Yousef Sharifi, CEO of Ilam Petrochemical, said the project simplified
processes, eliminated C3+ flaring and doubled the value of output by shifting
production toward higher value-added products.
Following months of studies, design and technical execution, the
project has been fully commissioned and is operating without issues, Sharifi
said, describing it as one of the most important optimisation measures
implemented at the SRU in recent years.
Under the project, Unit 30 — previously one of the most complex and
cost-intensive sections of the SRU — was taken completely offline, while
sweetening processes were reconfigured across Units 20 and 40. Unit 20 now
sweetens a propane–butane mixture to produce marketable sweet LPG, instead of
sweetening propane alone. Unit 40 handles the sweetening of C5+ separated from
the C3+ stream alongside the main C5+ feed.
As a result, the former C3+ product has been eliminated and replaced with
two higher-value products: sweet LPG and sweet C5+, Sharifi said.
He added that removing Unit 30 has eliminated utility, maintenance,
chemical and catalyst costs, while significantly reducing hydrogen consumption.
The changes have also fully stopped C3+ flaring during ethylene unit outages,
preventing resource losses and removing associated refinery and environmental
penalties.
Sharifi said the price of sour C3+ had been about 17 million rials per
tonne, compared with around 34 million rials per tonne for sweet LPG and sweet
C5+, effectively doubling product value.
The project, first proposed by Ilam Petrochemical experts in October
2021 and approved following technical simulations and reviews, was implemented
after process, piping and mechanical design modifications. It has been
operational since early December, supported by continuous efforts from SRU
process and operations teams.
Sharifi described the initiative as a major economic and operational
transformation for the complex, demonstrating how engineering analysis,
decisive management and skilled execution can deliver substantial gains in
production and profitability.