Adnoc commissions new carbon black facility

Abu Dhabi, UAE – Adnoc Refining, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), has commissioned a $2.5-billion specialised carbon black and delayed coker (CBDC) plant in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, as part of its Carbon Black and Coker Project.

The project will see Adnoc Refining (Takreer) producing over 40 kilotonnes per annum of two different grades of carbon black per year, and 430 ktpa of high value anode grade calcined coke, said Adnoc 2 Sept.

The project incorporates a coker, known in the oil and gas industry as a ‘delayed coker’, for recovering specialised and valuable grades of carbon black and calcined coke from residual oil feed.

“Not only will it create higher value from what would otherwise be used for low value fuel oil, but both products are essential to industrial processes within Adnoc subsidiaries and other UAE industries,” said the Adnoc statement.

The oil firm awarded the EPC contract for the construction of the CBDC facility to South Korea’s Samsung Engineering in a $2.5-billion deal in in 2012. At the time, completion date was announced end of 2015.

Adnoc did not offer an explanation for the delayed start-up.

The carbon black grades at Takreer, ERJ has been told by an industry expert, will be N220 and N115, both of which are used in rubber. The N220 is also used as the staple grade for plastics colouring.

Adnoc expects its polyolefin joint venture with Borealis AG to make extensive use of the special carbon black project.