FCC unit for sulphur reduction in naphtha (G-42)

SENER has worked for Repsol YPF to provide the basic engineering, purchase management and construction supervision services for ‘Project G42. FCC Naphtha Sulphur Reduction Unit’ at the A Coruña complex. Repsol is undertaking this project in order to comply with new European regulations that require the sulphur content of petrol to be reduced to a maximum level of 10 ppm, in force since January 2009.  

The work of SENER includes two clearly defined physical areas: on the one hand, the modification of existing facilities to include a new naphtha hydrodesulphurisation unit (SHU) based on the Fluidised Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCC) using Prime G+ technology from Axens. The SHU unit will process a total amount of 100 t/hr of naphtha from the FCC unit; on the other hand, a completely new HydroDeSulphurisation Unit (HDS) which will receive the average cut from the SHU plant, around 27.5 t/h, to reduce its sulphur content. Added to this is the interconnection work between the two, as well as the services they require.

The space available for the SHU is very small, meaning that the designs must have been as accurate as possible to include all the required services, as any changes had implications on all areas. Besides, the HDS unit is installed on a new plot of land, but is also subject to considerable space limitations due to its proximity to public land.