National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa Plans to Revamp Diesel Hydrotreater to Meet Clean Fuel Specifications

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa (NATREF) is gearing up to invest $30 million to revamp its 32,000 BBL/d diesel hydrotreater utilizing UOP technology as part of its NATREF Clean Fuels Project. The revamp will include a new hydrogen compressor, reactor, feed exchanger, and charge pump. The government of South Africa is requiring National Petroleum to reduce sulfur content in diesel fuels to 500 parts per million (ppm), from 3,000 ppm, by February 2006, for on-road and off-road diesel. In addition, the government is discussing mandates to further reduce sulfur content in diesel to 50 ppm by 2010. The company expects to begin construction in March 2005 and complete the project by the end of 2005. Steinmuller (Rivonia, South Africa) is performing engineering, procurement, and construction services for the diesel revamp.

The NATREF refinery was commissioned in 1971 and is one of South Africa's largest oil refineries. The refinery is owned jointly by Sasol Mining and Total South Africa. Sasol Mining has a 63.64% interest in NATREF and Total South Africa has a 36.36% shareholding. The refinery produces 107,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and more than 90% of NATREF crude oil intake is converted into leaded and unleaded gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel destined for service stations and depots in the inland area of the country, where growth in market demand has been significant.

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