To help complete the sulfur value chain in Shahid Hasheminejad Gas Processing Company in Khorasan Razavi Province, the installation of acid gases condensation tower was completed on Friday, director for coordination and production supervision at the National Iranian Gas Company said.
“The new facility will help remove sulfur from the acid gases in the refinery that used to be burned off in flares,” Ahmad Zamani was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news channel.
The new unit, completed at an estimated cost of $10 million in two years, will increase the refinery’s sulfur production by 11,000 tons per annum, he added.
Zamani noted that the 45-meter and 110-ton tower was produced by domestic manufacturers and will help reduce the import of catalysts by 110 tons per year.
According to the official, monthly sulfur output in the company has exceeded 50,000 tons.
“To reduce raw sulfur sales and convert lump sulfur into more valuable forms, the private sector invested $20 million to build two more factories at Shahid Soleimani Sulfur Complex in the northeastern Sarakhs County, which became operational in July.”
Four factories are now operating at the complex to help complete the sulfur value chain. The new facilities, financed by the private sector, include a plant to produce sulfur bentonite with a capacity of 10,000 tons a year and another plant to produce granular sulfur with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons.
Lump sulfur is the raw formation of recovered sulfur. The greatest commercial use of the element is the production of sulfuric acid, the world's most widely used chemical, sulfate and phosphate fertilizers, and other chemical processes.
Sulfur is one of the 17 essential plant nutrients that helps in the formation of essential enzymes and plant proteins.
The two plants have been constructed by Iranian engineers and knowledge-based companies that indigenized the sulfur production process.
“The refinery produces a maximum of 1,600 tons of sulfur per day. The company had previously faced the problem of storing 2.5 million tons of sulfur, which caused safety and environmental problems. So it had to transport raw sulfur to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran for exporting it to India and China,” Yahya Feyzi, the head of the firm, said.
Now, using the expertise of knowledge-based companies and private sector investment, sulfur will be delivered to factories in molten form and converted to granular sulfur and bentonite fertilizer.
“The implementation of this project, in addition to using 100% domestic equipment, has created direct employment for 150 people in the deprived and border area of Sarakhs,” he said.
Faizi noted that Sarakhs is planned to become a sulfur hub in the Middle East.
The gas refinery receives gas from Khangiran Gas Field and supplies natural gas to the provinces of North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, South Khorasan, Golestan, Mazandaran and some parts of Semnan.
