Honeywell opens 4th centre in India

Honeywell International Inc, a diversified industrial solutions provider, is looking at introducing technologies for optimising fuel production and generating green fuel in India as it opened its fourth technology centre here at Gurgaon at an investment of $34 million.

The US-based company is looking to bring in Uniflex, coal-to-liquids and coal-to-chemicals technologies as refineries hunt for ways to extract more end-products from the expensive crude.

“We are planning to convert waste biomass into power and plan to help local entrepreneurs set up plants. This can take care of insufficient power availability in rural India,” Honeywell’s UOP president and CEO Rajeev Gautam said.

The bio diesel produced can also be used as fuel for auto and aviation sectors, he said, adding in future the aviation industry will require green fuel to fly to developed nations as they are becoming more concerned about environmental issues.

Gautam claimed a refinery using its Uniflex refining process can save up to $6 billion crude every year as the process helps to yield 4-6% more diesel and gasoline. 

Honeywell is also promoting coal-to-chemicals technology for producing polyethylene and polypropylene, which are mainly used for making car bumpers and packaging materials, instead of petroleum.

The Honeywell centre will develop and licence process technologies used in refining and the production of petrochemicals and renewable fuels.

Its Gurgaon centre will also perform other product and application development for PMT, including fluorine and nylon technologies. With Europe hit by recession and the US picking up slowly, the firm is looking at India and China.

“Around 60% of our revenue comes from emerging regions include Asia, Africa, Russia and Middle East,” Gautam said.