Unanimous decision: Nizhnekamsk citizens vote for construction of new furnace at TAIF-NK

The furnace will run on environmentally friendly fuel

The assembly hall of the cadet corps was packed to capacity. Two hundred and sixty-five participants registered for the public hearings on the construction of the new furnace at TAIF-NK. Among those present, there were ordinary citizens of Nizhnekamsk, representatives of environmental agencies, deputies of the Nizhnekamsk City Council and others. The first word was taken by the chief engineer of TAIF-NK PSC, Maksim Novikov.

He elaborated on the construction of the new furnace and the technical solutions used.

“The new facility is planned to be built in the shop No. 01 of the Heavy Residue Conversion Complex. It will be located in the centre of the industrial hub, away from settlements and the city of Nizhnekamsk — at a distance of 8 kilometres. The most environmentally friendly natural gas, which is used by each of us for cooking, will be used as the fuel for the furnace,” said Maksim Novikov.

It should be noted that there is already one such furnace to heat vacuum gas oil at the plant of the HRCC. It was built in 2013. However, the time has shown that the equipment is capacious, so the start-up operations were delayed for a long time, which can reach 15-20 days. As you know, it is during the start-up operations there is a negative impact on the environment. The new furnace will reduce the number of days allotted for start-up operations. Five instead of ten days. Besides, the amount of emissions into the atmosphere will be reduced.

“In the commissioning mode, the main furnace will operate with a load of no more than 70%, and the new one — no more than 95%. The total heat of both furnaces will be 54 MW, which is less than the existing regime. Thus, the reduction of the impact on the atmospheric air during the implementation of this event is expected to be about 15 tonnes a year,” chief engineer of TAIF-NK Maksim Novikov said during his speech.

The model of the future of world oil refining

The Heavy Residue Conversion Complex at TAIF-NK is one of the priorities in the country. Many experts consider it the model of the future of world oil refining. The project will allow to process fuel oil into light, environmentally friendly oil products — straight-run gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel. The HRCC at the start will enable to achieve the depth of processing of oil at TAIF-NK to 98,6%.

Currently, the production works in the commissioning mode. According to TAIF-NK employees, the construction of the new furnace to heat vacuum gas oil will become the link in the technological chain that will speed up the launch of the large-scale project.

The new furnace will reduce the negative impact on the environment

Arkady Yaroshevsky, the director of Ekada-T PLC, Associate Professor at the Kazan National Research Technological University, praised the work of TAIF-NK. He has personally participated in environmental impact assessment studies based on the terms of reference.

“It's nice that when discussing this relatively small project, one can see how the attitude of technologists to the environment has changed. The furnace project we are talking about is expedient not only from the technological and economic points of view. It shows that the dominant in the thinking of TAIF-NK engineers is ecology,” said Arkady Yaroshevsky.

According to him, all studies were conducted within the framework of the federal law. Scientists have found out the possible environmental consequences of the project, its impact on the environment.

“Among the likely impacts — wastewater disposal, noise, the problem of waste generation and emissions into the atmosphere. I would like to dwell on the topic of wastewater disposal and tell about the treatment facilities of TAIF-NK. I have visited many places, I can assure you that there are no analogues of the biological treatment plant (BOS) of TAIF-NK in the republic. All water is purified and fully returned to production. I have just recently said that the most modern biological treatment plants are at TANECO, but they discharge treated wastewater, but TAIF-NK completely returns it to production,” said the associate professor of the Kazan National Research Technological University.

Arkady Yaroshevsky also noted that the noise from the furnace will be minimal, its construction will positively affect the condition of atmospheric air quality.

“If TAIF-NK connects the second furnace, the reaction starts, the raw material heats up, and the load on the existing furnace will be reduced,” the scientists said and pointed at the slide that showed the total amount of emissions a year. “The most stressful period at the plant is the start-up, when the amount of emissions per second increases. If we use the new furnace, the harmful substances in the air will be minimal, which means that the impact on the body from the effects of chemicals will also be minimal.”

Unanimous decision

The speech of the scientist made a great impression on the audience, people gave Arkady Yaroshevsky loud applause when he was leaving the stage. As the moderator of the public hearings, Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of Nizhnekamsk municipal district Lenar Akhmetov noted, the speech of the expert was so convincing that it immediately took a number of issues off the table.

Only Chairman of the Council of Veterans of Nizhnekamsk Grigory Kitanov expressed the wishes that evening. According to him, Nizhnekamsk is the city of “chemistry”, industrial enterprises put a great burden on the environment in the area, and the bulk of financial contributions goes to Kazan and Moscow.

On behalf of the older generation, Grigory Kitanov asked the refinery to pay even more attention to social issues. He also asked whether TAIF-NK would modernize the production. The employees of the company assured that as a socially responsible enterprise TAIF-NK pays due attention to social policy and charity. In the future, the company intends to continue to support significant city and national programmes.

As for modernization, then according to the chief engineer of the enterprise, Maksim Novikov, the joint-stock company pays close attention to industrial safety, labour protection, annually allocating significant sums for repair and the replacement of outdated equipment. By the way, next year impressive financial resources will also be allocated for the modernization of industrial facilities.

Having listened to all speakers, the arguments of the presenters and independent experts, Nizhnekamsk citizens unanimously voted for the construction of the furnace at the HRCC plant. All 265 participants voted for the improvement of the environmental situation in Nizhnekamsk. After all, as experts noted, such a modern, thorough approach to the construction of new industrial facilities will reduce the amount of emissions into the atmosphere, and thus improve the quality of life of citizens.