Plans are underway to install a new boiler in Abadan Oil Refinery's gas-fired power plant to reduce power consumption in the sprawling complex, the chief engineer said.
"The project, worth $6 million, will help the complex halve its electricity consumption by generating high pressure steam," ILNA quoted Jahanbakhsh Jalalvandi as saying.
He said the huge complex is among the oldest in the country and this explains why a great deal of energy is wasted in different units, namely in its power plant.
Boilers, which perform as a closed vessel to convert the water inside into steam, are one of the most fundamental systems of chemical processing plants.
Stressing the importance of replacing the dilapidated boiler installed half a century ago, he added that the outdated system mixes oil byproducts and water to cool heat exchangers, which has reduced the efficiency of the power plant as a whole.
Projects worth $3 million have been implemented in the plant over the past two years," he said, adding that the ventures have helped decrease mazut and natural gas consumption by 20%.
Jalalvandi said the second development phase of the refinery can help reduce the wastage of 20 barrels of naphtha per day, in addition to saving 3 tons of water that can be recycled and used in the cooling towers.
The ramshackle oil processing plant pumps 1500 cubic meters of water every day from Arvand Rood in the province for cooling purposes. To help reduce water consumption development plans call for recycling water in the refinery.
Commissioned in 1912, Abadan refinery, in the oil province of Khuzestan, is Iran’s oldest crude processing company. Heavily damaged during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, it now has a daily processing capacity of around 400,000 barrels.
Stating that Abadan refinery is being developed in four phases, Hamid Sharif Razi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company, said in the second phase the refinery’s distillation unit was upgraded. In the third phase a fluid catalytic cracking unit will be installed.
“The refinery’s mazut output will decrease by almost 10% in Phase 4,” he said, stressing that currently, an Iranian-Chinese consultancy firm is carrying out studies to select the best procedures to further curb mazut yield.
