Essar Projects India Ltd. (EPIL) has completed installation, testing, and commissioning of the coke drum structure package (CDSP) as part of the ongoing integrated expansion project (IREP) of Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.'s 9.5 million-tonne/year (tpy) refinery near the city of Kochi, at Ambalamugal, Ernakulam district, in the Indian state of Kerala.
As part of the 6.45 billion-rupee CDSP package, EPIL delivered engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) works for the new 3.84 million-tpy delayed coking unit, including completing assembly of the unit’s four coke drums within a record time of 20 days during Kerala’s monsoon season, the EPC contractor said.
In addition to coke drums, the order included delivery and installation of the following:
• The coke fractionator column and internals.
• The coke-cutting system and pumps.
• The heading-unheading systems for the top and bottom of coke drums.
• Unit switch valves, hydrocyclone, elevators, and clear-water tanks.
Alongside executing civil works for the unit’s coke pit, maze, bridge crane, and elevator, EPIL also was responsible for the project’s associated auxiliary equipment and installations, including piping, electrical, and instrumentation.
First announced in 2012, the BPCL’s Kochi IREP aims to expand crude processing capacity at the refinery to 15.5 million tpy with the addition of a new crude distillation unit, FCCUs, and the now-completed delayed coker to enable the production of fuels that meet Europe’s latest emissions standards (OGJ Online, July 11, 2016).
BPCL also has undertaken its propylene derivates petrochemical project (PDDP) at Kochi to diversify the refinery’s output of niche petrochemicals, which will be produced from polymer-grade propylene supplies resulting from increased crude processing at the site (OGJ Online, Dec. 9, 2014).
Approved at an overall investment cost of 165 billion rupees, IREP stood at 96.42% physical completion as of June 30, 2016, and was scheduled to be fully operational between October and November 2016, according to BPCL’s 2015-16 annual report.
While BPCL said it has reached mechanical completion and initiated precommissioning activities for IREP’s new crude-vacuum distillation units and first gas turbine generator, the company has yet to confirm actual full commissioning of the project or issue a revised timeline for its projected startup.
The 45.88 billion-rupee PDPP currently is scheduled to be completed in May 2018.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
