November 18, 2019

A unanimous decision: Nizhnekamsk Citizens Vote for the Construction of a New Heater at TAIF-NK

This construction project will not affect the environmental situation. According to expert opinion, will allow to reduce emissions into the atmosphere

TAIF-NK is planning to construct a new Heater designed for warming up Vacuum Gas Oil at the site of Heavy Residue Conversion Complex. After the Heater design has undergone all required expert examinations, the Company arranged public hearings, where they presented to Nizhnekamsk citizens, members of the Community Council, and local government the engineering documentation and environmental impact assessment materials. The meeting took place the previous evening in the Tatarstan Cadet Corps named after the hero of the Soviet Union G. Safiullin. All details are in the material of “Realnoe Vremya”.

Heater will operate on the clean fuel

The assembly hall of the Cadet Corps was very crowded. A registration card of public hearing on the construction of TAIF-NK new Heater counted 265 participants. The attendees were represented by both ordinary Nizhnekamsk citizens, and representatives of environmental organizations, deputies of the Nizhnekamsk Community Council and others. Maxim Novikov, Chief Engineer of TAIF-NK JSC was the first to take the floor.

He gave a detailed account of the new Heater construction and engineering approaches applied in the design.

- This new facility has been planned for construction at the site of Workshop No. 01 of Heavy Residue Conversion Complex. It will be located in the center of the industrial hub, 8 km away from the human settlements and Nizhnekamsk. The fuel for the Heater is the most environmentally compatible fuel –Natural Gas being used by us in our houses for cooking, –told Maksim Novikov.

It should be noted that similar Heater for Vacuum Gas Oil heating is already existing at the HRCC. It was built in 2013. However based on the experience, large-capacity equipment needs longer start-up time, up to 15-20 days. Moreover, as it is well-known, it is during the start-up operations that environment is affected. Implementation of the new Heater project will allow shortening the start-up period. Up to 5 days instead of 10 days. Moreover the quantities of emissions to atmosphere will be decreased.

- In the start-up mode the main Heater will operate at max.70% duty, and new Heater at max. 95%. The cumulative heat from both Heaters will make 54 MW, which is less than that in the current mode. As can be seen from the above, expected mitigation of the impact on atmospheric air with the implementation of this project is around 15 tpa, – mentioned Makcim Novikov, Chief Engineer of TAIF-NK.

Model of the Future Global Crude Oil Processing

TAIF-NK Heavy Residue Conversion Complex is one of the national priority projects. The majority of experts consider it as a model of the Future Global Crude Oil Processing. The project will enable to convert Fuel Oil into the light, clean oil products –Straight Run Naphtha, Kero, and Diesel Fuel. HRCC start-up will allow TAIF-NK to reach the refining depth up to 98.6%.

Currently Complex has been operating in the start-up mode. According to TAIF-NK, construction of the new VGO Heater will become a link in the process chain to allow expediting the launch of a large-scale project.

The new Heater will decrease negative environmental impacts

Arkady Yaroshevsky, Director of Ecada-T OOO, assistant professor of Kazan National Research Technological University acknowledged the work done by TAIF-NK. He personally participated in the researches for the environment impact assessment based on the Technical Assignment.

- It is nice that when discussing this relatively small project, you can see how process engineers have changed their attitude towards the environment. The design of the Heater under the question is feasible from not only a process and economic point of view. It demonstrates that the environmental issues are predominant for TAIF-NK engineers,” - emphasized Arkady Yaroshevsky.

According to him, all studies were carried out within the federal law. Scientists identified potential ecological problems that may result from the project implementation.

- Potential impacts include wastewater disposal, noise, waste generation problems and air emissions. I would like to focus on the topic of wastewater disposal and TAIF-NK treatment plants. I have visited many places, I can assure you that in the Republic there are no similar Biological Treatment Plants like the one at TAIF-NK. All effluents are purified and fully returned back to the process. Recently I used to say, that the most modern Biological Treatment Plants were at TANECO, but even so, they discharge treated wastewater, and TAIF-NK completely returns it to the production process, - said an assistant professor of Kazan National Research Technological University.

Arkady Yaroshevsky also noted that noise level from the Heater will be minimal, and it will have positive effect on the atmospheric air.

-When TAIF-NK lines up the second Heater, the reaction will start, the feed will be warmed up, and the load on the existing Heater will decrease, - the scientist noted and pointed to a slide where a total amount of emissions per year was shown. - The most intense period at the plant is the start-up period, when a number of emissions per second increase. Operation of a new Heater would minimize emissions into the air, and therefore the effect on the human body.

Unanimous decision

The speech of the scientist made a great impression on the audience; people gave Arkady Yaroshevsky a round of big applause. As noted the moderator of the public hearings, Lenar Akhmetov, Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of the Nizhnekamsk Municipal District, the expert’s speech was very convincing and addressed a number of issues.

That day only Grigory Kitanov, Chairman of the Nizhnekamsk Veterans Council, expressed his wishes. According to him, Nizhnekamsk is a town of "chemistry", industrial enterprises have a big impact on the environment in the region, and however the main part of monetary funds are sent to Kazan and Moscow.

On behalf of the older generation, Grigory Kitanov asked the TAIF-NK to pay even more attention to social issues. He also asked whether TAIF-NK would revamp production facilities. Company assured that as a socially responsible Company, TAIF-NK pays due attention to social policy and charity. In the future, the Company’s intention is to support major municipal and republican programs. As for modernization, according to Maxim Novikov, Chief Engineer, Company, pays close attention to industrial safety, occupational safety, annually allocating significant amounts of money for the repair and replacement of outdated equipment. By the way, next year, huge funds will also be allocated for the modernization of industrial facilities.

After listening to all the speakers, the arguments of the speakers and independent experts, the Nizhnekamsk unanimously voted for the construction of the Heater at the HRCC plant. All 265 participants voted in favor of improving the environmental situation in Nizhnekamsk. Indeed, as experts noted, such a modern, careful approach to the construction of new industrial facilities will allow reducing the amount of emissions into the atmosphere, and therefore improving the quality of citizens' life.

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