LUKOIL’s Perm refinery lets contract for new MTBE, alky plant

PJSC LUKOIL has let a contract to Lummus Technology LLC to license technologies and provide equipment for a grassroots plant that will produce blending components for production of cleaner, high-octane gasoline to be built at subsidiary LLC LUKOIL-Permnefteorgsintez’s 13.1-million tonnes/year (tpy) refinery in Russia’s North Urals region, on the north bank of the Kama River (OGJ Online, Aug. 20, 2021).

As part of the contract, Lummus will deliver technology licensing, basic engineering, technical services, and proprietary equipment supply for a new integrated methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and alkylation plant, the service provider said on Jan. 14.

The MTBE unit will use Lummus' CDEtherol technology, with the alkylation unit to be equipped with the technology licensor’s proprietary CDAlky technology.

Alongside enabling LUKOIL to improve production quality, lower utility-energy consumption, and reduce maintenance requirements, the CDEtherol and CDAlky technologies all will allow the Perm refinery flexibility to produce biofuels in the future, Lummus said.

The service provider revealed neither a value of the contract nor planned capacities of the proposed greenfield plant.

This latest contract for fuel upgradation works at Perm follows LUKOIL’s recent contract awards to Honeywell UOP LLC to deliver licensing and equipment for new units to be added as part of the refinery’s planned grassroots FCC complex that, due for startup in 2026, will enable the site to covert 1.8 million tpy of low-value vacuum gas oil into high-octane motor gasoline and polymer-grade propylene (OGJ Online, Jan. 13, 2022; Sept. 9, 2021).