Guhalayam living

In Aiyanavaram we lived in Guhalayam, a large housing complex having 21 individual ground level only houses, all rental. In those days, Madras city did not have much electricity and all houses in Guhalayam were without any electric power ! Also since the city did not become a full corporation by then , there was no municipal water and all houses were depending on only a common well for water. The houses were of tiled roof and monsoon fury usually drench the interiors. As a child I used to see my mother placing metal buckets to catch those water . ( Plastic age did not start by then; so only metal buckets were in use). As a small kid I was unaware of what is happening in newly independent India. The only thing I am aware of was  the poor living conditions, weekly rations for rice and kerosene.

As things were not clear to anyone, people from all 21 houses used to mingle freely. As poverty was the order of the day, nobody thought of any luxury. The growing children used to assemble at the center where there was a large grown up peepal tree and play around, mostly pebble games. As I was very small and not active, they used to tease me often and my sister used to threaten them to leave me alone.

In those days, there was no  other scope for entertainment like cinema/drama as entertainment and people were confined to Guhalayam only. Elderly ladies used to join together for swami poojas and the children used to relish the prasadams.

When I became 3 1/2 years old i.e by the end of first quarter of 1951, considering the tedious and tiresome cycling distance involved to reach office& back  for my father  ( Aiyanavaram to Chepauk & back), we shifted our residence from Aiyanavaram to Triplicane in 1951.

AR 1947-69

 My birth

I A.Ramanathan was born on 5th December 1947 at Vathalakundu (now known as Batlagundu) in Tamil nadu (then Madras State).

That was my maternal grandfather  Prof.Krishna Sharma's house, where all his grand children were born. I happened to be the eighth among my siblings and cousins to be born in that same delivery room of that house. My time of birth was 10.16 hours on a Friday morning.

Typical of my grandfather, he had no patience to hear anything from my paternal grand parents and even before my father arrived to see his child(son), the old man went ahead in my namakaranam (child christening) under the name  Mahadevan. His reasoning was that I was born on the day, the lord at Vaikkam in Kerala annual festival day. So that became my  name for doing all rituals in life. But my paternal grand parents had the wish to name me as Ramanathan, since my father visited Rameswaram when my mother was pregnant carrying me- and that is the Lord's name- Ramanatha Swamy (Lord Shiva). Fortunately, there was no misunderstanding between families and mutually settled as follows:

Ramanathan as official name for all government/ school/ birth certificate etc.

Mahadevan  only for all Hindu rituals including pithru tharpanam!

That is strictly abided all time to come.

My mother brought me to Guhalayam when I was 4 months old. I have my elder sister Viji , who is 4 years elder to me. So in a small home in Guhalayam the family of 4 settled down.

P 130 Feedback&Suggestions

P 130


Feedback&Suggestions



Dear Friends

Just sharing .It is exactly two years (31st March 2018) since I retired from active service.

After perusing my blog 'aruwhy.blogspot.com'  narrating my industrial experience( 1969-2018)
some of my well wishers&close friends have given the following feedback :

My blog covers the flow of  multi-discipline experience that too in varied fields & invaluable data
of challenges handled over this period spanning 49 years as well as highlighting various incidents
which were Ups &Downs in the whole career.

They suggest to Index the Key Attributes with cross linking the corresponding pages ( date wise)
for  easy direct access of  vast information in the blog concerning that attribute. That will highlight the takeaways to the reader.

Broad areas can be classified into - Technical in nature, Codes& Standards, My lack of experience/exposure, Critical challenges, Incident analysis, Human Relation issues, Leadership,
Recognition, Team Building, Delegation, Planning& Scheduling ...

The main objective of this indexing is to attract the attention &direct the readers for taking clues from these vast experience data shared/ lessons learnt & try to adopt themselves to suit their individual situation demands.

I am attempting to incorporate their valuable inputs . If any reader has some more additional suggestions, please revert back to my mail address ramanathan12.5@gmail.com;

Dr.A.Ramanathan
Dt.31st March,2020.
The main objective of this Indexing  is to attract the attention &direct the readers for taking clues from these life time experience shared/ lessons learnt &try to adopt themselves as per their 

P 129 Experience of 2017-18

P 129

Experience of 2017-18

As I have attained the age of 70 years, the management retained my services in special fixed time employment and asked me to continue in projects. Since I have already handed over the specific HSE responsibility, looking at my capability in Technical Audit, they have assigned me the specific task of carrying out the study of compliance to Insurance coverage and initiate Risk Analysis studies for all running plants as well as new projects/revamp measures.

As this assignment was new to me but at the same time ,very much in-line with my overall experience , I grabbed that opportunity and enjoyed. The assignment was too big for any individual to handle independently! So we decided to engage the services of international specialist consultants for several tasks. As Mr.RRBalakrishnan was already a specialist consultant to Reliance in insurance matters especially in interpreting the terms of cover, assisting Reliance/Insurance companies in putting the terms of coverage with clarity, I took his help in initiating my task and developing the scope document for respective complex insurance coverage study- terms and conditions update.
So my initiation was effective and served the insurance team for policy renewal of IPCL sites, GSPTCL port and Reliance Malaysia PTA and Polyester plants.

For Risk Study of Jamnagar complex, we split the task into two. When it came to Marine related
tasks, we combined all the ports in India where Reliance has got some interest (be it Reliance owned  or hired or only using their infrastructure to handle sea freighted parcels) and contracted to one UK party, a Bureau Veritas group company and completed the study. When it came to plant and tank farm area,every one was weary to undertake the large risk study of this magnitude. Only M/S Baker Risk of USA  was coming forward to undertake the task that too only a small portion as pilot study and wanted to establish the system for undertaking full analysis study. As their indicated cost was too high ,that also did not fruitify. So that task did not take off at all until I left the services.

When it came to IPCL plants insurance policy renewal,as all the three complex are combined in a single policy, the insurance consortium- M/S GIC and NIC  looked for Inspection study of the site
conditions, the set process and operating procedures, maintenance practices  etc. by any reputed 3rd party consultant. While searching , they identified M/S AMI , Bangalore and assigned the job under Mr Kini, a professional insurance assessment specialist.This company is an international set-up with France HQ..

When coming to execute this assignment ordered by Insurance consortium, Mr Kini was looking for a coordinator from Reliance  for carrying out the detailed study of each complex. As my services were available then, the insurance department of RIL requested me to undertake this task. So that assignment came as full fledged project task to me,  as the concerned field  personnel were not volunteering to share the data. Even the members and lead from our insurance group were not coming out with  data to assess the history of events for the inspector to assess and record. So literally we have to extract the inputs from all concerned. But when it came as final audit report, every one was claiming to take credit! The National Insurance Consortium appreciated the final report  and thanked me individually.

Having completed this task successfully by Nov/Dec.2017, I was asked to carry out the similar requirement for Reliance Malaysia plants-PTA and Polyester, but only remotely! When I studied their conditions about field arrangement and inspection procedure etc. I was not at all happy and convinced; but there were many restrictions and full justice could not be done. By the time it was Feb.'18 and my job assignment period was coming to end. and called it a day by end March.'18.

KeyAspect:- Attitude,  Incident analysis, Initiative, Opportunity, Recognition, Transfer 

P 128 Outside office Activity in 2016

P 128

PESO Conference & Exhibition-2016

In Feb.'16, that time CCE Dr.Kamal thought of conducting  an international conference on
Excellence in Hydrocarbon  Safety.. As such an assembly was carried out 10 years back under
Sh.Anbunathan at Kochi,Dr.Kamal envisaged to conduct this event at Jaipur, as that city faced
a major accident of tank terminal in 2010 . He wanted that incident to be thoroughly discussed and
analyzed by industry members participation. Moreover, since he hail from Jaipur, he thought he can have local support &co-operation in conducting such a large program.

As efficient subordinate, Dr.Kamal  identified Sh.D K Gupta , Dy.CCE to be the chief coordinator to conduct the entire program. DKG being social in nature and resourceful in Society, issued a notification to all oil processing industries of India asking  the respective management to nominate their key stake holders both from refinery operations/maintenance/ safety and marketing set-ups.

As DKG knew the pulse of the situation, he chose S/Sh Sanjay  & Rajiv Chohan as functional co-ordinators  and Dr Dixit of PESO  department for reviewing and short listing technical articles authored by various industry experts. The beauty was, to start with , it was estimated that a max. of 400 people will only attend this 2 day conference at Jaipur on 21/22 nd July'16. Actually there were about 800 people turned up. Rather, at one stage, the organizing team was afraid how we are going to manage the show!

To start with, both Dr  Kamal &DKG conducted periodic meeting at all PSU companies HQ and
RCP(Reliance). We were afraid whether sufficient fund will accumulate to conduct this mega program at Jaipur ; but since the attendance number has far exceeded the original thinking, the organizers could arrange a gala dinner with grand dance/music program on first day evening.
To honor and respect the retired CCEs , they were given special invitation to attend this program
and each one of them were rewarded. Only Dr H Mukherjee could not attend as he was abroad.


The total conference was a huge success. Almost all companies chairman/MDs/Directors were present. Each one of them shared their career experience in oil industry operations and challenges faced. All the oil companies and some system manufacturers put their stall in the exhibition to display their products/development/achievement etc. Souvenir was published covering all the technical paper presented during these two days.

Both the days there were technical papers presented not only by personnel from India but also
by international experts on the subject of safety. People shared their experience and there were threadbare discussions on Root cause Analysis and Near Miss Incidents . Experts from oil industries , Inspection agencies&Hazop Analysis specialists particiapted in Round table Conference  and many
points- food for thought emerged for  Corporate Social Responsibility on Safety.

Rather time  was short for the Closing ceremony. All the members who contributed both in terms of Technical and Organisation administration  were presented with momentoes
As majority present were so impressed and found such gathering is useful for knowledge sharing,
a short debate cropped up- what should be the frequency for conducting such mega event? Finally it was arrived that the interval should be around 3 years
                                                                                                                Contd.........
Key Aspect :-  Delegation, Faith, Human relations

P 127 Cross Sensitivity of CO sensors

P 127

Cross-Sensitivity of CO sensors

Though all the vendors have declared that there is a technical issue of cross sensitivity problem in electro-chemical sensor type,neither the supplier nor the purchaser team were aware of the involved issue while committing the order for both fixed as well as portables.

In field, while unloading the Propylene/Ethylene into Process chiller compressors in PX IV plant, safety team as a precaution  hand carried a set of 4X portable gas detectors. To everybody's shock, the detectors picked up the hydrocarbon vapor presence in atmosphere as if CO is present in high value and raised alarm. Panic situation set in and they contacted me at RCP stating the detectors are defective and take up the issue with M/S MSA. Personally I had my doubt, whether the coke getting loaded in the hopper in  Gasification complex would have really generated CO vapors in atmosphere! At the same time, considering the inter-distance of approx 700 Mts, whether such a possibility of CO travelling came in question.
So on SOS basis, I took up the issue with Mr Gustavo to study the issue. He reverted that the issue has arisen due to the functional characteristics of electro chemical sensor only  and the detectors are not defective. Having heard that from him, I went into looking for the same issue in Honeywell supplied fixed CO detector in PX plant area. To my shock, those sensors also revealed the same characteristics. Since those fixed devices were handled by Core instrumentation group, I shared the issue with Dr. B R Mehta. That made both of us to take up with both the parties-Honeywell and MSA and made them to study/help Reliance in finding a workable resolution.

Technical Point:  As we have Coke gasification complex and Syn.gas travelling all across refineries/C2 complex, tracking sensitive colorless/odourless toxic CO  that too in PPM is a must. That strenuous condition ruled out usage of Infrared type sensor type for CO presence sensing in atmosphere.As it is IR sensor can sense only in % value that too with sensitivity of 10000 ppm only; whereas OSHA's recommendation is only max 50 PPM sensitivity for human being.
To validate our doubt, we referred the matter to M/S Shell Global Solutions and queried them. They responded that they do not have electro chemical type sensors at all for CO sensing! Moreover, no where else in the world, there is a combination of refinery with a petro-chemical plant and coke gasification complex all integrated in one facility! So Reliance is unique and complicated. So we took up with both the vendors to undertake a fundamental research to  arrest/restrict of this hydrocarbon vapors getting converted into CO and misrepresent/create nuisance value alarm in a petrochemical complex. The research is still on when I retired from service.We have to  wait&watch.It appears that direction-ally the progress is positive. Otherwise we may end up with wolf story!

Key Aspect :- Incident analysis,  Lack of experience, Technical issue

P 126 J3 Gas Detector Portables

P 126


J3 Gas Detector Portables

Mr Gustavo took that assignment personally and studied. As MSA did not have internal capability to develop such Apps, he contacted some specialist group at Houston and reverted on last day. That party gave the feedback that such a specific request has already come from one customer in Abu Dhabi and it may take several months to develop the same in MSA products. So he suggested that Reliance may undertake that research as pilot project for trial objective and gave the contact particulars of the said party.

On return to India, I had a big shock! The core CHSEE group raised a spoke - how the project HSE group can go ahead sourcing the gas detectors certified suitable for Zone1 only instead of Zone0?
They were not ready to agree with the fact that in refinery, most of the areas fall under Zone 2 only and only few places come under Zone1. Zone 0 come in picture only inside the cone roof tanks and under ground pits. They were influenced by M/S Honeywell representative canversing. Fortunately
both S/Sh B Narayan  & Deepak Datta , the authorities in project, being chemical engineer by qualification and had field experience, understood the situation .They supported my decision to go with Zone1 certified devices and cleared to procurement to issue SCN for dispatch.

The issue did not stop there! As I was expecting, JMD had a huge top-up requirement and they furnished the second intent in Nov.'16 for procurement activity. By that time, I handed over the project HSE Department to Dr.Atul Ku Srivastava, who was asked to report to Sh Gordan Goyal, Process chief in projects. Somehow things went out of control. From my side, I was suggesting that since these requirements are top-up quantity, procurement should go ahead on nomination basis and discuss the rates with the original supplier and commit. Also, my recommendation to go with the same party arose from the angle of universal bump testing module. Otherwise, it call for two or three different version of bump test modules and combining them for network communication is a challenge! As a control system engineer by qualification and experience I could visualize that aspect .But each individual had different objective; especially CHSEE group wanted to show their technical superiority! Even the expatriate experts from Shell,BP &Lendoll Basel reviewed my version and endorsed but it was over-ruled.

Here, I have to bring out some technical aspects !! Though M/S Honeywell was the only party who canversed for Zone0 selection and had PESO approval, really speaking they also did not have ATEX approval forZone0 for  IR type sensors, which was part of their offer. When I took up the matter with PESO authorities, they were surprised to note that fact and withdrawn the approval then. But M/S Honeywell were going around that IOC has approved their products for Zone 0 and only that should be practised in Indian industry. Unfortunately Reliance CHSEE group did not want to go through these analysis and dictated that Reliance also should opt for Zone0 selection only for the entire top-up requirement. Even at that stage, I was the only one ,who tried to project that no party can furnish all the types with Zone0 certification and we may land up with the issue of communication links with two different manufacturers. People with vested interest took stand  and over-ruled my recommendation. Due to misunderstanding and misinterpreting my version of recommendation, people concerned went to the extent of suspecting my integrity even after loyally serving the company for 30 years. I have been asked to keep away from that sourcing activity.. With pain I had to watch this mess from distance! As forecasted and expected, the mess is still there  and no one has ventured to link the communication between several version of bump system. The end user has lost interest and living with the unfinished version! By that time,I am retired from Reliance service in March'18, but there is no end solution in place.
                                                                                                     Contd......
Key Aspect:-  Incident analysis,  Technical issue, Transfer