Rompetrol Rafinare, the main Romanian company of The Rompetrol Group, N.V., launched today a Diesel In Line Blending system following a greenfield investment of about $7 million . Boasting a 1,200 m3/hour capacity, the new system will ensure superior product quality and significantly reduce costs.
Rominserv, the general contractor, commenced designs in April 2005, and enjoyed technical support and equipment supplied by FMC Blending & Transfer, a member of US company FMC Technologies Inc.
“This is the second important project we complete jointly with FMC, after starting up the similar gasoline system back in 2003. In the case of the Diesel system, there is also an additional benefit: Rompetrol Rafinare will be able to add a controlled amount of Biodiesel, and this is very important for both calculation of excise duties and quality of the end product. These two investments give us a significant competitive edge, because we are sure to always provide fuels fully complying with customers’ standards.” stated Cosmin Cocean, Rompetrol Rafinare CEO.
In Line Blending is a technology via which all components of a certain type of fuel are simultaneously blended together in the correct proportions required to comply with certain standards. The mixing is done automatically and the entire system employs state-of-the-art software and in-line analysis equipment.
As a result of employing this technology, a series of intermediate costs are cut down, durations for achieving end products are far shorter, and the proportions in which compounds undergo blending are under precise control.At the same time, product quality is controlled by a string of in-line analyzers which send real-time data to a central computer, thus allowing for potential modifications.
The Rompetrol Rafinare refinery has an Automated Gasoline In Line Blending system since 2003, as a result of a $6.6 million investment. In September 2001, the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) gave The Rompetrol Group a grant in excess of $63,000, employed for a feasibility study carried out for this project, which also was implemented jointly with FMC.