Visbreaking technology: Is it obsolete, or is there potential for upgrade?

Pramod Kumar is a Deputy General Manager in the Corporate R&D Center of Hindustan Petroleum in Bengaluru, India. He has more than 18 yr of experience in process design, research, engineering and technical services in the areas of FCC, visbreaking and delayed coking. He is responsible for commercialization of FCC feed nozzles and catalytic visbreaking processes. Mr. Kumar holds an MTech degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur. He also holds more than 10 patents in the area of FCC process and catalyst.

Peddy V. C. Rao is Chief General Manager at HPCL’s R&D center in Bangalore. He holds a PhD in chemical sciences from the IIT at Bombay, and has more than 26 yr of research experience in petrochemicals, petroleum/refining processes, catalysis, biofuels and resid upgrading. Dr. Rao holds more than 26 patents, both inside and outside of India, and has published approximately 80 research papers in international journals. He is also responsible for the developmentand commercialization of several products and processes.

holds a PhD in physical chemistry and has over 30 years of experience in R&D in petroleum refining, petrochemicals and alternate fuels. He is the general manager of the HPCL R&D center in Bangalore. Dr. Choudary is responsible for the development and commercialization of over 20 patented products and processes. He has over 90 patents both in India and abroad, and has more than 85 research papers in referred international journals and four book chapters to his credit. He is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers (INAE). His research interests include petroleum refinery processes, petrochemicals, catalysis, adsorptive separations, biofuels and alternate energies.

Gandham Sriganesh leads HPCL’s R&D center in Bangalore as Executive Director of R&D. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Osmania University in Hyderabad. He has been associated with HPCL since 1982, and has worked in various capacities in the operations and technical divisions of HPCL’s Visakhapatnam and Mumbai refineries. He has handled capacity expansion and fuel quality upgradation projects at both refineries. He has published and presented several technical papers at national and international forums.

is a post-graduate in chemical engineering from IIT in Delhi. He has been working with the HPCL R&D center as a research officer for the past three years, and is involved in various research projects in the areas of residue upgradation and fluid catalytic cracking.

is a post-graduate in chemical engineering from the India Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bombay. He has worked with HPCL for eight years, with wide experience in refinery operations, research, etc. He is involved in in-house research projects plus collaborative research projects in the areas of residue upgradation and fluidized catalytic cracking.