OREANDA-NEWS. January 17, 2011. Environmental solutions used by TATNEFT Company for implementation of the TANECO Refining Complex project in Nizhnekamsk (Republic of Tatarstan) meet all modern requirements.

The issue of TATNEFT Group of Companies' activity to reduce the impact on the environment became one of the subjects discussed at the meeting of the Collegium of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan on the results of work in 2010 and tasks for 2011 held on January 13. The meeting was attended by Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan, and Igor Maidanov, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Republic of Tatarstan.

In the course of discussions the Collegium noted a significant contribution of JSC  TATNEFT's long-term environmental program in the improvement of the ecological state in the oil region of the Republic. In particular, the Company had almost completely transferred the oilfield gathering system to the application of anti-corrosive pipes. The multi-fold improvement of the atmospheric air has been contributed by the units to recover light hydrocarbon fractions and almost 95 per cent utilization of the associated petroleum gas. Environmental projects of the oilmen's tire complex (JSC  "Nizhnekamskshina") were also presented as a positive example.

During the meeting, President of Tatarstan emphasized the positive example of the latest environmentally oriented management decisions of TATNEFT Company, applied in implementation of the TANECO refinery and petrochemical plants complex construction project.

A report on the practical solution of environmental problems in the construction of the refining complex was presented at the meeting by Khamza Bagmanov, General Director of TANECO. According to him the applied engineering design solutions, as well as application of the world's proven technologies and equipment allowed to create a balanced ecologically oriented model of economic development and greatly improve the quality of the environment.

Elaboration of special technical requirements allowed achieving 61% development density, which is unique for the domestic industry, enabling to place the Complex within the area of less than 400 hectares and thus saving more than 100 hectares of natural lands.

In addition, the management of JSC  TATNEFT initiated planting of more than 2 million trees in the area of 384 hectares, which marked the beginning of creating the so-called "Green Shield" of Nizhnekamsk. This initiative was supported and continued by the other business enterprises of the city.

A strategic objective of TANECO is to deepen the processing of crude oil with the aim of its rational utilization and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Improving the quality of petroleum products to the level of national regulations and requirements of Euro-5 is being achieved through application of a hydrocracking process and deep hydrotreating enabling to recieve petroleum products with ultra-low sulfur content.

Given that the enterprises of the Nizhnekamsk industrial hub are in the stage of intensive evolution, environment protection issues remain relevant and require special attention. Khamza Bagmanov proposed to develop a "Dedicated program to protect the environment and the health of the people living in Nizhnekamsk and the region for 2011-2015".

Information Reference.

The environmental protection measures performed in the process of the TANECO Complex construction will increase the share of water recycling to 97 percent or even higher. This will also be achieved through implementations of a special water block project enabling to reduce the water flow 1.5 times versus the traditional ones. The saving will then reach 1,000,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity for processing 1 million tons of crude oil.

The guarantee of high water quality and removal of the full spectrum of contaminants is based on application of integrated membrane processes. Combinations of ultra-and nano-filtration, reverse osmosis, electro-deionization and membrane bioreactors are highly profitable and provides for minimal chemicals consumption.

Wastewater treatment facilities of the Complex have no analogues in Russia. Covering an area of about 8 times smaller in comparison with the traditional arrangement scheme, they provide for returning up to 80% of purified water to the production.

Modern technologies to prevent pollution of the soil have allowed avoiding construction of sludge and slime collectors. After processing the sludge, sediments and excess silt the hydrocarbon raw materials go back to processing lines, while the solid precipitations are sent to biodegradation and thermal decontamination. Thermal destruction products are sent to the own landfill, which is unique allowing to change from the practice of industrial wastes dumping to their long-term storage as a potential raw material in the future.

Given that the issues of atmospheric air protection are particularly relevant for the Nizhnekamsk industrial hub, the project includes cutting edge solutions enabling to limit the amount of emissions to a minimum level: no more than 2.9 thousand tons per year for the first starting complex facilities.

Emissions reduction has been achieved through application of best technologies and equipment with low emissions.

For example, a licensed sulfur production technology with guaranteed estimated sulfur recovery efficiency of 99.8% prevents discharge of more than 260 thousand tons of sulfur per year as a pollutant into the environment.

The industrial environmental control and management of environmental quality integrated into the information system of the enterprise are also important.

Extensive information about the background state of the environment and subsurface water of the Nizhnekamsk industrial hub area has been collected at TANECO since 2005 and a data base has been created with the involvement of not only environmental institutions, but also the medical ones.

The industrial environmental monitoring has been carried out by own facilities since last October. A mobile laboratory complex is in operation. Sampling and analysis of the ambient air are performed daily for 28 contaminant substances at the border of the sanitary-protective zone and in the nearby populated localities. Equipmentwise the laboratory of TANECO is one of the best in Russia and it passed accreditation In December.