Serbia’s Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) JSC Novi Sad has completed installation of a digital in-line fuel blending system as part of an ongoing modernization program to improve energy efficiency, boost production of higher-quality products, and ensure operational reliability at its 4.8 million-tonne/year refinery at Pancevo (OGJ Online, Nov. 7, 2016).
The nearly €10-million project involved implementation of a software system—including the system for planning and optimizing fuel formulation—to control the entire blending process across 12 pipelines and multiple pumps supplying fuel components for precise blending into finished products that conform to Euro 5-quality specifications, NIS said.
Alongside ensuring steady quality of fuel products, the new system also has increased operational efficiency at the refinery by reducing blending times for producing a 2,500-3,000-cu m batch of gasoline to 13-20 hr from a previous 25-36 hr, the operator said.
The computerized production system additionally brings the refinery’s fuel production process in compliance with the latest technical regulations and requirements of occupational safety, fire, and environmental protection, said Vladimir Gagić, NIS’s director of refining.
Otherwise, NIS continues to progress on other ongoing projects as part of the refinery’s modernization program, including works related to reduce sulfur emissions at the site as well as the major bottom-of-the-barrel (BOTB) project, which will include the addition of a delayed coking unit that will be integrated with the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) and hydrocracker (OGJ Online, Mar. 16, 2015).
During this year’s first quarter, the company both completed revitalization of its S-2450 unit for sulfur extraction from oil and began work on a project aimed at improving reliability of the S-2600 unit, which will entail replacement of 19 lines in the refinery, NIS said in its latest quarterly earnings report.
After completing a series of contract-related works for the BOTB project by yearend 2016, NIS continues to prepare for the official start of project construction later this year (OGJ Online, Dec. 1, 2016).
NIS, which anticipated receiving a permit to build in May, said it expects to begin construction in July, with the project scheduled to be completed and ready for startup during third-quarter 2019.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
