Tüpraş upgrades Izmit refinery to expand diesel production

Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri AŞ (Tüpraş) has completed a project to increase conversion capability of the 8,000-cu m/day (50,000-b/d) integrated hydrocracking unit installed as part of the operator’s $2.7 billion residuum upgrading project (RUP) commissioned in 2015 at the 11.3-million tonnes/year Izmit refinery in District Körfez of Turkey’s northwestern province of Kocaeli, to enable processing of high-sulfur fuel oil and other excess residual products into higher-value clean fuels that meet Euro 5 standards (OGJ Online, July 27, 2016).

As part of the unit upgrade to expand production of diesel, Honeywell UOP LLC delivered basic engineering, catalysts, and technical services for the addition of an external heavy polynuclear aromatics (HPNA) stripper to the RUP’s existing Honeywell UOP-licensed two-stage Unicracking system, the service provider said.

Alongside allowing Tüpraş to increase its flexibility to process heavier feedstocks, addition of the HPNA stripper will increase conversion efficiency of the integrated Unicracking unit by mechanically removing HPNAs that cause catalyst deactivation, enabling the operator to maximize conversion in the unit to and increase its yield of distillates, according to UOP.

Tüpraş completed project-related works on the Unicracking system’s hydrocracker in PLT-147 of the Izmit refinery’s RUP during scheduled maintenance executed during fourth-quarter 2020, the operator said in its December 2020 presentation to investors.

In addition to its hydrocracker, the RUP’s integrated Unicracking system includes a 1,200-cu m/day (7,500-b/d) naphtha unit and 4,000-cu m/day diesel desulfurization unit, both based on Honeywell UOP’s proprietary Unionfining process technology, according to Tüpraş and the service provider.