Poland's PKN Orlen Contracts Honeywell to Boost Production at Plock Refinery

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Poland's biggest oil refiner, state-owned PKN Orlen (WSE:PKN) (Plock, Poland) has awarded a contract to Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Illinois) to provide its proprietary MaxEne process technology to the 277,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) integrated refining complex in Plock, Poland.

The new process will be used to increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. PKN ORLEN will be the first refining and petrochemicals company in Europe to use the MaxEne technology for molecule management of a naphtha stream. The process enables refiners and petrochemical producers to direct molecules within the naphtha feed to the processes that deliver the greatest value and improve yields of fuels and petrochemicals, said Honeywell.

"PKN ORLEN seeks to extend its value chain toward high-margin products, which are increasingly in demand across global markets," explained Józef Węgrecki, Member of the PKN ORLEN Management Board, Operations. "The MaxEne technology would allow us to better harness the potential of our refinery in Poland."

The MaxEne process separates full-range naphtha into a stream of normal paraffins which are well suited for steam crackers because they produce high yields of light olefins, and a second stream of isoparaffins, naphthenes and aromatics that are best used for catalytic reforming units as they produce high yields of aromatics. Both products are the primary components of a wide variety of plastics.

"Since the cost of naphtha represents most of the production cost for most chemicals, we can improve the profitability of petrochemical operations by ensuring the right molecules go to the right processes," said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP's Petrochemicals & Refining Technologies business. "The UOP MaxEne technology is designed to improve molecule management and increase the production of light olefins by up to 30%, and the production of aromatics by as much as 12%."

The project is one of a number of ongoing works at the Plock refinery designed to create cleaner and higher margin products. Industrial Info is tracking a $170 million project to build a clean fuels upgrading unit--a visbreaker--with a capacity of 10,140 BBL/d. The unit will be commissioned at the end of next year.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.