Petron Corporation, the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, selected Axens to supply technologies for its Bataan Refinery Upgrading (RMP-2 Project). The project aims heavier crudes processing for higher quality products and propylene production.

Axens technologies concern the following units:
- Mild hydrocracker – this 15,700 BPSD (barrels per stream day) unit will process heavy coker gas oil which, after mixture with straight run vacuum gas oil, will produce a moderate sulfur feedstock for the Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCC),
- Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCC) unit – 35,900 BPSD
- C4-cut purification system (Alkyfining®) – 19,000 BPSD
- C4 olefins oligomerization unit (Polynaphtha™) – 19,000 BPSD
- Two FCC gasoline selective desulfurization units (Prime-G+™) – 8,000 and 17,600 BPSD
- Coker naphtha hydrotreater – 5,800 BPSD
- Unsaturated LPG treatment units (Sulfrex™) – 25,000 and 3,600 BPSD.

The 35,900 BPSD FCC unit will convert heavy vacuum gasoil into higher value products: olefins, gasoline and diesel. The FCC unit will maximize propylene production at over 250 thousand tons per annum through a FlexEne integrated scheme. This solution enables the C4 olefinic streams issued from the FCC unit to be further converted to propylene through an Alkyfining unit (purification step) and Polynaphtha unit (oligomerization step). The selected refinery configuration is the result of an optimization study conducted by the teams of Axens’ Performance Programs Business Unit. The complex is due to come on stream in 2014. With a processing capacity of 180,000 BPSD, the upgraded Petron Bataan Refinery will reinforce Petron’s position on the domestic market for clean fuels and propylene.

To see the Bataan Refinery site