Accessible and open: members of general public visit Nizhnekamskneftekhim

Cordially, but according to the rules

Before entering the territory of Nizhnekamskneftekhim, all members of the delegation were equipped according to all the rules of industrial safety and passed the induction training. Preservation of life and health of people is the determining principle in the work of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC.

First Deputy Director General — Chief Engineer of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC Ilfat Sharifullin, Project Manager Anton Tokinov and Deputy Chief Engineer for Environmental Protection Andrey Rubezhov met the guests at the construction site of the future plant. The stand with detailed visual information about methanol production was presented at the site.

One of the questions raised by the representatives of the public council of the city concerned the volume of future products.

“The capacity of the new production facility is to be 500,000 tonnes a year. We do not plan to produce more, as well as to sell excess methanol on the side, we will produce it only for our own needs,” explained Ilfat Sharifullin, the chief engineer of Nizhnekamskneftekhim.

The general plan of the project with the use of 3D-modeling was clearly presented to the public. They told in detail about the construction stages of the methanol production and technical solutions provided by the project in terms of reducing the negative impact on the environment. Namely, the use of licensed technology of the world's leading manufacturer — Haldor Topsoe, which provides for the neutralization of nitrogen dioxide to safe hydrogen, oxygen and water vapour; the use of carbon dioxide as an additional source of raw materials.

The construction of the new ultramodern unit will help to reduce emissions to air, according to estimates, threefold in relation to the dismantled obsolete production facilities, as well as to optimize the types of works provided for the logistics of methanol in the region and the maintenance of the loading/unloading rack, and to reduce the amount of its storage on the territory of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC.

There has always been methanol at Nizhnekamskneftekhim

Methanol is one of the most important links in the chain of production of synthetic rubbers of Nizhnekamskneftekhim. It has always been present at the company since 1980. Over the years, methanol consumption has increased in parallel with rubber production. And all this time, the company has been forced to buy raw materials in other regions, to deliver it to the territory of Nizhnekamsk region by road and rail, to fill storage tanks for the strategic reserve.

“Transportation is not only expensive but also dangerous, both during unloading and storage of the product. Today, during methanol discharge, evaporation of this substance go directly into the atmosphere, the load on effluents increases in addition to the complex procedure of tank steaming. The project of the new production facility provides for the absence of polluted effluents. This is achieved by multiple purification and return to the technological cycle of all flows,” said Anton Tokinov, the head of the methanol project of Nizhnekamskneftekhim.

Major methanol consumer is across the street

According to petrochemists, the advantage of the location of this construction site is also that the major consumer of raw materials is located nearby.

“All the nuances were calculated during the development of the investment project,” the chief engineer of the enterprise told the audience. “We will dismantle the old installations, emissions will be reduced significantly, and transportation costs will be minimal, it will not be necessary to create large storage tanks, a water rotation will be organized there, that is, we will use only the used water for production.”

The project also provides for its own local treatment facilities. Nizhnekamskneftekhim chose the Danish company Haldor Topsoe, which is considered to be the world leader in the field of methanol production, as the main partner for the implementation of the new project. The Danish company has run business in Tatarstan in the chemical and oil and gas industries for many years.

For example, for TANECO, they designed two hydrogen plants that produce more environmentally friendly products — gasoline and diesel fuel. Under the license of Haldor Topsoe, a combined ammonia and methanol production facility was built at the site in Mendeleevsk, owned by Ammonia.

In January 2019, Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC signed a contract in Kazan at the head office of TAIF PSC for the provision of licenses and engineering services for the new production of methanol with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year with Haldor Topsoe.

The conversation to be continued at public hearings

Representatives of the public council, including its Chairman Khamza Bagmanov, appreciated the openness of Nizhnekamskneftekhim and the opportunity to visit the construction site of methanol production. He also assured that such close attention on his part and the public council will be focused on each new production facility.

“We are very sensitive to the coordination of projects. Now we are being in dialogue. Today we have found out that the project has been finalized. It is very good that Nizhnekamskneftekhim has heard us,” Chairman of the public council of the city Khamza Bagmanov told the correspondent of Realnoe Vremya.

Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of the Nizhnekamsk Municipal District for Economic Development and Project Management Lenar Akhmetov, in turn, noted that this trip can be called one of the steps of Nizhnekamskneftekhim to raise public awareness about the project for the construction of methanol production.

“At the public hearings, we asked Nizhnekamskneftekhim to submit a full project to us, to indicate the environmental impact assessment in it. We see that we have been heard and it is good. I think that many of my colleagues have found answers to their questions today, while those who have not found them will have the opportunity to ask them later. We can say that this trip is a step towards the preparation of the next public hearings.”