EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH (EDL), the technology provider and engineering company located in Leipzig, Germany, offers an efficient solvent deasphalting technology to process heavy refinery residues: SDA PLUS. With SDA PLUS yields can significantly be increased in existing plants and OPEX reduced by up to 25% as against conventional technologies.
To optimize the economic output and to meet more stringent environmental regulations, such as the IMO 2020 regulations, refiners are permanently looking for new opportunities to process their heavy residues as fully as possible. Therefore, increasingly new solutions for deeper residue processing based on solvent extraction enter the limelight.
With SDA PLUS (SDA – Solvent Deasphalting) EDL offers an innovative concept which is not only important for resource utilization, but also from the economic point of view. It is one of the most interesting bottom-of-the-barrel technologies to process heavy residues in refineries. Compared to other residue processing technologies such as hydrocracking, coking, visbreaking or gasification, SDA PLUS captivates by its low investment costs.
Aside from that, optimal product qualities are achieved at high process efficiency based on most advanced column internals. With SDA PLUS existing SDA plants can be optimized and yields can be increased up to 10%. Moreover, operational costs can be reduced by up to 25% compared to conventional SDA technologies.
With SDA PLUS resins and asphaltenes are removed as so-called pitch from refinery residues in a special extraction column. The resulting deasphalted oil (DAO) is processed in further process stages to base oils, special oils and waxes, e.g. with the extraction, dewaxing and deoiling technologies of EDL, or used for fuel production.
Another advantage of this technology is its flexibility based on which a wide range of pitch qualities – to be used as solid fuel or to produce bitumen by blending or by Pörner Biturox® technology – can be generated.
Beside the production of DAO the two-stage SDA PLUS process additionally allows to produce resins for a variety of applications.
SDA PLUS is available with both subcritical and supercritical solvent recovery, optimized for every particular case of operation.
Safe basis for that certain PLUS
EDL has gained extensive experience in the construction of new and the revamp of existing Solvent Deasphalting (SDA) Plants and has been operating its own pilot plant for solvent deasphalting since 2012. This pilot plant has significantly been enhanced quite recently so that the complete range of solvents from propane to hexane and their mixtures can now be tested.
| Fig.: EDL’s expanded SDA pilot plant in Leipzig / Germany |
In order to respond more flexibly to market requirements and develop economically and ecologically sound solutions for residue processing for refinery customers, the existing test facility has now been expanded and optimized. As a result, EDL’s customers have access to a state-of-the-art SDA PLUS pilot plant. In addition, special process applications can be designed with the new pilot plant, such as a two-stage SDA PLUS process that can be used to make deasphalted oil (DAO), asphaltenes and resins.
Combined with specific analytical methods, such as SARA and the proprietary process simulation software for SDA PLUS developed by EDL the tests provide the basis for the thermodynamic and hydraulic design of the SDA PLUS extraction column and the entire process plant.
The innovative concept of the pilot plant allows to define all required SDA PLUS process parameters quickly, reliably and, above all, tailor-made to the customer’s product requirements with even small quantities (about one liter). Thus, a sound basis for an SDA plant ‘with that certain PLUS’ is created in a short time and very economically.
EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH based in Leipzig / Germany was established as subsidiary of Edeleanu GmbH in 1991 and may refer to tradition and experience in plant engineering of more than one hundred years. As partner of the refinery and chemical industry EDL offers the full range of services for process plant engineering and assists its customers with advanced and new climate-friendly technologies in sustainably operating their productions. With more than 50 major modernization projects EDL is deemed a revamp specialist. Since 2003 EDL has been part of the Pörner Group based in Austria.
The Pörner Group is the independent European company for process plant engineering. As complete plant engineering provider the Pörner Group offers the full range of engineering services: from project studies and authority engineering to process engineering, basic and detail engineering as well as procurement to construction management and commissioning of the plant.
The Pörner Group The Pörner Group offers advanced technologies in the world market and supplies complete process plants, amongst others for: bitumen, residue technologies with solvent deasphalting (SDA PLUS), extraction (EXTRACTION) dewaxing & deoiling (DEWAXING / DEOILING), spray micronization (MICRONIZATION) as well as BTX aromatics extraction (AROMEX), formaldehyde & derivates and Bio Silicates from rice hulls (Pörner Silicate Technology). With the Biturox® process, the Pörner Group is a global leader in bitumen production in refineries and offers the Pörner Bitumen Packing System, an innovative solution for the economical transportation of bitumen in cold state.
Since its founding more than 45 years ago the Pörner Group has implemented over 2,000 projects in the field of refinery, petrochemical, chemical and pharmaceutical as well as energy and environmental technology. Headquartered in Vienna, Austria the company is represented at seven other locations in Germany, Romania, Ukraine and Russia. ulrike.fischer@edl.poerner.de https://www.poerner.at/en/