Internship report

DESCON Chemicals
LTD.

Production Unit 4
Internee Name:

Syed Kazim Raza

Internee Number:

311
Unit of internship:

Unit 4
Department of internship:

Production
Internee Supervisor:

Mr Muhammad Naseer Ahmed

Internship duration:

1 month (August)

Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology

University of the Punjab
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Preface
Currently Im completing a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering at the
University of the Punjab. Im in my 3rd year and therefore I have to conduct a 1
month internship. The reason I choose to do my internship at such a distant is
because I wanted to benefit from the experience. I wanted a new challenge. I
wanted to do my internship at DESCON Chemical to experience the international
business world and to learning, improve and develop new sets of skills. One of my
main goals is to improve my English. Another goal is that Im planning to study
abroad and follow a Masters program. This is why I choose to follow my
internship DESCON Chemical; to learn and develop new sets of skills and to
experience working in an International Industry.
The reason I choose DESCON Chemical for my internship is because in search of
a good organization of internship led me to find of that Decon is not only a reputed
industry in Pakistan but known all around the World well over 20 years. And
another thing, my Uncle worked nearby, so it seemed convenient for me knowing
that one of my relatives is nearby, someone who can help me and show me the way
through the area while doing my internship at DESCON.
In this internship report I will describe my experiences during my internship
period. The internship report contains an overview of the internship company and
the activities, tasks and projects that I have worked on during my internship.
Writing this report, I also will describe and reflect my learning objects and
personal goals that I have set during my internship period.

List of content
Contents

Page #

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
1. INTRODUCTION

3
4

1.1 Internship Objective

1.2 Expectations
1.3 Introduction to Company

4
4
5

2. ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW

2.1 Internship organization

2.2 Organizational Structure
2.3 Main Office
2.4 Product Line

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6
6
8

3. PRODUCTION OVERVIEW

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3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
3.4.1
3.4.2
3.4.3
3.4.4

3.4.5

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11
12
13
Production Unit 401
Production Unit 402
Production Unit 403
Pilot Plant
Oil Heating System

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14
15
16
18

4. UNIT 4 PRODUCTS

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5. SUGGESTIONS

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6. CONCLUSION

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7. RECOMMENDATION

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Acknowledgement

First of all I am grateful to Allah who gave me sound mind and good health to
accomplish my summer Internship The completion of the task gave me much
pleasure and satisfaction. Now I take this opportunity to express my profound
gratitude and deep regards to my guide Mr Mohd. Naseer Ahmed (Unit 4 In
charge), for his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this internship. The blessing, help and guidance given by
him time to time shall carry me a long way in the journey of life on which I am
about to embark. I also take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to
Mr Shibli (Plant manager) for his cordial support, valuable information and
guidance, which helped me in completing this task through various stages. I am
obliged to staff members of DESCON, especially to Mr Ashfaq, Mr Bilal and Mr
Abid (Unit operators), for the valuable information provided by them in their
respective fields. I am grateful for their cooperation during the period of my
assignment. Lastly, I thank my parents, brother, sisters and friends for their
constant encouragement without which this assignment would not be possible.
Syed Kazim Raza.

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTERNSHIP OBJECTIVES
The reason I choose to follow an internship at DESCON is because I wanted to
benefit from the experience. I wanted a new challenge and to learn, improve
and develop new sets of skills. During my internship 2 major competencies are
central:
Working as a Project executer, performing duties and activities and analysing
them from different perspectives. And working as a Supervisor, where I have to
be able to prepare a realistic and correct In charge of a batch. These are the 2
major competencies that I have to conduct and focus on during my internship.
Also I have to choose at least 1 minor competency that needs to be executed
and developed during my internship. And finally I have to set up personal
targets to develop and improve my skills.
I was assigned as an internee on the Production Unit 4.
1.2 EXPECTATIONS
Before my internship began my expectation where high, because it involved an
internship at a very prestigious organization. I have heard about internships
from my friends and seniors, but doing internship on your own is a total
different thing.

Before my internship began, I spoke with Mr Shahid Nazeer and he described

what kind an internship it is going to be. The company is named DESCON and
they specialise in the production of Hydrogen Peroxide, Textile Products, paper
and Paint Emulsions. Its a Production and Operation Industry that is
considered to be one of the finest in Pakistan. The description of my work,
activities and assignments exist from; observing and supervising, developing
new ideas and strategies, updating contents, assisting with events and planning
and executing the batch and blog processes developments. Also I did my own
research by going through the companys website to get an impression and
understanding what kind of company it was.
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With the knowledge I obtained, I knew I could learn much and I knew I could
achieve my learning objectives. I wanted to follow an internship where I could
work in the Practical and Industrial field, because I always had an interest in
that area. The process of observing, researching and planning has always
interested me.

1.3 INTRODUCTION TO COMPANY

On my first day I remember I had to travel from the Head office of DESCON to
the DESCON industry which was almost a 100 kilometre drive. I was really
tired at arrival at the Industry but mostly surprised when I came to the
internship company. It was huge industry. I remember getting checked at the
entrance by the gate keepers thoroughly. I honestly thought I have come to
some kid of a really huge laboratory. At the beginning I definitely had to get
used to the idea of working with such huge apparatus, with a large amount of
reagents. But after a while I got used to it and felt comfortable.
The supervisors that I have worked with were very nice and helpful. Although, I
was the only internee in the month of August, even then I enjoyed and learned a
lot from such helpful employee at the DESCON.
The tasks and project that I was assigned to were very interesting. At the
beginning, I noticed that the work and communication was done very fast. I
also noticed the different communications tools they were working with such as
Telephones and E-mails. This was a great opportunity for me to learn because I
had little knowledge of these communication tools. I even got to supervise some
Production Batches.
Overall my introduction with my company went really well. The work fits my
education and I felt I could learn a lot. I felt really accepted in the company.

2. ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
2.1 INTERNSHIP ORGANIZATION
It all started in a small one room office in Lahore. Mr Abdur Razaq Dawood
started this company along with the pioneers of the company came from a
fertilizer plant. It was the entrepreneurial spirit of four people who had a vision
of building a lasting institution prominent for its professionalism and
distinguished by the desire of creating a world-class engineering powerhouse.
Today that vision has come true and the journey has been replete with
significant strides forward in its history.
Established in 1977, DESCON Has created a unique place in the Industrial
area in Pakistan. DESCON in a prestigious Organization, that specializes in
Production Processes. Demonstrating tact in matching the objectives of the
clients with imaginative initiatives, DESCON will engage the audience within
any parameters.

2.2 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

DECSON chemical has an enormous industrial area with four major
Production Units. The industry has several storage areas, workshops, store, etc.

2.3 MAIN OFFICE

Head Office
18-km, Ferozepur Road, Lahore-54000-Pakistan.
Tel: (92-42)359 23724-28,
Fax: (92-42)359 23749

E mail: infor@descon.com
Descon Chemical Industry
15-K.M. Lahore - Sheikhupura Road,
Sheikhupura - Pakistan.
Tel: (92-42)797 0229, 797 0630-31
E-mail: factory@desconchemicals.com

Faisalabad Office
House No. 915-B, Peoples Colony,
No.1, (Near Rex City)
Satiana Road, Faisalabad
Tel: (92-41)725 116, 718 915
E MAIL: faisalabad@desconchemicals.com

Karachi Office
Business Avenue, 26/A, 9th Floor,
Block-6, P.E.C.H.S.
Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi-Pakistan.
Tel: (92-21)454 4485-86 Fax: (92-21)454 4480

2.4 PRODUCT LINE

Water Based Coating Resins

Vinyl/Acrylic Emulsions with 65% solids.

Vinyl/Acrylic Emulsions with 55% solids.
Alkyd Resins

Long Oil Alkyd resins based on soyabean, Linseed Oil etc.

Medium Oil Alkyd resins based on Soybean, Linseed Oil etc.
Short Oil Alkyd resin based on Soyabean, Linseed Oil, Coconut and
D.C.O.etc.
Monomer Modified Alkyd

Styrenated Alkyd
Acrylic Modified Alkyd
Amino Resins

Iso-Butylated Melamine Formaldehyde resin.

N-Butylated Melamine Formaldehyde resin.
Iso-Butylated Urea Formaldehyde resin.
N-Butylated Urea Formaldehyde resin.

Hard Resins

Maliec Resin.
Rosin Modified Phenolic Resin.
Un-saturated polyester resins
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 General purpose resin.

Button Grade resin.
Body Patch/Car putty resin.
Gel Coats.
Marine Grade resin.
Product line of textile chemicals

Optical Brightening Agent for Cellulose(Liquid and powder)

Neutral and acid Enzymes for garment wash.
Cationic Softeners(Flakes and paste)
Non-ionic softeners (Flakes and paste)
Stain removers.
Micro emulsions

Product line of paper chemicals

Optical Brighteners(Liquid)
Fortified Rosin(Paste)

3. PRODUCTION OVERVIEW
The DESCON chemicals is divided into 2 industrial plants; one is the Oxychem
(Hydrogen peroxide production plant) and the other is the Descon chemical
(Batch process plant). I was assigned at the Descon chemical for the internship
program.
The Descon chemical is further divided into 4 Production units where different
products are made in batched. The major production process there is Batch
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process. I was assigned on the Production unit 4. The details of the units are as
follows;

3.1 UNIT 1
Being the oldest unit on the plant, unit 4 is the largest unit on the whole plant.
The unit also has the largest reaction vessels on the whole plant with the
number up to 7 total vessels. With different capacities, lowest capacity being 1
metric ton and the largest being the capacity of 13 metric tons. Along with the
reaction vessels there are other vessels also like Monomer tanks and thinning
vessels. The total number of tanks on unit 1 is up to 20 in count. The unit 1 has
its own Pilot plant, which is the biggest pilot plant on the whole plant, where
new products are tested before being run on the bigger vessels. The average
production of unit 1 per month is 1191 metric tons, with 2 major products of
unit 1 being Coating Materials and Polyesters.
The Coating Material made in the unit 1 is basically a reagent of the paint
industry. There are 2 types of paints, one is the Enamel and the other is the
Distemper.
Enamel being the major reagent is characterised as a solid and solvent based
emulsion which can be Baking based that is temperature dependent and oil
based which is Oil based Alkyd resin. Enamel is prepared in the unit 1 at a very
large scale.
Distempers are water based products that are produced on the unit 4.

3.2 UNIT 2
Unit 2 is the second oldest to the unit 1 is the second largest on the plant. This
plant also has many vessels. With 4 major Reaction Vessels and 4 monomer
tanks. Along with the reaction and monomer tanks there are thinning vessels
and simple resting tanks with the total count up to 15 in number. The highest
capacity of the vessel on unit 2 is 12 metric tons while the lowest being 0.6
metric tons. The unit 2 has its own Pilot plant where new products are tested
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before being run on the bigger vessels. The average production of the unit 2 is
up to 300 metric tons per month of the product.
The speciality of the unit 2 is the production of the ice for the whole plant. The
cuboids of ice are huge size as to overcome the size of the huge vessels
products. The ice is made not in freezers; instead it is prepared by compressed
liquid ammonia revolved around the covered containers of water. No other unit
has this facility. The ice produced in the unit 2 is strictly use for production
purposes not for the domestic purposes.
This unit produces mainly chemicals used for textile industry. These chemicals
are specific in their action in different phases during the production of textile.
These chemicals include:

Binders
Fixers
Optical brighteners
Detergents
Softeners
De-seizers
Sequesters
Stabilizers
Poly vinyl acetate
The finished products are sent to the marketing department where they are sent
to the respective clients.

3.3 UNIT 3
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Unit 3 is known for is paper industry products and oil refining process. The unit
has 6 to 7 vessels with the capacity up to 10 metric tons. The unit is smaller in
size to unit 2. The monthly production of the unit 3 consists of 10 to 20 tons of
export quality product which consists of both solids as well as liquids. The unit
3 does not have a pilot plant.
There are two major products of the unit 3 that include refined oil and Paper
binder production. The oil that is refined is vegetable oil that is extracted from
sun flower seeds, soya beans, linseed oil etc. the refining is done in 2 steps;
Neutralization and Bleaching. In the neutralization process the oil is
neutralized to an appropriate pH by the variation of the temperature of the oil
and in the bleaching process the colour of the oil is lightened by the addition of
bleaching agents. The finished refined oil is the filtered and packed.
The other major product of the unit 3 is the paper binder known as fortified
rosin. The fortified rosin is produced from gum rosin that is a black thick
material that is naturally extracted out of the barks of certain trees. The pH of
the fortified rosin also has to be maintained.

3.4 UNIT 4
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Unit 4 is the last and the newest unit on the plant. This is the unit I was
assigned as an internee, therefore i came by most of the details of the unit 4
structure and processes. The unit 4 is the smallest unit on the plant working
under the in charge Mr Muhammad Naseer Ahmed and Mr Ammar Gohar
(Assistant In charge). The unit has 3 Batch supervisors; Mr Muhammad
Ashfaq, Mr Bilal and Mr Abid. There are 3 shifts in 1 day on the unit; the
morning shift, evening shift and the night shift, each shift consists of at least 3
labour workers.
The unit 4 consists of 3 major Production units, i.e. 401, 402 and 403. There
are 2 more tanks on the unit that are mostly used for filling and refilling
purposes or for running minor batches which do not require heating, as both of
the tanks do not have any kind of heating. There are 2 pilot plants on the unit
too.
The further details of the unit are as follows;

3.4.1 Production unit 401:

This is the major and the largest production vessel on the unit 4. In the
formation of any product (polymer), there are three components in 401 that are
requires; Reaction vessel (R.V. 401), Monomer Tank (M.T.401) and the Initiator
tank.
Reaction vessel is the tank where the product formation takes place with a
capacity of up to 5 metric tons. The reaction vessel has a huge angular agitator
for handling thick products and better mixing. The agitator is driven by an
electric motor of horse power of 15 and almost 1450 rpm. The monomer tank is
the vessel where the major reagent or the monomer is kept and added slowly in
the reaction vessel during the production process. Initiator tank is used to hold
the reagent that starts the reaction they are really small in size as compared to
reaction vessels.
All the tanks in the 401, except initiator tank are air tight, so that nothing can
leave or enter while a batch is being performed. In case a lot of batches are to
be prepared consecutively, the prepared batch is transferred from the reaction
vessel 401 to tank 404, where the filling of the prepared batch is done in
containers and dispatched. Meanwhile the filling process is under progress,
another batch is started in the reaction vessel 401 to save time. The major
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batches run on the 401 are of AC-2075B and polyvil-binder. The most expensive
batched run on the unit 4 are run on the PVA-401. Bottom is the flow

diagram of the PVA-401;

3.4.2 Production unit 402:
PVA-402 orientation is exactly same as that of the PVA-401. Also have a
Reaction vessel, a Monomer tank and also Initiator tank too. But the difference
of 402 from 401 lies only in the capacity of the reaction vessel and monomer
tank. The Reaction vessel and Monomer tank of 402 are smaller than that of
401.
It is obvious that smaller quantity of product or smaller batches is run on 402
as compared to the 401. The capacity of the reaction vessel of 402 is 3.5 metric
ton and the monomer tank has the capacity of 3 metric ton. Same as 401, in
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case of running lot of batches consecutively 402 is connected to tank 405 where
the finished product is transferred and filling process is started. During the
finning process the next batch is also started, saving a lot of time. The major
batches running on PVA-402 are CST-Z, MAC-2064, emulsions and Opessifier.
Bottom
is

the flow diagram of PVA-402;

3.4.3 Production unit 403:

PVA-403 is the smallest batch processing unit on Unit 4. PVA-403 consists of 3
vessels interconnected with other. 403 is designed to produce only one type of
product in a batch process. That product is known as Alkyne Ketene Dimer
(AKD). The 1st vessel is the wax melting tank with a capacity of 500 kg, next
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vessel is known as tank 403 is of capacity 500 kg, the next vessel is known as
tank 403a with a capacity of 3 metric tons and the last vessel is the product
vessel known as Tank 403b with a capacity of 3 metric tons. PVA-403 also
consists of a separate device which is required in the production of AKD,

known as Homogenizer. Following is the flow diagram of PVA-403;

3.4.4 Pilot Plant:

Pilot Plant can be known as a Subunit of production which is installed in all the
Production Units, except Unit 3. The main Purpose of installing these Subunits
is for the testing and running of a new product before it has to be launched on
the larger unit like 401, 402 or 403. In the Research and Development
department (R&D), when a new product is discovered and accepted by the
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consumers, the product is pretested on the Pilot Plant before running on the
bigger vessels, to make sure that process is feasible and nullify any kind of
errors and problems discovered during testing process. Due to running the new
the product on the Pilot plant 1st, most of the defects in the process can be
recognised and removed. As a result when the pretested process in run on the
bigger vessels, it is almost perfect.
Sometimes mini batches are also run on the Pilot plant. Those products whose
requirement is very less are produced, like Thermoplastic. The vessel of the
Pilot plant is smaller as compared to the bigger vessels (almost 1/8 of their
size). Same is the case with the other components of the Pilot Plant.

There are 2 Pilot Plants on Unit 4, one being Pilot plant 401 and the other
known as Pilot Plant 402. Following are the flow diagrams of both the Pilot
Plants;
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3.4.5 Oil Heating system:

In unit 4 almost all of the heating required in done directly or indirectly using
Heated Furnace oil. The heated oil is revolved through the jackets or the pipes
of the vessels for the purpose of heating. Direct oil heating is done in PVA-403
in the melting of wax and Reaction Tank 403 and in the Pilot plants too. Rest of
the tanks have indirect heating by oil. Oil passes through the Heat exchangers,

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heating water which is used to heat the PVA-401 & 402.

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4. UNIT 4 PRODUCTS
On the unit 4 there are several products that are produced at different times the
whole year. Mostly the production processes depend on the clients. Usually only
that product is manufactured that is required by a certain client at that
particular moment. Some of the products are as follows;

AC-2075B
It is a Product of Unit 4 produced the whole year. It is produced on
the PVA-401. This product is used in the paint industry. The process
time of this product is between 10-12 hours.
CST-Z
This is also a product of the Unit 4 which is produced just on demand.
It is produced on the PVA-402. Time required for producing one batch
of this product is 8- 10 hours.
MAC-2064
MAC-2064 is also a product or unit 4, produced on the PVA-402.
POLYVIL-BINDER
It is the second major product of Unit 4 next to AC-2075B. Along with
AC-2075B it is also produced on the PVA-401. It is a reagent of paint
industry.
AKD-1510 & 1500
Alkyne Ketene Dimer (AKD) is one of the major products of Unit 4,
which is one of the reagents used in the production of paper, to be
more specific it actually reduce s the size of pulp used in making
paper. The smaller the size of paper, the better is the paper quality.
AKD is a Batch process which usually requires more than 4 hours for
completion. The process requires homogenization for better quality of
AKD.
D-ACIFY
It is a product of TK-405, which means no heat is required in its
production. Just simple mixing and agitation does the trick. It is used
as a digestion material in the poultry industry. It is produced 2-3
times a year.
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 HERMIX
It is a disinfectant used in the poultry industry. It is a kind of cough
syrup for the chickens. HERMIX is produced in the TK-405 and same
as D-ACIFY it does not require any type of heating. This produce t is
also rarely produced, usually 2-3 times a year.
HIGHBOND
HIGHBOND is also a product of Unit 4. It is produced on the PVA402. Actually it is an Adhesive, which is used in the paint industry as
a reagent.
OPECIFIER
OPECIFIER is also a product of Unit 4. This product shares almost
similar properties to the HIGHBOND, as it is also an Adhesive, which
is produced on the PVA_402 too.

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5. SUGGESTIONS
As I was assigned on the unit 4 I came by some problems on the subunits on the
Unit 4 that in my concern need to be considered and corrected as soon as
possible. Some of these problems are;

Cooling tower of Unit 4 is leaking at many points, which means it has a

very low efficiency. As far as Im concerned, the cooling needs to be fixed
as soon as possible.
In unit 1 4 oil furnace are installed in a sequence right beside each other.
This is very dangerous, if one of the furnaces due to any reason blasts (I
hope to Allah that it does not happen), all the furnaces will blast as well.
Therefore I think these furnaces should be installed in a separate place
away from all the Production Units.
The Auto Flow control valves on the Unit 1 are broken. And I came to
know that a lot of investment has been done on their instalment. So they
should be fixed as soon as possible.
The Thinning Vessels 404 and 405 do not have any water entry or exit
pipes; instead the water has to be loaded manually. So a water inlet pipe
should be installed.
The control valves of the vessels are old and rust, so they leak. Those
valves should be changed as soon as possible.
403a vessel is bent from inside due to rapid cooling, and because of that
agitation cannot be done in it. It should be fixed or replace by a new
vessel.

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6. Conclusion
4.1 INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE SUMMARY
The past month of my internship has been very instructive for me. DESCON
chemical has offered me opportunities to learn and develop myself in many
areas. I gained a lot of experience, especially in the Practical field. A lot of the
tasks and activities that I have worked on during my internship are familiar
with what Im studying at the moment. I worked in many areas where I did
different work. This gave me the chance to find out which areas I want work in
after my education. The area that I found most interesting is Supervision on the
batch processes. I learned many things about Industrial processes by watching
and practicing myself on some batches under supervision.

As a bonus, I got to experience not only on the unit I was assigned on but also
from all the other units too. I learned how different Batch processes are
handled. I also learned how to administrate a process by observing the
operators.
My mentor during my internship was Mr Muhammad Naseer Ahmed, who I
have also learned a lot from during my internship. As a former senior and
graduate of by university, he played a very keen eye on me. He has also lots of
knowledge in the working area that I have described such as Batch process,
Researching, and Line Tracing. He was very helpful and always willing to give
me advice and feedback which I appreciate. I have tried to learn as much as
possible from her and the interns during my internship.

This internship was definitely beneficial for me and Im grateful and thankful
that I got to experience and learn many things.

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7. RECOMMENDATION
4.2.1 Recommendations for the internship company
DESCON Chemical is a great learning company for interns. DESCON is a
huge Industry and helps interns improve and develops their skills. I would
recommend DESCON to keep hiring interns with different educational
background, to help build and improve the company with the knowledge they
gained from their studies. \

4.2.2 Recommendations for the university

The part that I found most interesting during my internship is the Production
Processes. During my studies I mostly learned how to use the Traditional
methods of production of a product by my Teachers and seniors, but coming to
the industry I came to see Industrial processes being performed using
Modern methodology. Even when describing the use of internet during
projects, we only describe the use of an internet website.
Thats why I want my university to introduce more modern ways of production
process in our laboratory so that we can keep up with the new modern methods
being used in different industries.

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