“The refining is producing 7 million liters of unleaded gasoline with octane ratings of 87 (regular) per day. However, completion of a Continuous Catalytic Reformer (CCR) unit and a Reduced Crude Desulfurization (RDC) unit will enhance gasoline quality,” Hamed Armanfar was quoted as saying by ILNA.
Euro 4 and premium gasoline have octane ratings of 91 and 95 respectively. The two units (CCR /RDC) will help increase octane to above 96 and decrease benzene level to less than 1%.
The units are estimated to cost $240 million, he said.
More refineries nationwide can start producing Euro-5 gasoline but need advanced technology and significant investments, the official noted.
European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in EU member states. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company is now producing 105 million liters of gasoline a day, of which 79 million comply with Euro-5 emission standards.
"NIORDC's Euro-5 gasoline output was zero in 2013," Armanfar said, adding that Shazand Refinery in the central city of Arak, Markazi Province, started producing 17 million liters of high-quality fuel per day in 2014.
Output reached 28 ml/d in 2016. It rose to 43 ml/d in 2017 as the Bandar Abbas Refinery in Hormozgan Province also added Euro-5 gasoline to its output.
The Persian Gulf Star Refinery in southern Hormozgan Province went on stream in mid-2017 because of which overall gasoline production increased by 76% to 76 ml/d. The venture in Tabriz increased overall output to 79 ml/d.
Armanfar said the Tehran refinery project for reducing mazut production is in the preliminary phase.
Founded in 1969, Tehran Oil Refinery is located 15 kilometers south of the capital and includes two sections (southern and northern). Its crude refining capacity (250,000 barrels a day) has risen by 200% over the past 5 decades.
The company’s daily diesel output is 8 million liters, a part of which is sold in Tehran and Alborz provinces and the rest piped to Mashhad.
Zero Flaring
According to the official, the amount of associated petroleum gas burning out from the refinery has reached zero and its CO2 output is sent to a carbon dioxide recycling plant in Rey County (south Tehran).
The recycling facility annually converts 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions from the Tehran refinery into industrial and food-grade CO2, meeting 15% of the domestic demand for the product.
Prior to the construction of the complex, carbon dioxide —the most dangerous and prevalent greenhouse gas — was released into the atmosphere, exacerbating the air pollution in and around Tehran.
According to the official, the refinery is committed to working for a low-carbon future, which primarily involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Piped Water
To help reduce water consumption in the sprawling capital, the second phase of a development plan to transfer sewage from the South Tehran Wastewater Treatment Complex to Tehran Oil Refinery is underway, he said.
“The plan calls for diverting 19 million cubic meters of wastewater a year to the refinery’s wastewater unit now under construction.”
When completed, 19 million cubic meters of piped water will be saved annually and pumped to small towns in the vicinity of the refinery in south Tehran.
The wastewater, which will be recycled in the refinery’s wastewater treatment facility, will have low total dissolved solids (TDS) suitable for cooling towers and the refinery’s fire department.
TDS is a measure of the dissolved combined content of all inorganic and organic substances present in a liquid in molecular, ionized, or micro-granular suspended form. The wastewater treatment unit is under construction and seven kilometers of water pipes have been laid.
A 2015 agreement between TWWC and Tehran Refinery calls on the former to provide the latter 2 mcm of wastewater per annum for 30 years.