EUR 70mln for Replacing the Coke Drums at Petrobrazi
OMV Petrom, the largest energy company in South-Eastern Europe, will invest approximately EUR 70 million at the Petrobrazi refinery, to replace certain facilities that are essential during the refining process. These are the four Coke Drums which, at very high temperatures, ensure the stage of upgrading heavy components to superior products.
“We are constantly investing in the modernization of the Petrobrazi refinery. The replacement of the Coke Drums is a project with a very high degree of technical and organizational complexity. The new units will have an important contribution to increasing the efficiency and safety of our operations,” Radu Caprau, member of the OMV Petrom Executive Board, responsible for Downstream Oil, said.
The four Coke Drums are designed for a lifespan of over 20 years and 5,000 operating cycles and will be produced in Romania. The weight of one coke drum is almost 200 tons, with a diameter of approximately 6 meters and a length/height of around 30 meters. The crane that will be used to replace the Coke Drums will have a height of around 140 meters and, depending on weather conditions, it will be able to be seen from Bucharest.
The process of replacing the Coke Drums will take place between 2021 and 2023; approximately EUR 11 million will be invested this year.
Background
The company has invested around 46 million euros starting 2017, to upgrade the Coker unit in Petrobrazi refinery to reduce environmental impact.
A closed blowdown system was implemented at this unit, in order to eliminate any potential emissions of volatile organic compounds, thus supporting the reduction of the environmental impact.
The Coker unit is an important point in the refining process. This is where heavy oil components from the other units are redirected and where the final oil transformation processes take place. The coke obtained here is mainly used in the metallurgical industry.
OMV Petrom has implemented in the Petrobrazi refinery the best available technologies for the recovery of hydrocarbon vapors in the Coker unit. Thus, the 20-year-old system was replaced with a modern, closed blowdown system that ensures complete elimination of volatile organic compounds emissions.
The project involved complex civil works, installment of about 400 tons of pipelines and implementation of automated control and monitoring systems. The project counted more than 450,000 hours worked without incidents.
Petrobrazi has a total crude oil processing capacity of 4.5 million tons per year and, starting 2005, OMV Petrom has invested approximately EUR 1.8 billion in the refinery, one third of this investment contributing to the reduction of the environmental impact.
