Paraxylene
Reliance Industries limited (RIL) is the 2nd largest producer of Paraxylene (PX) in the world. With Aromatic plants located at different locations, Reliance has an annual capacity of approximately 4.2 million tons.
Paraxylene is the building block for the entire polyester industry. It is processed to get Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) that is further processed to form polyester fibers / PET.
The aromatic complexes are located on the West Coast of India, Patalganga in the state of Maharashtra and Jamnagar in the state of Gujarat. RIL also operates facilities of PTA at Patalganga in the state of Maharashtra and Hazira and Gandhar in the state of Gujarat which consume PX. In addition to the captive consumption for PTA, RIL exports large quantities of Paraxylene to the leading petrochemical companies from its facility based in Jamnagar.
Aromatic hydrocarbons have been produced commercially since the early part of the last century. Initially they were used as mixtures, in solvent applications. Benzene was isolated as an individual compound by 1850. However the demand for Xylenes increased only after the 1950’s, when the chemical industry started growing rapidly. Xylenes form the basic raw material for the production of polyester, which has become the heart and soul of the complete textile industry, packaging, furnishing, coating, consumer goods, resins etc.