L&T Heavy Engineering Flags Off World’s Heaviest LC-Max Reactors Ahead of Schedule

 Achieving another milestone in the engineering world, the Heavy Engineering business of Larsen & Toubro, has completed and flagged off World’s Heaviest LC-Max Reactors ahead of schedule in the presence of Mr. M K Surana, Chairman & Managing Director, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.

The super-heavy reactors, weighing 2313 Metric Tons (MT) each, will enable India’s first Residue Upgradation Facility (RUF) by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation’s Visakh Refinery to convert the heaviest oils to high-quality BS-VI diesel, as well as increase feedstock and improve product flexibility. The reactors will sail in ‘single piece’ directly to Visakhapatnam from Larsen & Toubro’s fully integrated, state-of-the-art, digitally-enabled manufacturing facility located at Hazira in Gujarat.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. M K Surana, Chairman & Managing Director, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, said, “L&T has been our valuable partner in our journey to modernize and upgrade our refineries. We thank L&T team for early delivery of these reactors.”

Mr. Vinod S Shenoy, Director Refinery, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, said, “Manufacturing this first of its kind critical equipment with good workmanship and utmost safety is truly remarkable. We are glad that with this early delivery of LC Max Reactors, our Visakh program stands benefitted.”

Commenting on this achievement, Mr. S.N. Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, Larsen & Toubro said, “We are delighted to deliver these unique reactors in record time for our esteemed client HPCL.

Our heavy engineering shops are the only ones in the country to have consistently dispatched the largest, heaviest, longest and most complex process plant equipment to the global clients ahead of schedule. This track record remains unbroken in the unprecedented pandemic situation or otherwise.” 

Mr. Anil Parab, Executive Vice President and Head, L&T Heavy Engineering, said, “We thank HPCL for their continued faith in us to deliver World’s Heaviest LC-Max Reactors and be a part of India’s First RUF project. We are proud that we have lived up to HPCL`s expectations and flagged off these reactors ahead of schedule. This is one more example of L&T’s contribution to Honourable Prime Minister’s “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” Mission.

L&T Heavy Engineering supplies high technology reactors and systems to global customers in Refinery, Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Fertilizer and Nuclear Power industries.

Axens Selected For Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project In India

Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India) has selected Axens to supply advanced technologies in gasoline block for its Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP).

Numaligarh refinery is located at Golaghat District in Assam (India) and was commissioned in 2000 with a capacity of 3 million tons-per-annum (MTPA) to process local crude oil Assam.

NRL is now planning to expand the refinery capacity from 3 MTPA to 9 MTPA by implementing in parallel a new refinery of 6 MTPA crude capacity with downstream grassroots facilities at the same location of the existing refinery in Golaghat, Assam.

Axens has provided key technologies to the Indian Refineries for the production of clean fuels, especially to remove sulfur from gasoline pool to meet Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) specifications.

For the last two decades, Axens has developed a strong and trustful relationship with NRL, involving supply of technologies, catalysts, technical services and supporting NRL through different phases of projects.

As part of the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP), Axens has been selected by NRL to license the following technologies:

Naphtha Hydrotreating unit

Continuous Catalytic Reforming unit (OctanizingTM)

C5-C6 Isomerization unit

FCC Gasoline Selective desulfurization (Prime-G+®) unit.

The scope of Axens’ work includes the supply of basic engineering design package, catalysts & adsorbents, proprietary equipment, trainings and technical services.

Axens’ Process Licensing Global Business Unit Executive Vice-President Patrick Sarrazin said: “The expansion of the Numaligarh Refinery will help NRL to meet growing domestic demand for clean fuels reaching BS VI specifications. We are delighted to support NRL by supplying our extensive refining technology expertise, global capabilities in basic engineering design, catalysts, equipment and services.”

About Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL)

The Numaligarh Refinery (www.nrl.co.in), located at Golaghat district, Assam in India is a petroleum refinery owned by Numaligarh Refinery Limited, a joint venture between Bharat Petroleum, Oil India Limited and Government of Assam. The present crude processing capacity of the refinery is 3 MMTPA. The refinery plays a strategic role towards catering to the fuels demand of North-Eastern regions of India. In 2019, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt. of India approved the plan to increase the refinery capacity to 9 MMTPA.

https://www.axens.net/news-and-events/news/508/axens-selected-for-numaligarh-refinery-expansion-project-in-india.html#.YEHzkGj7SUl

Lukoil To Expand Kstovo Refinery With Honeywell Technology

 Honeywell today announced that Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez, a subsidiary of Lukoil, will use a range of Honeywell UOP process technologies at its  Kstovo refinery to produce cleaner-burning high-octane fuels that comply with Euro-V and Class 5 standards in Russia.

UOP will provide technology licensing, design services, key equipment and state-of-the-art catalysts and adsorbents for the project at the refinery in the Nizhny-Novgorod region in central Russia. When completed, the production capacity of the unit will exceed 215,000 metric tons per year of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a high-octane gasoline additive that reduces emissions in automobile exhaust.

The project includes the installation of a new UOP Ethermax™ unit that converts isobutylene and methanol into a high-octane MTBE blending agent that contains no benzene or aromatics. Earlier in 2020, UOP completed the revamp design for two existing Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) units and Merox unit to increase production of propylene at the refinery while maintaining high yield of gasoline production.

“These technologies will allow Lukoil to increase production of additives for cleaner-burning gasoline and meet Euro-V emission standards,” said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager, UOP Process Technologies. “Lukoil elected to integrate the Ethermax technology into its existing FCC complex to reduce operating and capital costs, and begin operations more quickly.”

The Ethermax technology delivers a high MTBE yield and is extensively used worldwide. MTBE is produced from a chemical reaction between methanol, and isobutylene,. Due to its high octane number, MTBE is an effective anti-knocking fuel additive to produce cleaner-burning gasoline.

The project also includes revamping existing Selective Hydrogenation (SHP) units and process revamp study of hydrofluoric alkylation units to maximize the production of alkylate, which produces cleaner-burning fuels.

The Euro V standard limits sulfur content to less than 10 parts per million in transportation fuels and restricts emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides and particulate matter from gasoline and diesel vehicles and will improve overall refinery emissions.

Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez is one of the largest petroleum refineries in Russia and has been operating in the Nizhny Novgorod region since 1958. It is the largest refinery operated by PJSC Lukoil, a Russian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Moscow, specializing in the business of extraction, production, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas and petroleum products.,

https://uop.honeywell.com/en/news-events/2021/march/lukoil-to-expand-kstovo-refinery-with-honeywell-technology