The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bharat Cutting Gas launched

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 22, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bharat Cutting Gas launched

Staff Reporter

To prevent misuse of cooking gas

CHENNAI: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited has launched Bharat Cutting Gas, a product for metal cutting and brazing.

Described as an economical, effective and safer substitute for dissolved acetylene, which most industrial units use, the product is also useful for industrial applications, especially in the unorganised sector, where there is misuse of subsidised cooking gas. The Department of Explosives has approved Bharat Cutting Gas, a company official said.

Listing the safety features, he said the faint smell made it difficult to detect leak of dissolved acetylene. Moreover, dissolved acetylene was highly flammable and the risk of backlash was high. Besides a pungent smell, the operating/storage pressure of the gas was relatively lower and hence safer. Research and development establishments of the railways and defence and the Tiruchi-based Welding Research Institute certified the product. Elaborating on cooking gas diversion, he said small welding units used the cylinders, exposing the neighbourhood to safety hazards. It meant misuse of subsidy, estimated at Rs.180 on each 14.2 kg cylinder.

Filling facilities

Sophisticated filling facilities had been established at the company's liquefied petroleum gas filling plant at Gummidipoondi. The proximity of the plant to consumers would ensure uninterrupted supply, the official said. The railways, Larsen and Toubro and EID Parry were among the customers of Bharat Cutting Gas.

To create awareness, the company organised a seminar here recently. The new product is priced at Rs.62 a kg up to September-end and marketed in packaging sizes of 19, 35 and 47.5 kg.

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