Full immersion into the technology of deep processing of heavy oil residues
At an international scientific conference in Kazan, TAIF-NK announced the imminent opening of its own research center in Nizhnekamsk
The V Scientific Conference “Dynamic Processes in the Chemistry of Organoelement Compounds” has concluded in the capital of Tatarstan. The event was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the distinguished scientist, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and prominent representative of the Kazan chemical school, Oleg Sinyashin. The TAIF Group was the main partner of the event. Supporting science is one of the significant areas of the company's activity. This year, the official commissioning of its own research center is planned in Nizhnekamsk for one of the country's most innovative oil refining complexes — JSC TAIF-NK. During the conference, a speaker from TAIF-NK familiarized the audience with the plans for the Research Center and invited collaboration. Details are in this report by Realnoe Vremya.
“The main goal of the center is the development of Russian applied science”
The task of presenting the Research Center of JSC TAIF-NK to the discerning scientific community was entrusted to Ilnar Karimov. Candidate of Technical Sciences, winner of the federal competition “Engineer of the Year — 2024” and recipient of the diploma for winning the republican competition “Engineer of the Year — 2025” in the “Oil and Gas Industry” category, Ilnar Karimov is directly involved with the Research Center. He has headed Workshop No. 10 of the CGDUPT (as the company calls the Research Center) since the start of its construction in 2024.
— The main goal of the center is the development of Russian applied science. In today's realities, this is particularly relevant. The TAIF-NK Research Center will allow testing various types of heavy feedstock on pilot laboratory units and building a database on the influence of the quality characteristics of oil residues on the efficiency of their processing. Positive results can then be implemented in the real operating conditions of the CGDUPT. In addition to testing various feedstocks and additives, the optimal technological regime will be determined, capable of ensuring the maximum degree of conversion and improved quality indicators of the resulting products, — he told a Realnoe Vremya journalist in May 2024 during a tour of the construction site where the Research Center was being built.
Since then, construction work at the Research Center site has been completed, and technological equipment has been delivered and installed. Only minor cosmetic details and testing of the center's overall equipment remain. As Ilnar Karimov emphasized, the Research Center is no less unique than the CGDUPT itself. Here's why:
— We have obtained a technological model identical to the existing unit. But on a smaller scale. This will allow us to conduct numerous applied scientific studies. Specifically, this concerns studying the possibilities of using plastic and polymer non-conforming waste as an additive to the main feedstock used in the main CGDUPT unit, with the aim of obtaining a high-margin basket of petroleum products. Additionally, we plan to test the use of various catalyst loading schemes for hydrogenation processes in oil residue processing. We will be able to evaluate the performance of different catalytic systems not only for ourselves but also for other refineries in Russia.
Research, scaling, training
The TAIF Group possesses globally unique expertise in the field of heavy thermal hydrocracking. The task of the Research Center is to delve deeper into improving and expanding the technology's capabilities. But that's not all.
— The goals of our research center are: research, scaling, and training. The technology continues to improve, and in this, the Research Center intends to cooperate closely with leading scientific schools in Russia and friendly nations.
“Everyone is welcome to collaborate!”
— The opening of the JSC TAIF-NK Research Center is scheduled for the spring of this year. That is, very soon. Taking this opportunity, we invite everyone both to the celebration and to collaboration in the mentioned areas, — the head of the Research Center addressed the conference participants from the stage.
The topic raised, which gathered the scientific community in Kazan, seriously interested them. In particular, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, and member of the RAS Scientific Council on Macromolecular Compounds, Aziz Muzafarov, asked for clarifications on the nature and percentage of polymer waste in the total volume of feedstock intended for processing.
— We have serious research planned in this area, and based on preliminary results, we will develop a scheme for preparing feedstock from waste polyethylene, polypropylene, and other polymers. Currently, we are at the stage of pilot tests on the use of plastic waste as a feedstock component for processing in a suspension hydrocracking unit, — explained Ilnar Karimov.
Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Sinyashin asked for more detail on the scientific component of the Research Center's work.
— The technology itself is unique. There is simply no other industrial suspension hydrocracking unit for oil residues mixed with coal additives of this scale anywhere else in the world. Accordingly, in its work, the scientific center envisions scientific directions such as evaluating the efficiency of the industrial unit through pilot tests using various coal additives from different deposits, using plastic waste as feedstock, and studying the influence of molybdenum-containing additives on hydrocracking efficiency, reducing coking, and increasing conversion… The plans are ambitious, and the prospects for applied scientific research in this direction are enormous. This includes increasing the efficiency of the existing unit, improving technological processes, and further scaling the technology across Russia and the world, — replied Ilnar Karimov.
And in each of these mentioned areas, as well as in related processes, there will certainly be a place for fruitful interaction with representatives of the scientific community. The speaker from JSC TAIF-NK particularly emphasized this point in his presentation.