Grupa LOTOS S.A. and the Italian company KT-Kinetics Technology S.p.A. (KT) signed a contract for the construction of a Hydrowax Vacuum Distillation Unit (HVDU), which is part of a larger complex being constructed under the EFRA capital project. The value of the HVDU unit is approximately EUR 36m. The unit is to be commissioned and placed in service by the end of January 2018.

The EFRA Project, whose implementation commenced at the beginning of October 2015, provides for the construction of a complex of interconnected deep conversion units. With the EFRA units, the LOTOS refinery in Gdańsk will add 900,000 tonnes to its annual fuel output and will also produce 350,000 tonnes of coke. The project is expected to increase the refining margin by some USD 2 per each barrel of oil processed.

“The HVDU unit is closely connected with the existing crude processing units constructed under the 10+ Programme. It will enable the products from other EFRA units to be fully utilised. In order to turn every barrel of oil into even more high-margin products, we need to maximise the use of all by-products and feedstocks produced at each stage of crude processing. Hence the new unit, which will help us remove the existing process limitations and create a new quality of feedstocks for the oils unit,” explains Grzegorz Błędowski, the EFRA Project Director at Grupa LOTOS S.A. ”The technology is not very complicated in this case, but launching the unit on time to meet the overall EFRA Project schedule is a challenge.”

The HVDU unit is to process up to 95 tonnes of feedstock per hour, or over 800,000 tonnes per year. The feedstock for the unit will be unreacted hydrocracking residue known as hydrowax, which, after being separated by distillation, will be fed into target units, increasing the flexibility of crude processing at the refinery, as well as the yields and the quality of finished products, including base oils. The HVDU unit will be constructed in Gdańsk, on the premises of the LOTOS refinery, next to the coking units built under the EFRA Project. The Italian contractor, KT-Kinetics Technology, a company of the Maire Tecnimont Group, is to complete the construction by the end of January 2018. Grupa LOTOS estimates the value of the unit at approximately EUR 36m, or PLN 150m.

“The unit will form part of the crude processing complex being built under the EFRA Project. We will integrate the new units with the existing process plant operated at the refinery, ensuring that intermediate products of crude processing are used more efficiently,” said Marek Sokołowski, Vice-President of the Management Board and Chief Strategy and Development Officer of Grupa LOTOS S.A. “The most important thing for the refinery is that, with these capital projects, we will be able to eliminate low-margin products and offer a broader range of products that are in constant demand on the market.”

Apart from the Hydrowax Vacuum Distillation Unit (HVDU), the main facilities comprising the new complex constructed under the EFRA Project will be the Delayed Coking Unit (DCU), Hydrogen Generation Unit (HGU), Coking Naphtha Hydrotreating Unit (CNHT), LPG Treatment Unit (LPGTU), Coke Logistics and Storage Facility (CS-LF). The total Project value is PLN 2.3bn. The EFRA Project is to be completed and handed over for commercial operation in 2018.

About Lotos

Grupa LOTOS is a Poland oil company engaged in the business of production and processing of crude oil, as well as wholesale and retail sale of high quality petroleum products. Grupa LOTOS is a producer and supplier of a number of products, including unleaded gasoline, diesel oil, diesel oil for heating purposes (light fuel oil), aviation fuel and heavy fuel oil. It also specialises in the production and sale of lubricating oils and bitumens.

About KT- Kinetics Technology

KT- Kinetics Technology is an international Process Engineering Contractor with high expertise in hydrocarbon processing industry. The company operates as a provider of proprietary technologies and as an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) Contractor in the chemical, petrochemical and oil & gas complexes. KT has significant references in the field of Sulphur Recovery Facilities, Gas Processing, Hydrogen and Syngas Production, Refinery Process Units and the supply of Process Fired Heaters.