower is about 50 ft. in height. In this tower
sodium bicarbonate is formed and sparingly soluble in brine and then
separated out. The remaining material is carried down and out of
tower.
Section-500: Calcination
The washed sodium carbonate from the drum is now calcinated at about
200oC in calciner.
Section-600 and 700: Final product
Slurry is filtered and byproducts are separated in this section. So
the products obtained after these process are mainly used in raw
material in industries.
Light and dense soda ash are obtained.
(3) RODM plant:
Reverse osmosis mineral water plant is very huge plant in Nirma.
Brine is separated as salt in this plant and water which is then
purified by RO treatment.
(4) Soap:
Nirma soap and Nima soap are main types of toilet soap. This company
is the second largest soap manufacturer in India. It manufactures
3,00,000 soap pieces per day. The main raw materials for preparation
of soap are:
(i) Palm oil
(ii) PK oil
(iii) RB oil
(iv) Brine
(v) EDTA
(vi) Caustic soda
A large unit for production of soap divided into thee section, the
first section consist number of tanks of oil and brine. The second
section is production of slurry material of soap and then third
section complete molding the soap and marking brand name on soap and
then pack into a wrapper automatically.
These four plants are automatic plants, and remaining two plants are
manual plants, which were handling by the labourers.
(5) Washing powder:
The Washing powder plant at Bhavnagar is a manually operated plant
and the purpose of it being manually operated is to provide
employment to the maximum possible labourers. Nirma is the largest
detergent manufacturer of India. The raw materials used to
preparation of detergent are:
(i) Dolomite
(ii) Caustic soda
(iii) Silicates
(iv) Color
(v) Acid slurry
Acid slurry is added to Soda ash which is then mixed properly and
then packed in 500 gm and 1 kg pack.
(6) Washing Cake:
Washing cake raw material is slight different then detergent. The
mixture of FeSO4, slurry and silicates are mainly used in this
production.
These six plants operate round the clock in three batches and hence
there are three shifts for the employees of Nirma Ltd.
Another new major Caustic Soda plant is to be launched in a few
months.
A note worthy feature of Nirma Ltd. is its own Canteen and Health
Centre.
We were highly grateful to them for providing breakfast as well as
lunch to all the students as well as staff member.
We were indeed fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit
Nirma Ltd – Chemical Complex at Bhavnagar.
We are highly thankful to the entire team of Nirma for their
hospitality and co-operation. The willingness of their staff to
explain the various processes and the sincerity with which they
attended to the queries of our students is worth mentioning.
