The technical economy department at BTRA is an unlikely birthplace for a technological innovation of such import. Head of department Joseph Zacharia admits as much no research of this significance has come out of a government textile research centre in the past 30 years.

Zacharia has just blunted that unblemished record. BTRA's Kerosene Vapour Recovery Plant retrieves kerosene out of thin air, promises kerosene cost savings up to Rs 40 crore for the textile industry, and offers incalculable environmental and health benefits. Water cycle, nitrogencycle, carbon cycle... and now, kerosene cycle.

No one is happier about the development than Vinod Jhawar, managing director of Dhanlaxmi Fabrics Ltd in Dombivli, where Zacharia's invention recycles 1,500 litres of kerosene everyday. A pilot project funded by Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), Jhawar got the plant almost free of cost. Like a true Marwari, he chuckles as he counts his savings. ``We consume three tankers of kerosene every month. Now I get one free of cost. That is a saving of Rs one lakh every month,'' Jhawar said.

Zacharia is more relieved than ecstatic. A textile technology graduate, he was venturing in dark waters by plunging into a chemical technology project. Twice before had scientists worked on this theme, one of them a predecessor at BTRA in 1972; both had been unsuccessful. ``PCRA sunk in Rs 18 lakh on the project. I would have been shattered if it had gone fruitless,'' Zacharia reveals. His wife Sicily, a school teacher, wishes he had invented the plant 15 yearsago. ``It would have been very good for his career,'' she explains.

BTRA director Dr Bhaskar Bandopadhyay calls the project extremely successful. ``There was a need for such a plant. We had been working on it for a long time and have now fulfilled that need. BTRA has already obtained a provisional patent; we will apply for a final one after collecting all data on the efficacy of the plant.'' Dr Bandopadhyay adds the BTRA plant should be available commercially for Rs 10-14 lakh. The hazardous waste management project report issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on July 23, 1997 recommended a vapour recovery system to plug emissions in the textile printing process, a suggestion endorsed by the 1997 United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) annual technical report on textile industry and environment. Ninety-six million litres of kerosene is routinely let out by textile mills as an air pollutant. The kerosene, a solvent in the pigment used for printing, is emitted as vapour by the dryingunit. BTRA's plant traps these vapour, channels them through ducts to a recovery plant, and extracts 48 million litres of purer, reusable kerosene.

The invention, however important, could not have been more ill-timed. With the textile industry in the throes of a crushing recession, the plant is being reviewed with damp enthusiasm. A S Gore, quality assurance manager, Bombay Dyeing New Bleach Works, voiced his scepticism. ``The plant has its advantages but it all boils down to economics. How much is a mill printing? The industry is staring at 15 per cent negative growth. At present, we will not go in for the technology, unless we are forced to by the government.'' Jhawar agreed that some government incentives, like depreciation and tax benefits, would be needed to induce mills.

PCRA regional co-ordinator T G Tawale said, ``Results till now have been encouraging. We will monitor performance for one month before taking a decision on commercialising the plant.'' But Zacharia is upbeat. With open marketscome global norms, which will insist Indian industries incur environmental costs on par with their western counterparts, he says.

The Kerosene effect

Kerosene does to cloth printing what oil does to paints:

it enhances the quality of the print, making it brighter, more durable. US and European mills replaced kerosene with synthetic thickeners a decade ago, as some kerosene residue was left on the cloth. Indian merchants continue to insist on kerosene prints, which makes the invention invaluable, says BTRA director Dr Bandopadhyay. Its advantages are:

1. Eliminates explosive hazards associated with kerosene fumes

2. Eliminates pollution. Dense white fumes are routinely emitted by printing units. At Dhanlaxmi, the fumes are invisible, suggesting lack of pollutants

3. Saves kerosene cost of Rs 15 lakh a year for a mill

4. Eliminates respiratory, skin and eye ailments for mill workers 5. Ensures international environmental standards in industry 6. Saves foreign exchange costs on import ofkerosene