Topsoe to help HMEL meet BS-VI Fuel Specification

Indian refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) recently announced that it has chosen Haldor Topsoe’s diesel hydrotreater and hydrogen generation technology to meet their upgrading requirements. The revamped refinery in Bathinda, Punjab will meet the BS VI (equivalent to Euro VI) fuel specifications under the BS-VI Fuel Quality Project, when completed in the last quarter of 2019. The Government of India decided to implement the BS-VI auto fuel standards by 2020 and has directed refiners to supply BS-VI (10 ppmw sulfur max) auto fuels across India from April 1, 2020.

Large refinery in India.

Topsoe delivers a bundled technology solution for the diesel hydrotreater unit and revamp of the facility’s hydrogen generation assets. Topsoe’s bundled technology solution and the fast project implementation (36 months) will make it possible for HMEL to meet the BS VI fuel specification deadline. According to information from Haldor Topsoe, this solution requires less investment than competing solutions along with shorter project implementation time, while providing optimal feed flexibility to meet processing objectives.

Revamp of the existing hydrogen generation facility includes two of Topsoe’s proprietary heat exchange reformers (HTER). The compact HTERs are always individually customized for each plant to provide capacity increases up to 30% with a very small footprint. The diesel hydrotreater unit will be optimized to take full advantage of Topsoe’s HyBRIM™ TK-611 ULSD high activity NiMo based catalyst that deliver 25% improved activity for both nitrogen and sulfur removal and longer cycle lengths while processing complex feeds.

According to Topsoe, the catalyst is outstanding for use as a first-stage catalyst in hydrocracking units, where maximum HDN of straight-run and cracked fractions in the VGO range is essential. Furthermore, the catalyst is favored for high-severity ULSD hydrotreating units operating at medium-to-high pressure. In addition, TK-611 HyBRIM™ is suitable for a broad range of straight-run and cracked distillate stocks, and is especially suitable for aromatic saturation in high-pressure units. Aromatic saturation is essential when cetane improvement, low aromatic content or high volume swell is desired.