Essar Performs Turnaround at 280,000-Barrel-per-Day Petroleum Refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--Essar Oil Limited (BSE:500134) (EOL) (Mumbai, India) has begun a refinery-wide maintenance turnaround at the company's 280,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat. The 34-day turnaround, which began on September 18, 2011, is the second major shutdown of its kind after the refinery began commercial production in 2008. The first shutdown was performed in April 2009 and lasted 18 days.

The plant-wide turnaround, which happens every two to three years, will entail many major works, such as tray replacement in columns, catalyst changeover, heat exchanger installation in crude units, rotors changeover, overhead-condenser changeover, piping, pigging, etc.

Major units involved in the turnaround include:

• 280,000-BBL/d crude distillation unit
• 66,000-BBL/d FCCU
• 90,000-BBL/d diesel hydrotreater (DHDS)
• 32,000-BBL/d naphtha hydrotreater
• 20,000-BBL/d catalytic cracker (CCR)
• 44,000-BBL/d visbreaker

Aside from the maintenance, the refiner plans to take in line three new units, which are being added as a part of its $6.1 billion Phase I expansion. The expansion will increase the refinery's nameplate capacity from 240,000 BBL/d to 375,000 BBL/d, as well as increase its complexity from 6.1 to 11.8 on the Nelson complexity index.

Vadinar Refinery, which began commercial production on May 1, 2008, is among the largest single-location refineries in the world. The refinery produces middle distillates like aviation turbine fuel, kerosene and high-speed diesel, as well as liquefied petroleum gas and transport fuels conforming to Euro III and Euro IV product quality standards. There are plans to expand the refinery to 800,000 BBL/d over two phases, of which Phase I operations are almost 50% complete.

Essar Oil Limited is a part of the Essar Global Group, which has diversified into sectors such as steel, energy, oil and gas, power, communications, ports and logistics.

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