Lukoil lets contract for Nizhny Novgorod refinery

PJSC Lukoil has let a contract to Honeywell UOP LLC to provide licensing for a suite of technologies to enable expanded production of Russian Class 5 (equivalent to Euro 5)-quality gasoline at subsidiary LLC Lukoil Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez’s (NNOS) 17-million tonne/year Kstovo refinery in central Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region.

As part of the contract, UOP will deliver licensing, design services, key equipment, and catalysts, and adsorbents for a new UOP Ethermax unit to be integrated into Nizhny Novgorod’s existing FCC complex that will convert isobutylene and methanol into 215,000 tpy of high-octane additive methyl tertbutyl ether (MTBE), which will help reduce exhaust emissions from vehicles using gasoline produced by the refinery, UOP said on Mar. 3.

UOP’s scope of work on the project also will include revamping the refinery’s existing selective hydrogenation (SHP) units, as well as execution of a process revamp study for the site’s hydrofluoric alkylation units to maximize alkylate production for cleaner-burning fuels.

Lukoil selected Ethermax technology into NNOS’s FCC complex to help reduce operating and capital costs, expedite startup of operations, and improve overall emissions from the refinery, according to Bryan Glover, vice-president and general manager of UOP Process Technologies.

This latest contract award for the refinery aligns with Lukoil’s broader goal of improving the quality of its refined product slate, which for NNOS includes upgrading gasoline production to meet Euro 5 emission standards that limit sulfur content of transportation fuels to less than 10 ppm and restricts emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, and particulate matter from gasoline and diesel vehicles.

Without disclosing either the value or duration of the contract, UOP did confirm it completed the revamp design for the refinery’s two existing FCC units and Merox unit to help increase the operator’s propylene production while simultaneously maintaining a high yield of gasoline output at the site (OGJ Online, Sept. 10, 2020).