Production of Euro-5 compliant gasoline at the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, a subsidiary the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, in Bandar Abbas, has exceeded 47 million liters per day, up 30% compared to 2018, managing director of the company said.
"NIORDC produces 90 million liters of Euro-5 gasoline, of which 52% is produced by PGSR and the rest by Shazand Refinery in Arak, Markazi Province, Tabriz Refinery in East Azarbaijan and Bandar Abbas Refinery in Hormozgan Province," Ali Dadvar was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry news portal.
"In 2013 NIORDC did not produce Euro-5 gasoline," he said, adding that Shazand Refinery started to produce 17 million liters of the high-quality fuel per day in 2014. Output reached 28 ml/d in 2016 rising to 43 ml/d in 2019 after the Bandar Abbas and Tabriz refineries joined in.
The first phase of PGSR went on stream in mid-2017. Developed in four phases, 400,000 barrels per day of gas condensate is supplied to the complex from the South Pars Gas Field off the Persian Gulf.
European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of vehicles sold in the European Union. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
"Although the government approved a $500 million loan from the sovereign wealth fund, the National Development Fund of Iran, to boost production, phases three and four were funded entirely from diesel, kerosene and LPG produced at the facility.”
Referring to catalysts such as aluminum, platinum, processed clay, and acids, he said unlike other refineries such as the major Abadan Oil Refinery in Khuzestan Province, which import catalysts from India and China, PGSR uses catalysts manufactured inside the country.
Tamin Petroleum and Petrochemical Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Social Security Investment Company, owns 49% of the PGSR shares. The Oil Industry Pension Fund Investment Company has 33.1% and the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company 17.9%.
Environmental Impact
In related news, ISNA quoted Mehrdad Dehdari, the refinery’s health, safety and environment (HSE) director as saying that oil companies are now more anxious about their public image than before, especially regarding the impact of their operations on the environment.
Under pressure from the Department of Environment, activists, and shareholders, oil companies including the PGSR are investing in environmental preservation programs to “stay green”.
The company has been introduced by NIORDC as a top refiner in terms of progress to help preserve the environment including expansion of green spaces, using wastewater, curbing pollutants and improving energy management, he noted.
According to environmental laws, industries and production units should allocate 10% of their total area to green space. PGSR has 40 hectares of green space.
“The plant has increased output of its wastewater treatment unit to 275,000 liters per hour to use reclaimed wastewater instead of depleting groundwater resources.”
PGSR is equipped with two sulphur recovery units, two purification units with sour water strippers (SWS) and two gas purification units with amine treating units.
SWS is one of the first stages in the wastewater treatment process in refineries. Water streams from throughout a refinery are typically sent to a stripper, which is designed to remove both H2S and ammonia from the water.
To reduce air pollutants, the huge refinery uses natural gas instead of liquid fuels like mazut as feedstock in furnaces and boilers. It also has installed oxygen analyzers on furnaces and boilers to control the combustion process and reduce gas consumption.
