Two petroleum coke production units will be built in Bandar Abbas and Imam Khomeini refineries where 700,000 tons per year of needle and sponge coke for the steel and aluminum industries will be produced.
The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company and Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation (IMIDRO) signed an agreement for the production of sponge and needle coke in the two refineries, which should make Iran self-sufficient in the two items, the Oil Ministry news portal Shana reported.
The projects will take three years to complete and cost an estimated $1 billion that will be made available by the two refineries, banks and from advanced sales.
Petcoke production units will be fed by low-sulfur fuel oil to produce highly value-added items.
Iran is dependent on imports of sponge and needle coke. Bandar Abbas Refinery in Hormozgan Province will produce 620,000 tons per year of sponge coke, which is double the demand of Iran's aluminum industry. The surplus will be exported.
Bandar Abbas Refinery is the third largest of its kind in the country with 350,000 barrels per day. The feed for the refinery is heavy crude plus condensates. The refinery caters largely to domestic demand and some of its output is exported.
It produces oil byproducts such as liquid gas, lead-free premium gasoline, jet fuel, white oil, variety of solvents, diesel, raw material for grease, fuel oil, kerosene, asphalt and sulfur.
The refinery off the Persian Gulf is a subsidiary of NIORDC and accounts for an estimated 18% of the total domestic petroleum products.
Imam Khomeini (Shazand) Refinery in Markazi Province will produce 80,000 tons of needle coke per annum when the new unit is operational.
The refinery’s annual output includes 5.2 billion liters of gasoline, 4 billion liters of diesel, 430,000 liters of kerosene, 400 tons of granular sulfur and 500 tons propylene.
Petroleum coke is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining. There are at least four basic types of petroleum coke, namely, needle coke, sponge coke, honeycomb coke and shot coke.
Needle coke is a highly crystalline petroleum coke used in the production of electrodes for the steel and aluminum industries and is particularly valuable because the electrodes must be replaced regularly.
Sponge coke is used in the manufacturing of anodes for aluminum production.
