New Delhi : Indian Oil Corporation’s (IndianOil) Research & Development Centre at Faridabad crossed a major milestone this week by filing its 1,001stpatent, the first among Indian oil &gas PSUs to do so.
The R&D Centre’s IP (Intellectual Property) portfolio comprises 794 active patents, of which 542 patents were granted abroad and 252 in India. The Centre has also registered a healthy commercialisation rate for its patents, higher than the global average.
Complimenting the R&D team for lending a competitive edge to IndianOil’s business through innovative products, processes and technologies, Mr. Sanjiv Singh, Chairman, IndianOil, expressed happiness that several quality upgradation projects implemented at IndianOil refineries for production of BS-VI fuels are based on deep desulphurisation, isomerisation and dimerisation technologypatents developed in-house.
Indian Oil’s internationally-awarded INDMAX technology patent, successfully commercialised at Paradip Refinery, improves LPG yields by 40% besides ensuring the highest propylene yields in its class. Similarly, the Centre’s bio-metha nation technology is best-in-class in methane yields and is being implemented at the Namakkal (Tamil Nadu) plant for production of compressed bio-gas (CBG).
Established in 1972, the Centre is a pioneer in downstream petroleum sector R&D and has received wide acclaim for indigenising lubricants technology by launching the SERVO brand. With over 5,000 formulations and over 800 active grades covering all conceivable applications, including rail-road and marine oils,SERVO has grown to be the largest selling lubricant brand in India.
From being the birth-place of the highly successful, fuel-efficient ‘Nutan’ kerosene wick-stove in the late 70s, the R&D Centre has come a long way in the past four decades. According to Dr. SSV. Ramakumar, Director (R&D), IndianOil, the Centre has been focussing on developing high-quality, environment-friendly products and innovative refinery processes that boost resource efficiency, enhance refinery-petrochemicals integration, and offer flexibility in product pattern and yields in line with market demand.
With 50% of its active patents in the refining category, followed by 16% in bio-technology, the R&D team has made considerable progress even in the highly IP-crowded field ofZiegler-Natta catalysts, used in production of polymers (plastics). “We have not only created white space here but succeeded in earninga rich haul of patent grantsthat are well recognised by global majors,”adds Dr. Ramakumar.
In line with IndianOil’s business agenda, the R&D Centre has expanded its research domain to coverpetrochemicals, nano-technology, alternative fuels, energy storage solutions and Hydrogen-based fuel cell research, among others.
