Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) subsidiary ADNOC Refining, has completed the commissioning of a specialised coker unit, as part of its Carbon Black and Coker Project.
With this, ADNOC will extract the maximum value from ‘bottom-of-the-barrel’ heavy oils and slurry, as it delivers on its aggressive Downstream strategy.
ADNOC’s Carbon Black & Coker Project incorporates a coker, known in the oil and gas industry as a ‘delayed coker’, that will allow ADNOC Refining to recover highly specialised and valuable grades of carbon black and calcined coke. Not only will it create higher value from what would otherwise be used for low value fuel oil, but both products are essential to industrial processes within ADNOC subsidiaries and other UAE industries, potentially removing the need to import costly raw materials.
Increasing the flexibility of ADNOC’s refining assets to stretch the value of every barrel of oil – and produce additional feedstocks and additives for the petrochemical industry – is a key pillar of ADNOC’s Downstream expansion strategy, announced at its Downstream Investment Forum earlier this year. The strategy will see ADNOC become a world-class producer, supplier and trader of refined and petrochemical products, as it focuses on growth markets in Asia, including China.
Through the Carbon Black & Coker Project, ADNOC Refining can produce 40,600 tonnes of two different grades of Carbon black per year, and 430,000 tonnes of high value anode grade calcined coke. Borouge, a joint venture between ADNOC and Borealis, makes extensive use of special carbon black grades across a range of products, including high-pressure water and gas pipes, steel pipe coatings and linings, and standalone piping. Calcined coke is a key ingredient in the anodes used in the electrolysis process that separates pure aluminium from bauxite ore. The UAE is the world’s sixth-largest aluminium producer, accounting for over 50% of the Gulf’s aluminium production, with annual production of 2.6 million metric tonnes in 2017.
For more information, visit: www.adnoc.ae
10th September 2018
