OMV Petrom invests EUR 70 mln to replace essential equipment at Petrobrazi refinery

Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom (SNP) will invest approximately EUR 70 million at the Petrobrazi refinery to replace certain facilities that are essential during the refining process.

These are the four Coke Drums that function at very high temperatures and help upgrade heavy components to superior products.

“We are constantly investing in modernizing the Petrobrazi refinery. The replacement of the Coke Drums is a project with a very high degree of technical and organizational complexity. The new units will have an important contribution to increasing the efficiency and safety of our operations,” saidRadu Caprau, member of the OMV Petrom Executive Board, responsible for Downstream Oil.

The four Coke Drums are designed for a lifespan of over 20 years and 5,000 operating cycles and will be produced in Romania.

The weight of one coke drum is almost 200 tons, with a diameter of approximately 6 meters and a length/height of around 30 meters.

To replace the Coke Drums, the contractors will use a crane with a height of around 140 meters.

Depending on weather conditions, the crane could be seen from Bucharest.

The process of replacing the Coke Drums will take place between 2021 and 2023.

The Petrobrazi refinery has a total crude oil processing capacity of 4.5 million tons per year. Starting 2005, OMV Petrom has invested approximately EUR 1.8 billion in modernizing the refinery, one third of this investment contributing to reducing its environmental impact.

(Photo courtesy of the company)