Petrom, the largest petroleum and gas producer in South Eastern Europe, is investing in the modernisation of its own refineries in order to produce better quality products. Part of this modernisation process, a new vacuum distillate hydro-treating unit is being commissioned in Arpechim. The 42 million-euro unit will allow the production of low-sulphur products in accordance with European standards, and moreover, it will significantly reduce air emissions.
"At Petrom, we are rapidly moving forward with the modernisation of our refineries, and we expect to invest around one billion euros in this effort between now and 2010. The new HDV unit at Arpechim is a visible result of the investment programme," said Jeffrey Rinker, member of Petrom''s Managing Committee and the head of the Refining and Petrochemicals Division of the company.
The vacuum distillate hydro-treating unit is part of the technological flow for the production of fuels.
With a capacity of 1,200,000 tonnes/year, the new plant reduces the sulphur content to less than 500 ppm (parts per million), thus making it possible to produce low sulphur fuels (petrol, diesel, heavy fuels) in accordance with the EU industry standards. The vacuum distillate hydro-treating unit is being commissioned in the first quarter of this year and will improve the production volume, as the petrol-obtaining rate will be significantly increased.
In addition, the air emissions in regenerated gas will be reduced as per the European Union Directives concerning the pollution prevention and control. Thus, the exhaust gas will contain a lower amount of sulphur compounds.
The vacuum distillate hydro-treating unit of Arpechim refinery was designed and built by SK&ECLG International Korea.
"The commissioning of this plant is a real success of the Refining division of Petrom. We have very skilled technical and operations staff in the refineries, and it is because of their efforts that the commissioning is proceeding so well. We are also very grateful to SK for successfully managing the engineering and construction of this project to a very demanding schedule", added Jeffrey Rinker.
In addition to the crude processing units, petrochemical plants produce a wide range of chemical and petrochemical products. Arpechim is the dominant producer of petrochemical products in Romania, and the sole Romanian supplier of ethylene. roxana.petrescu@zf.ro
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
