Shell U.K. Ltd. has started up two new projects at its Shell Haven refinery at Essex U.K.
A naphtha minus complex and a new central control room represent a total investment of 250 million that marks the largest investment in the plant's 76 year history.
ESSEX ADDITIONS
The 225 million naphtha minus complex includes a 51,170 b/d hydrotreater, a 16,813 b/d total isomerization unit, a benzene recovery unit, and a liquefied petroleum gas recovery unit.
Shell Haven processes 87,000 b/d of crude.
The complex will enable Shell to convert the group of hydrocarbons that condenses at the coolest temperatures near the top of the refinery's fractionating column-naphtha minus-to higher quality products.
Shell will be able to convert light naphtha, previously sold as petrochemical feedstock, into high quality, high octane gasoline. The new complex also will give Shell the ability to upgrade heavy naphtha, enabling its conversion into higher specification gasoline.
The 25 million central control room, driven by a Honeywell TDC 3000 computer, replaces three control rooms.
It combines in one building a series of electronic consoles that drive core refinery processes such as crude distillation, hydrocracking, gas distribution, and the naphtha minus complex.
The system integrates the majority of the refinery's process units and ]is planned to drive all Shell Haven plant operations within 3 years.
The project included adding a 26,000 kw combined cycle gas turbine cogeneration unit that uses gas produced in the refining process to make Shell Haven self-sufficient in electricity and steam.
BACKGROUND
Work on the naphtha minus complex and central control room started in 1989.
Construction began in 1991 and took 13 months.
Integration of the naphtha minus complex with the rest of the refinery involved 1,500 tie-ins with other equipment. The complex covers 23,900 sq yd and is connected with a network of 1,500 pipelines totaling 43.5 miles.
Shell said other technological advances in the plant's history include the U.K.'s first pilot plant for robot blending of lubricants and the first continuous platformer.
The Shell Haven refinery began processing crude in 1916, making fuel for the Royal Navy during World War I. The name Shell Haven existed long before Shell established operations at the site, appearing on 16th century maps of Essex.
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