Russia which is entirely dependent upon imports to meet its needle coke requirement is all set to have its in-house production as country’s Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery has started construction of needle coke production facility. The commercial production of the same is expected to kick-off in 2021.
According to market sources, the existing delayed coking unit (DCU) at the Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery is to undergo reconstruction and the technological modernisation of the facility will increase the efficiency of the DCU creating Russia’s first production facility for needle coke.
The DCU reconstruction project envisages the production of 38,700 tonnes of raw needle coke per year. The design of the project is being handled by Giprogazoochistka Engineering Company.
Gazpromneft Bitumen Materials, operator of the Gazprom Neft bitumen’s business and responsible for the sale of bitumen and cokes, will be providing expert support to the project in line with recent market research, as well as it will also responsible for the sale of finished products.
The capacity of the current DCU at the Omsk Refinery is 767,000 tonnes of raw materials per year. The DCU reconstruction project falls within the remit of the second stage of the large-scale modernisation of the company’s refineries, and aims at increasing refining depth, increasing output of light petroleum products, and improving the operational efficiency of the plants.
Gazprom Neft’s total investment in the DCU modernisation project at its Omsk Refinery will be more than RUB5.2 billion (USD 840 million).
In addition to increasing the refining depth of heavy oil residues, the modernisation of the DCU will significantly improve the facility’s environmental performance as due to the deep cleaning of the coking gas, environmental impacts will be reduced by 75%. The facility will be equipped with automatic gas analysis resources and fire extinguishers, as well as an automated steam supply system.
The facility was built originally in 1971 and the reconstruction of the same envisages the complete replacement of three coke drums — the key equipment in the DCU. New coke drums, made of bimetallic steel, will be equipped with a sliding (opening-closing) valve system. They are also likely to have additional storage facility for needle coke as well as a column for the treatment of secondary raw materials.
There is an increased demand for graphite electrodes (GE) across the globe especially since latter half of 2017 amid rising awareness towards the usage of electric furnaces and closure of polluting GE units in China. This has led to surge in demand for needle coke subsequently.
Needle coke is an expensive and highly structured carbon product with a low metal and sulphur content. Its properties make needle coke appropriate for use in the production of electrodes requiring low electrical resistance and low coefficient for thermal expansion. Russia is highly dependent upon imports from Japan and UK to meet its needle coke requirements and imported about 33,500 tonnes of needle coke in 2017.
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