Eni Slurry Technology:

An opportunity for refinery/petrochemical industry integration

G. Rispoli

Platts 2nd Annual European Petrochemicals Conference Dusseldorf, Germany (March 11-12, 2015)

EST: the answer to market needs 1

EST results and operation experience 3

First EST Commercial Unit at eni’s Sannazzaro Refinery 2

Conclusions 4

Refining is generally considered a technologically mature sector

Effort

Ad

van

cem

en

t

1900

1920

1980 2000

1925: Thermal cracking

1927: Coal hydrogenetion

1929: Delayed coking

1930: 1° Hydroferining

1938: Alkylation

1940: Catalytic reformer

1941: Butane isomerization

1942: Fluid catalytic cracking

1940

1949: Platforming

1962: Modern Hydrocracking

1963: Ebullated bed hydrocracking

1960

Effort/Advancement curve for refinery technologies

Last significant development back in the ’60s

2013

2013: Eni Slurry Technology

EST is a hydrocracking process based on two unique features:

1. Nanodispersed (slurry) non ageing catalyst

2. Homogeneous & isothermal slurry bubble column reactor

The recycle of unconverted heavy ends

allows the total conversion of the bottom of the barrel to good quality

middle distillates (feedstock conversion >97%)

H2

Refined products

(SCO)

Gas

Slu

rry R

eacto

r

Feed

Purge

Fracti

on

ati

on

S

yste

m

Cat prec

Catalyst & Residue

Recycle

H2 Rec.

Reaction Products

EST can easily handle very heavy feedstock

What is EST ?

Eni Slurry Technology (EST) is a new technology for the full conversion of the bottom of the barrel to distillates The availability at industrial level of EST enables the oil industry to solve crucial needs:

Meet the declining demand of Fuel Oil converting surplus of Refinery Residues into Distillates (Zero Fuel Oil - zero coke Refinery)

Meet the increasing demand of cleaner distillates without increase of the CDU capacity

Increase the refinery flexibility to supply of heavier crudes Increase the production of intermediates as potential

petrochemical feedstocks

EST Meets Fundamental Needs of Refining Industry

6

EST Sannazzaro: the industrial project

Diesel

LPG

Gasoline

Kero

O

I

L

M

o

v

e

m

e

n

t

HDS1/2

HDS3

Reformer2/3

TIP

ALK MTBE

O.C.

Bitumen

Pitch

T

o

p

p

i

n

g

HDC1/2 VACUUM 1/2

FCC

VSB

IGAS

Syngas

ROSE

EST

Sannazzaro EST Project – Scope of Work

EST Design Capacity 23,000 bbl/d (Design feedstock: Vacuum Residue)

Steam Reforming (100,000 Nm3/h)

Sulfur Recovery Unit (160 t/d, in 2 lines)

Sour Water Stripper and Ammine Recovery Unit

Utilities (CW, IA, N2, Steam Distribution, FW, Hot Oil, etc.)

n. 4 Electrical Substations

Bunkerized Control Room

Offsite (Flare, Water Reuse System, Tanks for storage of Water, Catalyst, Pitch, Diathermic Oil)

Interconnecting with the existing adjacent refinery (3 km lenght)

Integration of EST Complex in the Sannazzaro Refinery: Total refining capacity 11Mt/y

Auxiliaries units: -H2 unit 100 kNm3/h -(running since Jan 2013)

-SRU 160 t/d

Bunkerized control room (in operation since Jan 2013)

Slurry reaction unit 23000 bbl/d

Upgrading process unit

PTU

EST Complex Lay-out

EST Sannazzaro today

Sannazzaro EST Project – Main Milestones

• Engineering (Front End) started Jan 2009. Detailed engineering 9 months later • Site Activities (earth movement and civil works) started in Nov 2010

• Steam Reforming unit and relevant utilities started-up in Jan 2013

• Pre-commissioning of EST started in Apr 2013

• Commissioning of EST started in Jul 2013

• Start-up Sept 2013

• Oil-in Oct 2013

• Presently in operation

EST start-up and first year of operation

The EST hydrocracker unit has successfully and safety begun operations and is producing high quality distillates (oil-in: 2013, October 14th)

Syncronized start up / operation of all the auxiliary facilities associated with the Unit

First results confirm the proper design of the plant:

major equipments provided the expected performance (as per design)

some minor adjustments in order to improve the global EST plant performance

EST first results

Slurry reactors: perfectly isothermal and homogeneous (axial DT <2°C and radial DT <0.1°C)

Gas/liquid separation: High efficiency of gas-liquid separation (no foaming occurrence)

Conversion: EST plant has run at nearly 70-80% of design capacity (there are market constraints related to the reduction of purge volume accepted by cement factories compared to the their planned absorption capacity). Feed conversion up to 95-96% without coke formation

Product slate and quality: Results are in good agreement with the expected product distribution as calculated by process simulation (based on EST Demonstration plant data). Euro V diesel yields is higher than 40 wt.%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Expected EST Unit Data

wt. %

C1-C2 LPG Naphtha Diesel VGO Purge

EST results: product yields

Typical EST Feed

d15°C: 1026 g/cm3 C5-Asph: 15.4 wt.%

S: 2.9 wt.% Ni: 88 ppm

N: 0.6 wt.% V: 199 ppm

CCR: 20.1 wt.% Fe: 41 ppm

Euro V diesel

Desulphurized

naphtha

Cat feed 0.1% S

(or marine fuel 0.1% S)

Pitch LPG

March 2014: the SECAs established to limit SOx and particulate matter emissions are:

1. Baltic Sea area – as defined in

Annex I of MARPOL 2. North Sea area (including the English Channel) – as defined in Annex V of MARPOL 3. North American area (entered into force on 1st August 2012); and 4. United States Caribbean Sea (entered into force on 1st January 2014)

Marine fuels Sulphur standards : key steps

Sulphur in Marine Fuels: towards new specifications

New maritime regulations (into effect since January 1st 2015) significant reduction of residue demand

(Source: MARPOL 73/78, Annex VI Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships)

Liquid products slate can be optimized according to the refinery

specifications or other needs

Integration of EST with Petrochemical facilities can offer optimisation

opportunities that may enhance the economics at both sites

EST flexibility and integration with Petrochemical Industry

Naphtha

Distillates

Catfeed

Petrochemical

Diesel

FCC

Hydrocracking

Maximize naphtha/gasoline

Maximize diesel

C2-C4

Pool gasoline

The completion of the new plant start-up will open the possibility to radically modify the existing refinery schemes through the conversion of the oil barrel over 97 % to LPG, kero, naphtha and diesel fuel

Perspectives: New Refinery Paradigma

Higher availability

of petrochemical feedstocks

The first EST hydrocracker Commercial unit is in operation at eni’s

Sannazzaro refinery

Key success factors:

Demonstrated reliability

High conversion to valuable products

No coke formation/production

Option to convert the Bottom of the Barrel overcoming conversion limitations

Environment-friendly technology

High energy efficiency

Excellent option for natural gas valorisation

Opportunity of integration with petrochemical

Further improvements of the technology are in the pipeline as a

result of first year of operation

Now, since the successful start up of the Unit, eni has started to

license EST technology

Conclusion