OREANDA-NEWS. September 7, 2009. OMZ (Uralmash-Izhora Group) (RTS: OMZZ; LSE: OMZD; OTC: UHMVY), a leading heavy machinery company with assets located in Russia and the Czech Republic, announced that its Izhorskiye Zavody unit has completed production of the first 3R-2001 vacuum gas oil hydrotreater for modernization of the Kstovo refinery owned by LUKoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez OJSC.

OMZ won a tender to supply two hydrotreaters of the first and second grade for LUKoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez OJSC in 2007. The contract calue was approximately RUB800 million.

A vacuum gas oil hydrotreater is designed for oil processing and the production of high quality diesel fuel (Euro 5 standard). It is a vessel 30 meters in length and with an outer diamteter of more than six meters. The weight is around 800 tons. By agreement with the customer and the license holder (Axens, France) Izhorskiye Zavody produced the hydrotreater vessel not from forged shell but from flat steel of over 20 millimeters gauge. Metallurgical semi finished products for the vessel production were made from 15H2MFA-А chromium-molybdenum-vanadium steel by OMZ Special Steels, also part of the OMZ Group. The unique character of the products with regard to steel used in manufacturing and to weight and size required the use of special welding and thermal processing technologies. Hydrotesting of the hydrotreater was the final operation. During hydrotesting the hydrotreater was filled with water under pressure of 167 atmospheres or 16.5 MPa.

The hydrotreater's shipping is also a unique operation. In order to prepare for the shipping the company improved roads to be used, took bank protection measures in Izhora River estuary and rebuilt a berth. The 800-ton hydrotreater has been loaded to a special platform by two bridge cranes each with up to 500 tons lifting capacity. The shipping operation will take several days and will occur in stages, including crossing over Oktyabrskaya Railways and shipping to a barge in Izhora River estuary. The last stage involves transport of the hydrotreater to the customer by water.

Design and production of a wide range of pressure vessels for oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical industries with different sizes and for various purposes is one of OMZ Group's business priorities. Among the company's major customers in this sector are Gazprom, Rosneft, LUKoil, Surgutneftegaz, TNK-BP, Taneko and other companies. Currently the company is working on production of hydrocracking reactors for a new oil refinery owned by Taneko OJSC, Nizhnekamsk, and of the reactors for a diesel fuel hydrotreating unit owned by Naftan OJSC, Novopolotsk, Belarus.