PKN ORLEN lets contract for proposed new plant at Plock refinery

Polski Koncern Naftowy SA (PKN ORLEN) has let multiple contracts to KBR Inc. to provide various process technologies for the operator’s proposed project to add an integrated solvent deasphalting (SDA) and residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) plant at its 16.3-million tonnes/year dual refining and petrochemical manufacturing site in Plock, Poland.

As part of the contracts, KBR will deliver basic engineering design and technology licensing for the SDA and RFCC units, the service provider said on July 27.

The SDA unit will be outfitted with KBR’s supercritical solvent recovery ROSE technology to help PKN ORLEN produce cleaner, upgraded bottom-of-the-barrel (BOTB) feedstock for the new RFCC unit, which in turn will use KBR’s dual-riser MAXOFIN technology that—using a combination of conventional FCC operating conditions as well as KBR’s proprietary catalyst additives and equipment—will allow the operator to maximize propylene production from traditional FCC feedstocks and naphtha streams.

Still in its planning phase, the proposed BOTB processing project at Plock is an initiative to advance a pillar under PKN Orlen’s ORLEN2030 strategy specifically involving maximizing profitability of its existing operations to increase overall competitiveness, according to Daniel Obajtek, PKN ORLEN’s president.

The SDA-RFCC plant would enhance flexibility of the Plock refinery to enable the possibility of adapting production between fuel and petrochemical products to meet existing customer needs based on current demand, PKN Orlen said in a separate July 27 release.

During the coming months, PKN ORLEN said it plans to undertake basic design of the integrated SDA-RFCC project and, if approved, begin the process of selecting a general contractor for construction of the plant.

Neither KBC nor PKN ORLEN revealed a value of the technology licensing contracts.