OREANDA-NEWS. April 11, 2013. Minister of Environment Valentinas Mazuronis participated in the official opening of the 38-million-litas Sulfur Degassing and Pelletization Unit. It is the largest environmental project at the Refinery within recent years.

Modernization of the sulfur production processes will allow increasing ORLEN Lietuva’s sulfur production capacity by 40 percent. The throughput capacity of the new unit amounts to 350 tons per day, with the possibility of being extended up to 450 tons per day in the future.

“The main objectives of this environmental project were to even more improve the storage conditions and transportation safety of sulfur recovered as part of crude oil refining, as well as the Sulfur Unit employees’ work conditions,” noted Ireneusz Fafara, General Director of ORLEN Lietuva.

Minister of Environment Valentinas Mazuronis during the opening ceremony congratulated ORLEN Lietuva on the completion of the significant environmental project.

In 2012, ORLEN Lietuva’s overall investment into modernization and environmental projects reached LTL 253 million. The total investment amount since acquisition of Mazeikiai Refinery by PKN ORLEN exceeds LTL 1.9 billion.

The new Sulfur Degassing Unit reduces the content of hydrogen sulfite (H2S) in the liquid sulfur by 40 times – from 400 mg/kg to less than 10 mg/kg. The Sulfur Pelletization Unit is used to make solid sulfur pellets 2-5 millimeters in diameter from the degassed liquid sulfur. These pellets are diverted to the storage tank and later loaded onto closed-type rail cars or trucks.

Currently ORLEN Lietuva is the only sulfur producer in the Baltic region. Sulfur is mostly used in the chemical industry and in production of fertilizers.