Molecules To Market

Portfolio Planning Plus

Welcome to Molecules to Market - Building Resilient Value Chains for a Fast-Moving World. With our guests we dive beyond the digital buzz into the material realities that power our lives—from process technologies and feedstock to economic forecasts and margin analytics. Join industry experts as we unpack how to engineer, fund and future-proof chemical and energy value chains in an age of relentless change—and find the strategies that turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s competitive edge.

  1. Episode 1

    Model Refinery in India with Guest Sanjay Gupta - Part 1

    🔗 Portfolio Planning PLUS (ppPLUS) Platform 👤 Sanjay Gupta's profile on ppPLUS 🛢️ ppPLUS Refining Module 🏭 ppPLUS Encyclopedia of Technologies: 📩 Suggest a guest or topic: media@portfolio-pplus.com In this new multi-part series, Sanjay Gupta — former CEO Projects for the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Project, and former Chairman & Managing Director of Engineers India Limited (EIL) — takes on a new challenge: designing a model grassroots refinery-petrochemical complex for India, starting from first principles. Part 1 lays the strategic foundation. Sanjay explains why India continues to add refining capacity, why new installations are shifting from the west coast to the east coast, and why tomorrow’s “refineries” will actually be integrated mega petrochemical complexes in disguise. He walks through the design basis and objective function: a crude throughput of around 20 million tonnes — the sweet spot for a single crude column — feeding a world-scale steam cracker of 1.7–2 million tonnes of ethylene, an aromatics complex of 1.2–1.5 million tonnes, and a product slate that still delivers LPG and diesel while capping gasoline. The session was cut short by a power outage at Sanjay’s location — just as the configuration was taking shape! ⚠️🔔 STAY TUNED FOR PART 2! 🔔⚠️ in which, the conversation resumes towards the complete downstream configuration of the model refinery. Don’t miss it! ▶️ 📌 Chapters: 0:00 – Introduction & Welcome: Why India Needs Another Refinery1:12 – From Fuels to Petrochemicals: The Changing Dynamics3:26 – Moving Refineries to India’s Eastern Coast7:26 – The Scale of New Refineries8:11 – Setting the Design Basis & Objective Function10:00 – Phasing Out LPG: Solar Cooking & Piped Gas12:52 – World-Scale Petrochemicals & Feedstock Selection15:21 – Sizing the Complex: Olefins & Aromatics18:12 – The 20-Million-Tonne Complex & Crude Flexibility23:30 – Product Objectives: LPG, Gasoline, Diesel & Kerosene25:44 – The Gasoline (MS) Block & Naphtha Routing30:41 – Power Interruption & Wrap-Up (Continued in Part 2)🎙️ Molecules to Market is a program by Portfolio Planning PLUS (ppPLUS), bringing together technology, economics, and real facility-level data to give industry professionals a grounded, technical view of the global energy and petrochemical landscape — beyond the headlines.

    Model Refinery in India with Guest Sanjay Gupta - Part 1

  2. Episode 2

    🏭 The DREAM Project — Model Refinery in India with Guest Sanjay Gupta - Part 2

    RESOURCES 🔗 Portfolio Planning PLUS (ppPLUS) Platform 👤 Sanjay Gupta's profile on ppPLUS 🛢️ ppPLUS Refining Module 🏭 ppPLUS Encyclopedia of Technologies: 📩 Suggest a guest or topic: media@portfolio-pplus.com 📌 CHAPTERS 0:00 – Resuming After the Interruption: Naming & Locating the Project2:14 – Why Move East: Strategy, Security & Exploration4:33 – The Southeast Asia–Pacific Opportunity6:03 – Choosing a Location: Tamil Nadu / Chennai — The "Dream Refinery"7:33 – Offshore Infrastructure: SPMs & Jetties9:12 – Recap of the MS Block & Naphtha Routing10:33 – Hydrogen Sources: SMR vs. Green Hydrogen Configurations14:33 – Coal & Petcoke Gasification: Chemicals, Not Hydrogen16:49 – The CCR & Aromatics Orientation of the MS Block17:42 – Secondary Processing: The Vacuum Column & RCO Split21:27 – VGO Hydrotreating & High-Severity Petro FCC26:01 – The Three Secondary Blocks & Ethylene Recovery from Off-Gases28:12 – Cracked Naphtha, Prime G & Aromatics Extraction for Gasoline31:28 – LCO Quality & the Diesel Hydrotreater (DHDT)33:24 – Designing the Olefin Complex & the P/E Ratio39:02 – The Cracker's C4 Mix: Superflex/KBR, Alkylation & Recycle44:28 – Cracker Bottoms & Back-End Integration into Aromatics47:36 – Identifying K-COT as a C4s Cracking Technology50:10 – Tertiary Processing: Vacuum Residue & Coker Feedstocks54:13 – The Bottoms Configuration: Coker & Slurry Hydrocracker Yields58:20 – Coker Distillates, LPG & Off-Gas Ethane Recovery1:00:30 – Sulphur as Sulphuric Acid1:02:06 – Auxiliary Units: The Hydrogen Balance1:03:52 – Steam & Power: The Case Against Fossil-Fuel Generation1:08:23 – Grid, Renewables & the Economics of Power1:11:32 – SMR Nuclear Power for Steam & Power1:14:23 – Summing Up the Configuration & Downstream Units1:17:07 – Rationalizing Diesel in the DHDT1:18:38 – Downstream Product Chains: Phenol, Acrylates, Polymers1:20:06 – Offsites & Utilities: Desalination, Air Separation & BOO Models1:23:03 – Next Steps: The Sketch, Cost Estimation & Implementation Plan1:25:40 – Scenarios, Collaboration & Proprietary Knowledge1:30:06 – On Cost Estimation: The Indian Advantage1:34:08 – Closing Remarks🎙️ Molecules to Market is a program by Portfolio Planning PLUS (ppPLUS), bringing together technology, economics, and real facility-level data to give industry professionals a grounded, technical view of the global energy and petrochemical landscape — beyond the headlines.

    🏭 The DREAM Project — Model Refinery in India with Guest Sanjay Gupta - Part 2

  3. Episode 3

    🏭 The DREAM Refinery Project with Guest Sanjay Gupta | Part 3: Technology Selection & Project Front-End Engineering

    🔍 RESOURCES 👤 Sanjay Gupta's profile on ppPLUS🛢️ ppPLUS Refining Module🏭 ppPLUS Encyclopedia of Technologies:💧The DREAM Refinery - India project📩 Suggest a guest or topic: media@portfolio-pplus.com📋 SUMMARY How does a mega refinery & petrochemical complex actually get approved and built in 🇮🇳 India? In Part 3 of the DREAM Refinery project, refinery expert Mr. Sanjay Gupta walks us through the entire front-end of project implementation — from feasibility reports (±30% estimates) to Detailed Feasibility Reports (±10%), licensor selection strategies, the “Managing Licensor” concept used by giants like Reliance, and the four modes of implementation (EPCM, EPC, OBE & BOO). We then go unit by unit through the complex — CDU/VDU, Petro FCC, delayed coker, olefin plant, polymers — and map each technology to its licensors. Finally, Nicolas shows how the design is being translated into a living model on ppPLUS (Portfolio Planning PLUS) — the DREAM Project is LIVE! Join the platform and contribute! 🚀 ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 - Welcome & Introductions01:19 - Where We Are: Screening Study & Taking the Project Forward06:40 - Technology vs Site: The Two Halves of a Project11:45 - State Regulations, Incentives & Primary Logistics14:26 - The Plot Plan & Site Norms (33% Greenbelt, Zero Discharge!)18:38 - Estimating to ±30%: Plot Plan Freeze & Quantities24:24 - Modes of Implementation: EPCM, EPC, OBE & BOO38:32 - Informing the Board: Configuration, Project & Strategy41:50 - The DFR: ±10% Estimates & Licensor Selection44:29 - The Managing Licensor Concept47:04 - Two Baskets: Refinery vs Petrochemicals51:46 - Walking the Chart: CDU, VDU, CCR & Hydrotreaters56:43 - Petro FCC, Prime G & Aromatic Extraction Choices01:02:52 - The Delayed Coker: Chevron Lummus Global vs Wood01:04:53 - Coker Peripherals: Ethane Purification & LPG Treatment (Merichem)01:06:10 - Basketing the Refinery Block01:08:23 - The Olefin Complex: No Escape From Technology Selection01:12:24 - Petrochemical Downstream Licensors (PTA, PE, PP, MEG, PVC…)01:21:27 - Alkylation, Phenol/BPA & Slurry Hydrocracking01:25:28 - Utility Blocks & BOO01:27:14 - The NIT & Basic Engineering Requirements01:32:03 - Getting Good Process Packages: Furnaces, Exchangers, Valves & Hydraulics01:39:14 - Summary of the DFR Approach01:40:48 - Translating the Design Into the ppPLUS Platform01:44:12 - Federal vs State: Who You Talk To in India01:55:32 - Joint Ventures With Foreign Companies02:02:33 - How a Foreign Promoter Could Invest: Coal-to-Chemicals02:05:16 - Closing Remarks

    🏭 The DREAM Refinery Project with Guest Sanjay Gupta | Part 3: Technology Selection & Project Front-End Engineering
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Welcome to Molecules to Market - Building Resilient Value Chains for a Fast-Moving World. With our guests we dive beyond the digital buzz into the material realities that power our lives—from process technologies and feedstock to economic forecasts and margin analytics. Join industry experts as we unpack how to engineer, fund and future-proof chemical and energy value chains in an age of relentless change—and find the strategies that turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s competitive edge.

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  • Creator
    Portfolio Planning Plus
  • Episodes
    10
  • Seasons
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © PORTFOLIO PLANNING PLUS LTD 2025
  • Show Website
    Molecules To Market