Isfahan Oil Refinery in the central Isfahan Province has launched development plans to turn into a petro-refinery holding company and one of the plans is to become a major propylene producer in three years, the company’s managing director said.
“The goal will be achieved by constructing a residue fluid catalytic cracking [RFCC] unit, and it is expected to produce 600,000 tons of propylene in 2026,” Mohsen Qadiri was also quoted as saying by the Energy Today website.
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 resid 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,” Qadiri said.
“The project has registered over 40% progress and is expected to become operational in three years 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 a 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.
IORC launched a sulfur granulation unit with a daily capacity of 300 tons in 2020. The move was also in line with policies to reduce environmental pollution and enhance the quality of refined products.
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’s 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.
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.
The huge refinery consumes 1,000 cubic meters of water per hour, of which 700 cm are recycled and reused.
