Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) has let a contract to Honeywell International Inc. subsidiary Honeywell UOP LLC, Des Plaines, Ill., to deliver technology licensing and design for process units to be added as part of HPCL’s previously announced project to expand and modernize the 8.3 million-tonne/year Vishakhapatnam (Visakh) refinery in Andhra Pradesh, on the country’s southeastern coast (OGJ Online, Jan. 19, 2016).
Honeywell UOP will provide HPCL licensing, basic engineering design, and other associated services for UOP’s proprietary Penex isomerization unit (for production of high-octane gasoline) as well as its branded Unicracking hydrocracking unit (for production of diesel), the service provider said.
Alongside helping to improve HPCL’s gross refining margins by converting low-quality feedstock into high-quality transportation fuels, the Penex and Unicracking units also will support HPCL’s ability to supply and meet rising demand for Bharat Stage (BS) VI-grade fuels (equivalent to Euro 6-quality fuels) in accord with the Indian government’s proposal to reduce carbon emissions by 35% by 2030.
Honeywell UOP revealed neither the value nor duration of the contract, nor did it disclosed planned capacities of the proposed units.
Visakh modernization, expansion
Involving the addition of new units and upgrades to existing ones, HPCL’s Visakh refinery modernization project (VRMP) intends to expand the refinery’s processing capacity by 6.7 million tpy to 15 million tpy, as well as boost its production of low-sulfur fuels conforming to Euro 4 and Euro 5-quality standards (OGJ Online, Jan. 16, 2017).
According to India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, HPCL’s VRMP will include the following:
• A 9 million-tpy crude distillation unit (CDU), which will replace one of Visakh’s three existing CDUs.
• A 3.3 million-tpy full-conversion, vacuum gas oil hydrocracker.
• A 292,000-tpy naphtha isomerization unit.
• A 3.1 million-tpy solvent deasphalting unit.
• A 2.5 million-tpy slurry hydrocracker.
• A 96-tonne/day PRU (to replace the refinery’s existing 216-tonne/day PRU).
• Two 113,000-tpy hydrogen generation units (226,000 tpy total).
• Two 360-tonne/day sulfur recovery units (720 tonnes/day total, including tail gas treatment).
• A 36,000-tpy fuel gas pressure-swing adsorption unit.
• A 300-tonne/hr nonhydroprocessing sour-water stripper.
• A 185-tonne/hr hydroprocessing sour-water stripper.
• Two 540-tonne/hr amine regeneration units (1,080 tonnes/hr total).
• A 112,000-tpy sulfur recovery LPG treating unit.
• A 1,000-cu m/hr integrated effluent treatment plant (EFP), which will replace all existing EFPs at the site.
According to the latest project information available from HPCL and general contractor Engineers India Ltd., major processing units at the refinery are scheduled for revamp as follows:
• A 30% capacity expansion of the naphtha hydrotreater in the refinery’s Motor Spirit block (MS) block to 1.5 million tpy.
• A 35% capacity expansion of the continuous catalytic reforming unit in the MS block to 1.04 million tpy.
• A 30% capacity expansion of the diesel hydrotreating unit to 2.86 million tpy.
• An upgrade of the naphtha hydrotreater downstream of the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracker to enable output of BS V and BS VI-grade (equivalent to Euro 5 and Euro 6-quality) fuels.
VRMP will require an estimated total capital investment of about 208 billion rupees to complete in its entirety, HPCL told investors in late-August 2016.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
