Development projects are underway to increase the complexity of Isfahan Oil Refinery in the central Isfahan Province to 12.6, as it seeks to become a top petro-refining company in the region by 2027, the managing director of the refinery said.
Complexity is a quantitative measure of how much high-value conversion capacity a refinery has installed relative to its distillation capacity. A complex refinery is one with a large number of high-value conversion units.
“The planned complexity of 12.6 for the refinery will be the highest in the region,” the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana also quoted Mohsen Qadiri as saying.
The measure of the sophistication of an oil refinery is known as the Nelson Complexity Index that is measured on a scale from 1 to 20. Refineries are valued higher on NCI compared to their peers because of their ability to handle lower quality crude oil or produce more value-added products.
“Currently, more than 400 projects are being implemented in the refinery to reach the goal in four years,” Qadiri said.
Development Projects
One of the projects is designed to build a residue fluid catalytic cracking [RFCC] unit to produce 600,000 tons of propylene.
Propylene is a colorless gas with a naturally pungent smell. It is a key commodity in the petrochemical industry and can be transformed into value added products like polypropylene and create jobs in the downstream petrochemical sector.
RFCC units help convert hydrotreated and straight-run residue to high levels of propylene.
Another program of the refinery is the construction of a residue hydrocracking unit, to reduce sulfur content in vacuum distillation residue – the end product of crude oil distillation.
The project has registered over 40% progress and is expected to become operational at an estimated cost of $1 billion.
Hydrocracking is a process to convert larger hydrocarbon molecules into smaller molecules under high hydrogen pressure and elevated temperature. It is commonly applied to upgrade the heavier fractions of the crude oils to produce higher value transportation fuels.
Other development plans at the Isfahan Oil Refining Company, which are being completed at an estimated cost of $600 million, entail the construction of a diesel treatment unit, utility and offsite units, as well as a kerosene hydrotreating unit, in addition to completing fuel storage tanks with a capacity of 100,000 liters of diesel per day.
The company is also investing in the benzene, butane and propane value chain, as well as building a butadiene and phosphoric acid unit.
Development plans at the refining facility are making headway to help the firm boost the production of crude oil derivatives compliant with Euro-5 emission standards. The company now produces 20 million liters of Euro-5 diesel per day.
Established in 1979, the refinery produces 25% of the country’s petroleum products, including 16 million liters of Euro-4 diesel, 8 million liters of Euro-4 and 12 million liters of Euro-5 gasoline per day.
The company has succeeded in removing aromatic compounds, sulfur and benzene from AW-406 solvent and converting it to ++AW-406 solvent.
Isfahan Oil Refinery is the main supplier of feedstock to Sepahan Oil Company, Isfahan Petrochemical Company, Arak Petrochemical Company, Jey Oil Refining Company and Iran Chemical Industries Company.
Crude oil needed by the refinery is supplied from Maroun Oilfield in Khuzestan Province via a 430-km pipeline.
Environmental Measurements
As per its environmental commitments, the company's wastewater treatment unit has also been launched to help meet the refinery’s water requirements.
The plant, with a capacity of 750 cubic meters per hour and costing $8 million, was built in two years.
The refinery buys wastewater from towns like Shahin-Shahr located near the company.
Qadiri noted that for the first time next year, after 44 years, drinking water will be completely cut off from Isfahan Refinery and 100% of the required water will be supplied from treated wastewater.
“Another ongoing project will reduce water consumption at the refinery by 75% in two years,” he said.
“Upon the completion of the project, the refinery’s water consumption will reduce from the current 1,200 cubic meters per hour to 300 cubic meters per hour.”
