Bharat Petroleum Corporation Research Articles

A study of thermal effects in an offset‐halves journal bearing profile using different grade oils

ABSTRACTThe Reynolds equation has been solved simultaneously along with the energy equation and heat conduction equation by finite difference method to find pressure and temperature distribution for circular and offset‐halves journal bearings. Numerical solution of energy equation was achieved using parabolic temperature profile approximation technique for faster computation. A comparative study for the rise in oil temperatures, thermal pressures and load‐carrying capacity for the three different commercially available oils namely Hydrol 68, Mak 2T and Mak Multigrade (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited [BPCL], Mumbai, India) has been carried out. With an increase in speed, the oil temperature, the thermal pressure and the load‐carrying capacity rose for all the grade oils under study. The rise in computed oil temperature, thermal pressures as well as load‐carrying capacity has been found maximum for Mak Multigrade oil and minimum for Mak 2T oil. The nature of temperature profiles and load‐carrying capacity has been found to be in good agreement with those available in the literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluating boards of directors of public‐sector companies in India: An empirical study of India's Navratna companies

AbstractThe Navratna companies are a group of Indian public‐sector enterprises to which the Indian government has given a measure of financial and operational autonomy that allows them to make investments without the need to seek government approval. Evaluations of the operation of the board of directors of the Navratna companies are, at times, complex and confidential. This can make studying, analyzing, and evaluating them a difficult task. This research is based on a survey of the board of directors in nine Navratna companies: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). The results of our survey provide the basis for the evaluation of the operation of the board of directors of Navratna companies. They also indicate that the board of directors should not involve itself in the day‐to‐day functioning of the organization and that governance of such companies involves more than simply ensuring returns in the short term. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Corporate Social Responsibility in an Indian Public Sector Organization

The society and local community is the resource pool from which any organization gets its manpower and also so to say ‘the license to operate’. The society is the entity to which an organization owes its existence. The organization exists in the society because of the inputs received from it—material and human—and ultimately sells its products and services to it. Any organization must pay its due in various ways to this important constituency. In this article, the authors have used the case study of an Indian Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) like Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd to describe its Society and Local Community-related initiatives. Being a PSU and true to its mandate, BPCL has undertaken lot of innovative CSR initiatives in and around the areas of its functioning. An attempt has been made here to highlight the same. The data collection for the case has been done by the authors through personal interviews with top executives of the Company and supplemented through other information available in the public domain.

Characterization and Identification of Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Biomarkers by GC-FTIR and GC-MS

Identification of petroleum hydrocarbons from crude and distilled oils by GC-MS is well known. The distilled crude and oils contain specific group of hydrocarbons are known as biomarkers bearing the information of their geographical source or origin and the geological past. These are diamondoids (adamantanes, diadamantanes, terpanes, steranes, sesquiterpanes, hopanes, norhopanes, etc.). The present article describes the identification of hydrocarbons using their IR spectra in the molecular fingerprinting region where every molecule shows its unique and characteristic individual vibrational frequencies. GC-FTIR spectrum of each of the individual components present in distilled oils was identified by proper standard library matching with the spectrum of the individual component. The GC-MS profiles of the biomarkers of different light and middle distilled fine products of samples from three leading oil companies, namely Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Indo-Burma Petroleum (IBP), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPC), differ from each other, indicating the variation of the sources of the crudes used by the companies. But nothing specific can be said about the origin of crudes from this limited data.

Synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of cobalt phthalocyanine tetrasulphonamide in sweetening of LPG

Cobalt phthalocyanine tetrasulphonamide was synthesized by reacting cobalt phthalocyanine with chlorosulphonic acid at 130–135 °C followed by addition of thionyl chloride to convert free sulphonic acid to sulphonyl chloride and subsequently amidation with ammonia. It was isolated by acidifying the reaction mixture with hydrochloric acid followed by filtration. It was characterized by elemental IR and FAB mass spectral analysis. The activity of cobalt phthalocyanine tetrasulphonamide catalyst for extractive sweetening of LPG was evaluated by studying mercaptide oxidation using ethyl mercaptan as model sulfur compound in glass column. The stability of the catalyst was evaluated by studying liquid–liquid sweetening in a batch reactor using hexane thiol as a model compound and petroleum ether as an inert solvent. The performance of this catalyst with respect to activity and stability was found better than the commercial catalyst being used currently in the refineries. Commercial trial run of this catalyst has been successfully conducted for 4 months in FCC LPG Merox unit of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Mumbai and the performance was found better than commercial catalyst. Another trial run of the catalyst has been conducted in one of the LPG Merox units at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Jamnagar for 8 months and the performance has been found to be excellent with less catalyst consumption than commercial catalyst.

Transactional Styles and Gender — A Co-relational Study

Studying interpersonal relationships is a complex subject that is often given inadequate attention by behavioral scientists. Each individual in a group has unique interpersonal style that has been shaped by the lifetime of their experience with others. Interpersonal styles help a person to relate in positive or negative ways with superiors, subordinates and peers. This may mean being able to make and keep friendly relationships as well as being able to end relationships constructively. The study was done at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Kochi Refinery, erstwhile Kochi Refineries Limited, Ambalamughal, which is one of the premiere refineries in India. The refinery has a capacity of 7.5 million metric tons per annum, which is about to be expanded to 10.5 MMTPA. The study is an attempt from the behavioral perspective of individuals to understand the predominant interpersonal style of officers in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Kochi Refinery and also to analyze whether the transactional styles are same or different for male and female officers. The study takes into account factors like Transactional Analysis, Ego States and the 12 different Interpersonal Styles. It deals with assuming the level of OK styles displayed in the organization and developing strategies to improve the OK styles and reduce the Not-OK styles so that the interpersonal behavior is optimized which will lead to organizational effectiveness which is the assumption made in this study. The primary data collection was done with the help of a questionnaire and secondary data was collected from magazines, journals and the Internet. The size of the sample was 132 consisting of 118 males and 14 females where 17 were top-level officers, 73 were middle level officers and 42 were junior level officers. The sample consists of 62 officers from technical departments and 70 officers from non-technical departments. The sample was selected using stratified random sampling technique. The study revealed that the operating effectiveness quotient of the officers could be generalized to be average. Also there is need for training in creative child and regulating parent ego states. The study also revealed that there is significant difference between the transactional styles of male and female officers.

The Indian CEOs: Competencies for Success

The paper presents findings of an empirical study, to determine the competencies required to be a successful CEO in India, undertaken by Hay Group and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. under the aegis of the Public Enterprises Selection Board. It is based on competency research methods pioneered by Dr. David McClelland of Harvard University. The 18-month study commenced by focusing on public sector leaders but enlarged its scope to include large Indian businesses. The sample comprised of well-respected CEOs from some of the best-performing and best-run companies in India (from both public and private sectors) who were compared to each other as well as a sample of outstanding CEOs from Europe, North and South America, and Asia Pacific (representing some of the best-performing companies in the world). In addition more than 50 influential leaders and experts from government, media and academia (Indian – origin faculty at Harvard Business School) were consulted. The findings have been validated by prominent leaders from government and industry. The study makes significant contributions for selection, succession planning and leadership development for successful CEO's position.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) embarked upon a major change initiative towards the end of 1996. It planned an enterprise-wide integration through Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The objectives were to remain competitive through improved customer service and customer satisfaction and to transform the company into a Learning Organization. The case highlights the process and challenges faced by BPCL in successfully implementing ERP (SAP R/3). The focus of the implementation process was on Change Management where significant change in technology led to a change in the work culture.

Influence of Gender and Hierarchical Position on Interpersonal Relations at Work

The present study examined differences related to gender and hierarchical position in interpersonal relations in a public-sector organisation called Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Ltd. Data were collected from 100 respondents and subjected to analysis of variance. Gender differences were observed in received openness and significance and hierarchical differences in received control and expressed inclusion, openness, significance, and competence.