Enclosed Eurosilo storage of petcoke at the INA Refinery

At the INA refinery in Rijeka, Croatia, the construction of a fully enclosed Eurosilo for the storage of petcoke is well under way. EPC Contractor KT, highly specialized in the refining industry, chose the Eurosilo system as a state-of-the-art solution to store the petcoke produced by the new coker unit that is being built at the refinery. Saving space was decisive for KT to choose the Eurosilo, but as always in the petrochemical industry, the high safety standards are unconditional.

Vertical Storage Fits Limited Space

One of the biggest challenges was to work with the limited space at the fully built-up plant site. By using the vertical storage concept of the Eurosilo, KT was able to position the storage facility on premises, near the new coker unit. The small footprint not only saves KT and end-user INA the huge costs of land reclamation and a logistic infrastructure, but also includes the extra measures to guarantee environmental safety. Compared to storage in storage halls, the Eurosilo system reduces the required ground space to only 25% for the same amount of petcoke.

BUILD -IN SAFETY SYSTEMS

The safety standards in the petrochemical industry are traditionally high. But the location at the seaside adds a list of further requirements, to meet environmental issues. A number of safety systems ensure compliance with the requirements. The infeed of the petcoke is fully contained and drops via a telescopic loading chute to the top surface. In this way the dust formation within the facility is minimized. CO and CH4 detection sensors, mounted close to the bulk solids surface, and the related gas monitoring system detect potential risks at an early stage. To ensure a flawless output at the required rate, the silo system is equipped with a double outfeed hopper system that works with vibrating feeders and slide valves to prevent an oxygen flow into the petcoke stored. This way a fully redundant, safe and reliable reclaim rate can be guaranteed.

No Segregation

Due to the working principle of the Eurosilo, the infeed of petcoke via the telescopic chute is evenly distributed in layers on top of the stored mass by the rotating screw conveyors. This eliminates the problem of segregation into unbalanced layers with either fine grit or larger chunks of petcoke. In reverse, the rotating screw conveyors move the petcoke towards the centre into the core flow that is induced by the outfeed hopper system. Contrary to conventional shed storage, the Eurosilo provides automatic blending. As a fuel for the aluminium, steel or cement producing industries, a balanced blend of petcoke ensures constant and controlled combustion.

Track Record In Petrochemical

As a partner for different industries with a great variety of requirements, ESI is accustomed to handling the extensive administration and mandatory paper work for complex projects. This also applies to the petrochemical industry, with the delivery of two petcoke silos in Sohar, Oman for Orpic. Following Orpic’s strong commitment to safety and sustainability, EPC Contractor Larsen & Toubro chose the Eurosilo system. Two Eurosilos of 42,000m3 each, now streamline the logistic flow between the production and the periodic loading of the transport ships at the nearby port. The project received the Best EPC PROJECT AWARD 2017.

BUILDING FUTURE-PROOF STORAGE SOLUTIONS

ESI received the order to provide the state-of-the-art petcoke silo for the INA Refinery from KT in 2021. ESI is now finalizing the civil construction and all mechanical and electronical parts have been designed, produced, tested and delivered. With a worldwide growing demand for aluminium, steel and cement, the need for petcoke for the producing industries is predicted to steadily grow in the coming years. The Eurosilo system and the experienced project management of ESI are ready to meet that growth. Richard Spaargaren, ESI sales director stresses the key value for petcoke producers: “Of course we can draw on our experience with this great project for KT in Croatia and the awarded twin petcoke silos in Oman. But the decisive factor — saving invaluable space at cramped plant sites — applies to all refineries that need to step up to the growing demand for petcoke.”