Hindustan Petroleum lets contract for Visakh refinery revamp

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) has let a contract to Chevron USA Inc.-McDermott International Ltd. joint venture Chevron Lummus Global LLC (CLG) to license technology for a grassroots vacuum residue upgrading unit to be added as part of HPCL’s previously announced program to expand and modernize its 8.3 million-tonne/year Vishakhapatnam (Visakh) refinery in Andhra Pradesh on India’s southeastern coast (OGJ Online, Mar. 21, 2017).

Alongside designing the new unit based on its proprietary LC-MAX and ISOTREATING technologies, CLG also will supply catalysts, proprietary reactor internals, and provide training and technical services as part of the order, the service provider said.

A cornerstone of HPCL’s refinery expansion strategy, the new residue upgrading unit will enable HPCL to covert the heaviest oils at the Visakh refinery to produce high-quality Euro 6 diesel while simultaneously eliminating fuel oil production at the site, as well as increase feedstock and product flexibility, CLG said.

This latest award by HPCL follows a series of contracts let in recent months for the operator’s brownfield Visakh refinery modernization project (VRMP), which proposes to expand refining capacity of the site to 15 million tpy (OGJ Online, July 20, 2018).

Alongside increasing the refinery’s crude processing capacity by 6.7 million tpy to 15 million tpy, HPCL’s VRMP intends to boost its production of low-sulfur fuels conforming to Euro 5 and Euro 6-quality standards.

The 209.28-billion VRMP currently is scheduled for mechanical completion in July 2020, according to the latest project update on HPCL’s web site.

Original project

According to India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, HPCL’s originally proposed 208 billion-rupee VRMP was to add the following units at the refinery:

• A 9 million-tpy crude distillation unit (CDU), which will replace one of Visakh’s three existing CDUs.

• A 3.3 million-tpy full-conversion, vacuum gas oil hydrocracker.

• A 292,000-tpy naphtha isomerization unit.

• A 3.1 million-tpy solvent deasphalting unit.

• A 2.5 million-tpy slurry hydrocracker.

• A 96-tonne/day PRU, which will replace an existing 216-tonne/day PRU.

• Two 113,000-tpy hydrogen generation units (226,000 tpy total).

• Two 360-tonne/day sulfur recovery units (720 tonnes/day total, including tail gas treatment).

• A 36,000-tpy fuel gas pressure-swing adsorption unit.

• A 300-tonne/hr nonhydroprocessing sour-water stripper.

• A 185-tonne/hr hydroprocessing sour-water stripper.

• Two 540-tonne/hr amine regeneration units (1,080 tonnes/hr total).

• A 112,000-tpy sulfur recovery LPG treating unit.

• A 1,000-cu m/hr integrated effluent treatment plant (EFP), which will replace all existing EFPs at the site.

According to the latest project information available from HPCL and general contractor Engineers India Ltd., major processing units at the refinery are scheduled for revamp as follows:

• A 30% capacity expansion of the naphtha hydrotreater in the refinery’s Motor Spirit (MS) block to 1.5 million tpy.

• A 35% capacity expansion of the continuous catalytic reforming unit in the MS block to 1.04 million tpy.

• A 30% capacity expansion of the diesel hydrotreating unit to 2.86 million tpy.

• An upgrade of the naphtha hydrotreater downstream of the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracker to enable output of BS V and BS VI-grade (equivalent to Euro 5 and Euro 6-quality) fuels.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].