Shells Opens SDA Unit at Dutch Pernis Refinery

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS-A) has commissioned a new solvent deasphalter (SDA) unit at its giant Pernis refinery, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

It is the first major investment at the site since 2011. Pernis is the largest integrated refinery complex in Europe and has the capacity to process 404,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) into a range of transport fuels. The new 10-storey-tall unit, which cost around $288 million to construct over the past two years, enables Pernis to process a larger proportion of its oil intake into cleaner transport fuels, including marine gasoil compliant with the International Maritime Organisation's 2020 standard. IMO 2020 will require the marine sector to reduce sulphur emissions by more than 80%, which will be achieved by switching to lower-sulphur fuels.

The SDA unit processes heavy fuels to clean middle distillates and provides increased crude flexibility, which Shell said will allow Pernis to adjust operations to meet market demands and capture higher margins while not impacting overall processing capacity. A modular approach was used to construct the SDA unit, which brought the project in faster and at less cost. Process modules were constructed in China, shipped to Rotterdam and then integrated on site. In addition, Shell safely installed the SDA unit during scheduled maintenance activity, minimising disruptions to operations.

"Shell's Pernis refinery is now ready to meet the anticipated demand growth for cleaner transport fuels that will help keep Europe's people and economy moving," said Robin Mooldijk, executive vice president for manufacturing. "This unit pushes the boundaries of refining technology, seamlessly integrating with almost every part of the site to unlock the full value of each barrel of oil."

The marine sector used 3.8 million barrels per day of fuel oil in 2017, which accounts for half of global fuel oil demand, according to Wood Mackenzie. Currently, the sector's maximum fuel oil sulphur limit is of 3.5 weight percent (wt%), but this will need to be reduced 0.5 wt% by January 2020 under the new IMO regulations, which has meant huge changes for the marine and refining sectors.

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