Ilam Petrochemical Complex, in the western Ilam Province, has plans to increase output and protect the environment, managing director of the company said.
“The first olefin unit of the complex will be operational in July,” the Energy Ministry news agency Shana quoted Hassan Najafi Semnani as saying.
The company’s main products are ethylene and heavy polyethylene. With the launch of the new unit, ethylene production will reach 450,000 tons per annum.
Ethylene is the building block for a vast range of chemicals, from plastics to antifreeze solutions and solvents, and is also used for ripening fruits.
“Heavy polyethylene output reached 960 tons per day this year,” he added.
Construction of another olefin unit and a sulfur recovery unit is expected to end by next March.
Olefins are a class of chemicals such as ethylene, propylene and butylene. Olefins are the building blocks for a wide variety of products such as plastics, rubbers and solvents. They are produced from natural gas liquids and refinery products such as naphtha, kerosene and gas oil.
Another project underway at the Ilam Petrochemical Complex is zero liquid discharge, the first of its kind in Iran, which is a treatment process designed to remove all the liquid waste from a system
Sulfur recovery refers to the conversion of hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur. Hydrogen sulfide is a by-product of processing natural gas and refining high-sulfur crude oils.
Not only will the SRU help separate huge amount of sulfur, but will also curtail noxious gas components significantly.
The SRU is an extremely important unit since without it, there would be dangerous environmental consequences including severe acid rain, as well as lethal ground level sulfur dioxide toxicity.
Ilam Petrochemical Company manufactures a wide range of products including ethylene, sulfuric acid, ammonia sulfate and crystal melamine among others, and plays a key role in creating jobs in the underprivileged region.
Wastewater Reuse
Another project underway at the Ilam Petrochemical Complex is zero liquid discharge, which will be the first of its kind in Iran at the western petrochemical company, Najafi Semnani noted, without giving details.
Zero liquid discharge is a treatment process designed to remove all the liquid waste from a system. The focus of ZLD is to reduce wastewater economically and produce clean water that is suitable for reuse, thereby saving money and being beneficial to the environment.
ZLD systems employ advanced wastewater/desalination treatment technologies to purify and recycle virtually all of the wastewater produced.
While other industrial units and petrochemical plants use wastewater treatment technology in some fashion, ZLD is much more ambitious, aiming for total reuse of water resources via ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, evaporation/crystallization, and fractional electrodeionization.
Last month a dam was launched in Ilam City, the provincial capital, to improve water supply for the region’s industries.
Shohadaye Ilam Dam is built on Galal River and 35 km west of Ilam and can hold 20 million cubic meters of water to be used mainly by Ilam Petrochemical Complex and a gas refinery with the same name.
