The Saudi-Japan joint project to convert low-value, heavy gas-oils into high yields of higher value feedstock suitable to supply petrochemical processes will start semi-commercial production in 2012 at the Nippon Oil Refinery in Mizushima, Japan. The refinery will initially produce 3,000 barrels per day of higher value feedstock, according to Dr. Sulaiman Al-Khattaf, director of the Center for Refining and Petrochemicals at the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). A commercial scale project with 30,000 bbl/day capacity is already being planned. The project is a joint collaboration in technology between Saudi Aramco, KFUPM, Japan Cooperation Center-Petroleum (JCCP), and Nippon Oil. The process of converting low-value, heavy gas-oils into high yields of higher value feedstock, called High-Severity Fluid Catalytic Cracking (HS-FCC), was developed by the Center for Refining and Petrochemicals, which was the first phase of the project. The second phase was the construction of a HS-FCC demo unit at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura Refinery that successfully produced 30 barrels per day. The start of the semi-commercial production in Japan by 2012 is the third phase of the project. The Center for Refining and Petrochemicals said the HS-FCC process, which took over 12 years to develop, uses a down flow reactor for heavy-oil feedstock and powdered catalyst, producing high added-value for fractions such as 25 percent for propylene, 19.5 percent for butane and 29 percent for gasoline.
