Nigerian conglomerate Dangote Industries Ltd. (DIL) has let a contract to Aspen Technology Inc., Bedford, Mass., to provide software aimed at economic and operational planning for subsidiary Dangote Oil Refining Co.’s (DORC) 650,000-b/d grassroots integrated refining complex now under construction in southwestern Nigeria’s Lekki Free Trade Zone (OGJ Online, Nov. 25, 2013).
Aspen Technology will deliver its proprietary Aspen PIMS-AO software to streamline feedstock selection, product-slate optimization, and production planning at the refinery, the supplier said.
Alongside DORC’s previous use of the software to help select configuration, critical design, and expansion studies for the refinery, the operator will use Aspen PIMS-AO to report refining economics as well as to determine ongoing product-slate and feedstock selection for the plant following its scheduled startup in 2019, said Srinivas Rachakonda, DIL’s director of business strategy and optimization.
A value of the current contract was not disclosed.
To become the world’s largest single-train refinery upon commissioning, DORC’s $12-billion Lekki integrated complex will include a 650,000-b/d crude distillation unit, a 3.6 million-tonne/year polypropylene plant, a 3 million-tpy urea plant, and gas processing installations to accommodate 3 bcfd of natural gas that will be transported through 1,100 km of subsea pipeline to be built by DIL (OGJ Online, Sept. 8, 2017; June 23, 2017; Apr. 27, 2017).
The complex will be equipped to produce 33 million tpy of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, kerosine, aviation fuel, and other petrochemicals.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
