Oct 10 2006
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) and Hellenic Petroleum S.A. (HELPE) announced today that HELPE has selected EMRE's FLEXICOKING(1) technology for converting vacuum residue to lighter products for a refinery upgrading project in Elefsis, Greece.
This 20 kBPD unit will be based on proven FLEXICOKING(1) technology which incorporates numerous significant upgrades developed and commercially applied to existing FLEXICOKING(1) units.
FLEXICOKING, first developed and commercially applied 30 years ago, integrates fluid bed coking and air gasification to eliminate petroleum coke production. It allows refiners to process vacuum resid, atmospheric resid, oil sands bitumen, heavy whole crudes, deasphalter bottoms, or thermal cracked tar to produce higher-value liquid and gas products. FLEXICOKING produces a clean low sulfur fuel gas which can be used economically in refinery furnaces and boilers, as well as by nearby consumers such as power plants, to minimize NOx and SOx emissions. It is particularly attractive in markets with limited coke demand combined with high-priced natural gas or fuel.