AP GLOBAL – ENVIRONMENT STEWARDSHIP AT GLOBAL LEVEL
Asian Paints has subsidiaries present across four geographical regions - Asia, the Middle East, South Pacific and Africa. These subsidiaries have different target and performance levels, baseline years vis-à-vis their Indian counterparts, we are reporting them separately in this section. However, our endorsement of environment-friendly procedures and processes remains the same across the globe.
Energy Conservation – Specific power consumption (SPC)
1. Timer installation in grinding and mixing equipment in Indonesia and BangladeshIn our Indonesia plant, we have installed timers for two of our grinding equipment & for all our mixers to prevent over-grinding / over-agitation time in unsupervised operations. Similarly, in the Gazipur plant in Bangladesh, timers have been fixed in our four grinding equipment, leading to reduced power consumption as well as cycle time reduction. Similar initiatives are taken at the Mirsharai plant for the installation of a timer for grinding equipment to avoid unwanted runtime.
Basket Mills are used in the production of enamel and protective coating batches in which grinding media used was ceramic beads. We collaborated with equipment supplier to optimise the quantity of ceramic beads charged. This helped in reducing the cycle time by 1 hr and resulted in SPC reduction.
Modification of mixer, TSD and resin transfer system to increase the capacity, mill base volume and transfer rate, to reduce power consumption. Similarly, optimisation of 50TR and 100TR chiller temperature for paint block.
Optimisation of processing parameters such as optimising batch size and grinding time as per machine capacity and optimising FIBC operation during powder transfer to silo helped in reducing power consumption.
Optimising set-point of air compressor, cooling tower utilisation, utility pumps utilisation and optimised utilisation of exhaust fans, lights and ACs in all blocks. Also running the compressor with VFD more than the compressor without VFD helped in the reduction of SPC significantly.
Replacement of high bay lamps with LED lamps in almost all locations.
Installation of auto-cut-off timers for air conditioners in identified locations, revision in temperature settings in the winter season for ACs and for chiller units.
Optimisation in solvent recovery plant operations through reuse of waste solvent in batches
Replacement of cowl disc in HSD with a new design.
In addition to auto-timers on processing equipments, automatic on-and-off scheduled timers have been installed for the air compressor, centralised air conditioner, PMCC room air conditioners and factory street lamps thus helping in saving energy consumption.
Cooling water recirculation pump running time optimised by utilising the same only grinding process and closing the valve afterwards, thus saving power
Filter press operating time reduction by increasing the capacity of AODD pump to increase the flow rate of sludge feed to the filter press.
Installation of motion light sensors at various locations in the plant helped in energy saving.
At the Gazipur plant, traditional fluorescent lights were replaced with LED lights which are up to 80% more efficient, thus helping in energy consumption reduction. Similarly, a few other interventions to be energy-efficient by checking & repairing air leakages through air leakage inspection on a monthly basis and rational running of the chiller & cooling tower as per production demand. Zone-wise energy consumption is tracked daily, with user access to improve awareness and energy consciousness. Additionally, mixer blade length has been increased for six mixers at our Gazipur plant in Bangladesh to improve agitation and thus reduce cycle time.
At Nepal plants, timers were installed in mixers to standardise mixing time to avoid any unnecessary utilisation of the mixer, along with energy meters to facilitate monitoring of equipment running and power consumption
At Oman plant, timers have been installed in TSDs, fume extractors and dust collectors, and motion sensor lights have been installed in various locations
1. Increased reuse of treated effluent water, Bahrain
ETP treated water is being used for barrel, trolley cleaning, floor washings and contact-less toilet flushing at Bahrain plant. Overflow line from the treated water storage tank has been repositioned to maximum level, helping optimise availability and utilisation of treated effluent. Opportunity lost is also monitored by providing new meter in the overflow line, and we have witnessed significant reduction through these efforts.
The rainwater harvesting project has been done at the Panadura plant and rainwater use for washing the tubs and vessel at the ETP.
Utilisation of ETP treated water for barrel cleaning, contact-less toilet flushing as well as washing / cleaning and gardening purposes, resulting in saving of more than 50 KL fresh water per month.
Improved measurement and monitoring of water consumption through installation of additional flowmeter at different places, facilitating better analysis and reduction.
Introduced Aerator Water tap in high consumption areas such as officers’ canteen, prayer room and admin building washroom.
Proactively identifying avoidable water leakages and providing right type of tap. Necessary actions to arrest the leakages have been undertaken.
Modification of pressure release valve in UV raw water pipeline that reduced damage frequency of UV lamp and at the same time helped in saving water lost due to leakages.
Auto-cut off valve for garden area for admin side garden.
All domestic pipelines replaced with Polypropylene Random copolymer plastic pipes (PPR) and rerouted above the ground to identify leakages immediately and take corrective actions
Re-use of wash water in batches through reuse scheme and infrastructure for collection and storing of wash water, resulting in consumption of more than 200 KL of wash water in batches.
Ensure process equipment cleaning with highpressure jet pump.
Training imparted to all employees and contract workmen regarding the reduction of wastage of power and water.
Reduction in non-process water consumption by 86% through equipment Wash-water reuse schemes, aerator taps in high usage areas such as lab, washrooms etc. and surveillance visits for leakage identification and repair. Conducting TBTs and awareness session among people to reduce use of fresh water. Equipment Wash-water reuse schemes have also been introduced to reduce fresh water consumption.
Settling of solids was impacting utilisation of wash-water. For proper agitation, we implemented a cost-effective system consisting of perforated pipes connected with compressed air for validation. This helped increase wash water utilisation at the unit.
In our Dubai unit, we focussed on optimising the generation and utilisation of wash-water generated from mixers, process machines and trolleys through use of high-pressure jet nozzle and reuse schemes. Similar process has been developed for wash solvent reuse as well.
Introduced a new jet pump for vessel to reduce washwater generation and focussed on consumption of wash-water in batches, utilising 83.75 KL in FY 2022-23
Shade-wise segregation of wash solvent from washing/cleaning purpose at SB packing and process section and storing wash solvent in separate 7 barrels (blue, green, red, white, yellow, grey, epoxy, primers) to facilitate reuse of wash solvent.
Optimised generation of wash-water through lowpressure jets in wash points and packing machines to reduce generation of solid waste and increased reuse of wash-water.
Reducing barrel disposal by maximising use of inhouse emulsion.
Commissioned SRP to reduce the volume of waste solvent.
