OREANDA-NEWS  Russian-produced oversized equipment for construction of a combined Euro+ facility at the Gazprom Neft Moscow Refinery has been delivered by river barge. The vacuum distillation column,* manufactured in Volgodonsk by AEM-technology (part of Atomenergomash, the machine-building division of state-owned company Rosatom), will become part of the primary refining unit. The new equipment will allow the production of highly environmentally friendly Euro-5 fuel components, as well as cutting-edge bitumens.

The column, unique in its dimensions and weight, was delivered via the Volgo-Don canal, with the equipment — weighing more than 500 tonnes — travelling a total 2,500 kilometres by river. In order to facilitate transportation, the column was delivered in seven sections, for assembly. The delivered sections were loaded onto a special mooring berth in Besedi, just outside Moscow, from where they were delivered to the Euro+ site by heavy haulage trucks.

The Euro+ unit is designed for primary distillation and the production of components for ecologically sound Euro-5 fuels. Construction of the new complex will allow the Moscow Refinery to decommission several older-generation facilities and increase overhaul life and repair runtimes from two to four years, ensuring additional stability in fuel supplies for the capital and its suburbs. With improved energy efficiency and greater industrial safety, the enterprise will continue reducing the environmental impacts of its production processes.

The vacuum column is used to further separate the mazut remaining following atmospheric distillation. The vacuum inside the installation allows the mazut to be heated to the temperature required to ensure its clear separation into those components which become the raw materials for the further production of fuels and bitumens.

Construction of the Euro+ facility is one of the key projects in the second phase of the comprehensive modernisation of the Moscow Refinery being undertaken by Gazprom Neft. Construction of the Euro+ facility began in 2016, with 25 percent of works now complete. 11,600 piles have now been driven into the earth, and filled with 25,000 tonnes of concrete — 80 percent of the total volume. Some 12,200 tonnes of metal structures have been delivered to the plant. Twenty two of a total 31 pieces of major equipment have been installed. NIPIGAZ, a leading Russian project management, procurement and construction organisation, is general contractor on construction of the Euro+ facility.