New Talara Refinery will start hydrotreatment plant startup tests

As part of the gradual and progressive start-up tests, the start-up tests of the hydrotreatment units of the New Talara Refinery (NRT) will begin in the coming days, with a view to putting them into use and starting commercial operations in December this year.

This was announced by engineer Óscar Vera Gargurevich, corporate manager of Petroperú's Talara Refinery, during his participation in a new edition of the "National LPG Meeting 2022", an event that brought together the main representatives of the sector in the country.

Prior to the start-up of the three hydrotreatment units, which will allow the removal of sulfur from gasoline and diesel, the Primary Distillation Unit, the Vacuum Distillation Unit and the Hydrogen Production and Purification Unit were commissioned. Subsequently, the same will be done with the conversion and deep conversion units, according to the start-up schedule.

Vera Gargurevich indicated that from December 2022 the NRT will be able to produce gasoline and diesel with 50 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) with 20 ppm, among other quality fuels.

As part of these start-up tests, interconnections and systems required for the commissioning of 7,000 pieces of equipment and 35,000 instruments, involved in this complex start-up process for the stabilization and commissioning of the NRT, are carried out. This process is carried out in the same way in other refineries in the world with the same level of complexity.

The start-up process is carried out with the participation of experienced personnel from the Técnicas Reunidas contractor companies, in the process units, and Cobra, in the auxiliary units. Also participating in these activities are the licensing companies Honeywell, Axens, UOP, Haldor Topsoe and Exxon Mobil, as well as the international supervision consortium CPT and the different specialist technicians from the factories that supplied the various pieces of equipment that form part of this new complex of refine.

Vera Gargurevich also reported that, during the construction process of the NRT, Petroperú has invested more than S/ 60 million in social management activities, such as the construction and equipping of a modular hospital with an intensive care unit, among other actions for the benefit health, education and improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of Talara.