Eni's $1.5 Billion Slurry Refining Technology Project Produces Clean Fuel from Heavy Crudes

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The new slurry refining technology (EST) researched and developed by Eni SpA (NYSE:E) (Rome, Italy) enables the production of gasoline without the generation of coke or fuel.

The company is now working on the first industrial application project of the technology at its 160,000-barrel-per-day refinery at Sannazzaro de'Burgondi near Pavia, with an investment of more than $1.5 billion. The new plant, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012, will produce 23,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day. The production technology is based on a hydro conversion process developed through a special catalyst and current of hydrogen produced from methane. EST makes possible the transformation of methane in a high-quality liquid fuel through hydrogen production.

Application of the EST technology can create and maintain value from the exploitation of unconventional crude oils. Eni will now be able to evaluate significant sources of reserves globally, which could become available to the market. Heavy oil residues can be refined into fine products, gasoline and gas oil.

Eni claims that EST is the first Italian scientific and technological discovery in the oil refining sector and will enable Sannazaro to set a high standard in the quality of fuels produced. The elimination of coke and fuel oil is an advantage, as the market for the latter is declining.

Work started on the project in the 1990s at Eni's San Donato laboratories in Milan. Work continued at the company's Taranto refinery where a 1,200-boe-per-day demonstration plant began operating in 2005 as a pilot for the larger plant. The design of the new industrial-scale plant began in 2008, with Saipem SpA (PINK:SAPMY) (Milan, Italy) contracted for engineering planning. The new plant will adhere to high environmental standards and is the largest industrial project under way in Italy.

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