DuPont сlean еechnologies provides wet scrubber unit for Gazpromneft Omsk refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Gazpromneft Omsk Oil Refinery (Omsk) in Siberia, Russia has significantly lowered its air emissions using BELCO wet scrubbing technology licensed by DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With an installed capacity of 22.23 MM tons of oil per year, the Omsk Oil Refinery is one of Russia’s leading oil refineries. The BELCO wet scrubbing technology was installed at Omsk during a fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) revamp and efficiently removes process impurities from the flue gas emitted by the FCCU thus reducing air emissions well below detection limits.

The introduction of the BELCO wet scrubbing technology was an important part of a large-scale modernization project that Gazpromneft began at the Omsk refinery in 2008. One of the aims of the project was to systematically introduce technologies that reduce the refinery’s environmental impact. This included treating the FCCU flue gases with the BELCO® scrubber to intensely clean them of atmospheric pollution. The BELCO® technology design allowed the Omsk Oil Refinery also to solve a challenging installation and plot space problem for the gas cleaning section. Thanks to the unique scrubber design, which is contained in a single upflow tower, the refinery was able to simply dismantle a pre-existing 70m tall, brick flue stack and install the scrubber on the previous chimney foundations. This was key for the site as the plot space for the unit at the refinery is very tight.

The BELCO scrubber uses a unique, proprietary design consisting of a water spray tower equipped with a filtering module and droplet separators. Larger particulate and SO2 are removed in the spray tower, and fine particulate is removed in the filtering module section, so that only cleaned flue gas leaves the tower. The process is fully automated, and the new custom-designed scrubber system comes with built-in control analyzers that allow for constant online monitoring.

“For the Omsk Oil Refinery, ecology is an absolute priority. The company systematically introduces technologies that reduce the impact on the environment. The Omsk Refinery was one of the first refineries in Russia to use this state-of-the-art fluid catalytic cracking regenerator flue gas cleaning technology. This is an exclusively environmental protection project that supports our high standards of environmental safety,” said Oleg Belyavsky, General Director of the Omsk Refinery.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

BELCO wet scrubbing technology is the global standard for limiting flue gas emissions from FCCUs, fluid cokers, fired heaters and boilers. The BELCO® wet scrubbing system reliably controls particulate, SOx and NOx emissions in a single upflow tower, thereby eliminating the need for a separate control device to manage different emissions. With its unique open-vessel design and non-plugging features, the BELC® wet scrubbing system is extremely robust and proven to support uninterrupted FCCU operation, with units typically working continuously for 3-7 years without any maintenance or service shutdowns. The BELCO® wet scrubbing system is engineered to handle severe upset conditions including high-particulate carry over and high-temperature excursions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan’s biggest refiner, Eneos Corp, permanently shut the 115,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude distillation unit at its Osaka refinery on September 30 as planned, a company spokeswoman said, said Reuters.

The refiner, which was formerly known as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp and is now under Eneos Holdings Inc, is shifting its joint venture with PetroChina Co to Eneos’ Chiba refinery after shutting the venture’s Osaka refinery.

Eneos also shut the 127,500 bpd CDU at its Wakayama refinery on Sept. 27 for scheduled maintenance, with a plan to restart in early December, the spokeswoman said.

The company also shut the 120,000 bpd No.1 CDU at its Negishi refinery on Sept. 25, with an aim to resume operations in early November.

As MRC informed earlier, Eneos (formerly JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy), part of Eneos Holding, a major petrochemicals producer in Japan, set its October contract price for benzene in Asia at USD425 per tonne, up USD20 per tonne from the contract price in September. The price has been approved on CFR Asia delivery terms.

Benzene is a raw material for the production of styrene, which, in turn, is the main raw material for the production of polystyrene (PS).

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, the high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) market
participants in Russia said demand for material remained strong amid its shortage. Large buyers were generally provided with material according to their needs, whereas small ones could not fully meet their needs, as there were no free quantities of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's polystyrene (PS) for injection moulding, extrusion and production of XPS-boards at the beginning of autumn.

Eneos Holding (formerly known as JXTG) is Japan's largest oil company. Its activities include the exploration, import and refining of crude oil; production and sale of petroleum products (ethylene, propylene, butadiene, styrene, paraxylene, orthoxylene, etc.), including fuels and lubricants. In recent years, the company has been expanding its production facilities in other countries. Its products are sold under the ENEOS brand. On June 25, 2020, JXTG, founded in April 2017 after the merger of two Japanese companies, JX Holding and TonenGeneral, changed its name to Eneos Holdings, while its subsidiary JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy changed its name to Eneos.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd has appointed Quality Logistics Services Asia (QLSAsia), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Logistic Services Australia (QLSA), as its base oil distributor for Malaysia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

QLSAsia plans to offer a range of Group I and Group II products including Core 150, Core 2500, EHC 50, EHC 110 and SN500. As a distributor of ExxonMobil base stocks, QLSAsia will adhere to the company’s product integrity systems to ensure product quality and consistency. QLSA has been distributing ExxonMobil base stocks in Australia since 2011.

"We are excited to establish our relationship with QLSAsia to reach a wider range of customers in this important market,” said Vipin Rana, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Base Stocks and Specialties sales manager.

"The Malaysian market has no local production of API Group I and limited Group II refining capacity,” said QLSAsia’s general manager Ken Chua. “With this appointment, QLSAsia will hold inventory of ExxonMobil basestocks in Malaysia and supply via tank truck to Malaysian blenders. Malaysian blenders will have access to responsive and transparent customer service, supply chain and technical capability from the ExxonMobil and QLSA relationship."

As MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil Chemical, is in plans to bring on-stream its polypropylene (PP) plant following turnaround. The company is likely to complete maintenance at the plant by end-October, 2020. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-September, 2020. Located at Singapore, the PP plant has a production capacity of 500,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The founder of one of Singapore's biggest marine fuel suppliers has been charged for his involvement in a large-scale oil theft from Shell's refinery in the city-state, according to a charge sheet, said Reuters.

Pai Keng Pheng, the founder and managing director of Sentek Marine & Trading, was accused on Thursday of conspiring to dishonestly receive stolen property in a charge issued by the police's organized crime branch. Sentek and Shell employees and other third parties have been previously charged for their role in the theft, first uncovered in 2017.

In total, about USD150 million of oil was stolen over several years from the refinery, which is situated on one of Singapore's southern islands and is Shell's largest globally. Singapore is the world's biggest ship refueling station and Southeast Asia's petroleum refining hub, but the local industry has been rocked by a series of scandals in recent years including the high profile collapse of oil trading firm Hin Leong.

Pai, 57, could not be immediately reached by telephone or email for comment. Reuters was not immediately able to identify any legal representative for Pai. Sentek did not respond to a request for comment. Sentek was listed as Singapore's second largest bunker supplier by volume in 2019, according to Singapore's port authority.

As MRC informed earlier, Shell says it will cut up to 9,000 jobs worldwide as part of a major restructuring that will enable cost savings of USD2.0–2.5 billion per year by 2022, while outlining plans to grow its chemicals business and further integrate it with a more streamlined downstream refining business.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

1. Bayer to introduce further cost-saving measures, confirms 2020 outlook

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer has provided a business update confirming its adjusted outlook for 2020, and says it expects 2021 sales to be at approximately the same levels as in 2020 despite significant headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the agricultural market, said Chemweek. As a result, the company’s board has decided to introduce additional operational savings that may lead to more job cuts. Bayer says it also plans to optimize further its working capital and capital expenditure and is reviewing options to exit nonstrategic businesses or brands that are below the divisional level, it says.


MRC