Leveraging its Intellectual Capital to Fight COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 disrupted every economy worldwide and tested human vulnerabilities. Nevertheless, governments and businesses left no stone unturned to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on health and the economy. Reliance, a responsible organisation, leveraged its intellectual capital to contribute to the country's fight against COVID-19.

Reliance’s scientists analysed more than 1,000 genomes of the virus. The knowledge base was used to develop novel cost-effective diagnostic kits called ‘R-Green’ and ‘R-Green pro one’. These kits have received ICMR approval and showed a high degree of accuracy and specificity during validation studies. Reliance has also collaborated with IIIM-CSIR (Jammu) to develop an RT-LAMP Kit to facilitate the point-of-care diagnosis of COVID-19.

The R&D team actively contributes to the Company's technical wisdom to facilitate innovation globally by publishing research articles on diagnostics and treatment. Application of natural-astaxanthin for COVID-19 management published in ‘Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy’ journal is recognised as top 100 research paper. The paper is listed in WHO’s global repository. The flow-virometry-based method proposed by Reliance for robotics- based high-throughput sample testing has received accolades from international communities, such as the Future Virology journal.

PSA based oxygen concentrators can produce oxygen with 93% (+- 3%) purity. The unit is an excellent solution during hospitalisation situation due to COVID-19 to maintain the SpO2 level of a patient. Reliance R&D has designed oxygen generator with a purity of 90% to 95% with 5 LPM oxygen leveraging its expertise in adsorption technology. As adsorbents contribute significantly to the cost of the PSA unit, the Company’s R&D team is working extensively for in-house adsorbent development for oxygen PSA systems.

Chemical Recycling of Multilayer Packaging Material

Approach: The Polymer R&D team developed a novel process using in-house developed chemical ‘RESOLVE’ for separation of polymer layers in multilayer packaging. The process is a simple two-step approach using ‘RELSOLVE’ separating medium and it avoids the complex multistep process involving various solvents and antisolvents for the recovery of the polymer layers.

Impact: The process helps in recovering the polymer layer in pure form without dissolution.

Industry and infrastructure

Reliance has its pulse on evolving consumer needs, and it leverages its intellectual capital to develop novel solutions for industry and infrastructure use. Following are the key initiatives undertaken by the R&D team:

• R&D team has developed a novel functional emulsion based SBR rubber. Reactive silica composite prepared from this reactive product has low rolling resistance and excellent abrasion properties.
• Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) is generally processed with a higher quantity of external plasticisers to make it more flexible and processable. However, this flexible PVC polymer has poor leaching properties. Reliance has developed internally plasticised- PVC (IP-PVC), which does not need external plasticisers. Additionally, IP-PVC does not lose its inherent properties of flexibility and neither does it leach any plasticiser into the environment.
• R&D team has developed quick and visible methods for identification of industrial popcorn samples from normal elastomer/polymer samples, thereby, enhancing the safety quotient of the elastomers or polymer processes.
• R&D team has developed a novel polymer, disentangled high molecular weight polyethylene (DPE), for lightweight helmets, cut- resistant gloves.
• The chlorination of PVC produces chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC). UV-light meditated photochlorination of PVC to CPVC is a common industrial practice to produce CPVC resin. Reliance has developed in-house visible light mediated photochlorination by replacing hazardous UV light. The CPVC has improved resin properties than the commercially available option.
• R&D team has developed an innovative, green, and commercially viable process to produce selective infrared transmitting polymeric materials. The NIR-transmitting material is produced through solid-state reactive processing and is cheaper, non-toxic, air and moisture stable with the added advantage of the flexibility to mould into the desired shape.
• R&D team is developing technologies to make low- cost carbon fibers using various raw materials.
• There is a growing demand for novel solutions that provide protection to process and structural components from corrosive environment. R&D team has developed thermoset composite solutions that can be coated on surfaces to provide adequate protection from mild to the harsh corrosive environments.

Affordable and Clean Energy

Reliance believes that climate change presents an opportunity to create a healthier, happier, and sustainable planet. Affordable and clean energy options will realise this opportunity for humanity. The R&D team has been operating a large pilot facility near Jamnagar, where it converts sunlight, CO2 and seawater to renewable bio-crude. The ponds have been operating continuously without any failure for more than four years. No other organisation in the world has been able to cultivate algae without crashes and significant downtime. Reliance has developed all the technology components which will be instrumental in converting CO₂ to useful products to combat climate change.

The Company has also developed a catalytic gasification technology that can convert a variety of carbonaceous feedstocks like petcoke, coal, biomass, etc. into hydrogen and syngas.

The novel catalytic process can be used to convert challenging feedstocks like high-ash Indian coal and agricultural residue into hydrogen or syngas. The Company has successfully completed plant testing of the technology with different agricultural residues and high-ash Indian coal, and 10 TPD plant capacity is being worked out.

A high temperature-polymer electrolyte membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cell system has been built and is presently being tested on simulated Reliance-Jio towers. In coming years renewable hydrogen will supply fuel cells to produce in-situ hydrogen.

Oil to Chemicals (O2C)

Fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel have a high carbon footprint impacting the environment. Having committed to a Net Zero target by 2035, Reliance strives to explore innovative options to adopt sustainable practices. Reliance's Multizone Catalytic Cracking (MCC) is an in-house disruptive innovation to generate chemical building blocks for speciality materials from refinery streams or whole crude instead of fuels. The MCC is a vital technology enabler that will help in Jamnagar's O2C transformation. The 3KBPSD MCC demo plant is in the advanced design stage and has been constructed for a demonstration before building a full-scale commercial plant.

A unique technology has also been developed to separate the aromatics BTX component from olefinic MCC gasoline and recycle the raffinate stream to MCC riser for maximising petrochemicals production.

Climate action

R&D team has developed a mixed oxide stable catalyst to convert methanol and CO2 to a high-value Di-methyl carbonate (DMC) product that can be used as a solvent and specialty chemical. The process and the catalyst have been scaled up to a pilot stage. The team has also developed a sorbent based circulating fluidised bed process for concentrating CO2 from dilute refinery and power plant flue gases. The process is protected by several patents.

Under RIL's flagship programme, Algae to Oil, the R&D team has developed a technology that utilises abundant sunlight, waste CO2 and sea water, to produce valuable products. This process has a huge potential to utilise atmospheric CO2 and convert it to a valuable green crude oil, thus reducing the carbon footprint to a significant extent and combating climate change. RIL has been operating a large pilot facility at Gagwa near Jamnagar.

Data Privacy and Security

Considering the wide range of digital services Jio offers, it is important for the company to provide a safe and secure experience while using its services. Jio always strives to assure users that their personal information is protected. To this end, data privacy, data protection, and information security form an intrinsic part of Jio's service design across the entire lifecycle.

Jio’s privacy and security programme focuses on three key aspects of embedding security in design, effective governance and enabling organisation-wide security awareness. Jio tries to minimise the chances of security incidents by defining and implementing a highly effective governance structure. It has implemented a holistic information security management programme to protect its business, customers, infrastructure, services, and internal users from security threats. The Company has policies (including Data Privacy Policy), standards, and processes in place.

Jio also conducts security risk assessments to evaluate and identify security flaws in services, products, and technology. It has implemented state-of-the-art security monitoring infrastructure and effective incident detection and management processes. Suspected events are analysed and verified for its impact on assets and organisation. The incident movement processes define the criticality level for every incident and are managed in line with documented processes.

R-phish: A phishing simulation platform to measure user awareness level

Phishing is a form of Cyber-attack where Cybercriminals attempt to trick individuals by disguising as a trustworthy source. Although organisations have tried numerous ways to prevent phishing attacks, there is no full-proof solution. Therefore, employees become the last line of defence.

Several organisations use Simulation based anti-phishing exercises as a method to educate employees. However, it only assesses an employee’s susceptibility to phishing attacks which varies with every new simulation.

To address this, Reliance has developed a phishing simulation platform ‘R-phish’ to conduct anti- phishing exercises on a periodic basis and to calculate the user awareness index ‘Phishing Resistance Score (PRS)’. PRS, which is a function of multiple factors attributing to user awareness initiatives, determines user’s resistance to identifying a phishing email.