2005 Corporate Example for : Eni
Title:
key words: (1) corporate social responsibility (2) environment (3) innovative technologies (4)
refinery conversion processes
Sector: Oil and petrochemical
Company contact:
Francesca Canu
Information & Communication
Corporate Social Responsibility
Tel.: +39-0252051403
Fax: +39-0252051410
Email: francesca.canu@eni.it
Company Headquarters: Piazzale Enrico Mattei, 1 – 00144 Rome, Italy
Principles addressed in this example: 9
Links to social impact, environmental, and/or annual reports: www.eni.it
Eni undertook the following action to address GC Principle 9:
The sustainability of refinery conversion processes represents an important
environmental concern for the oil industry.
These processes are very widely used and cannot be replaced in oil refineries, since
they allow for the conversion of heavy products generated by atmospheric and
vacuum refining into high-value, low boiling point products (such as high-octane
hydrocarbons for gasoline), or into bases for the petrochemical industry.
The gas (flue gas) coming from these conversion processes (Fluid Catalytic Cracking
- FCC), contains sulfur, oxidized to SOx and in particular to SO2, which is coresponsible for acid rain. Acidification and atmospheric SO2, damage ecosystems,
reduce biodiversity, affect crop production and the growth of forests, and may also
have a significant effect upon human health, particularly among people with
respiratory problems.
Eni, therefore, in line with its environmental policies and the EU directives on
integrated pollution control, has developed at the Sannazzaro Refinery (Pavia, Italy)
the RefinARS project, aimed at reducing the impact of FCC process and the related
flue gas treatment in refineries by means of a new process for regenerating the
absorbing buffer that is used to scrub the flue gas.
For the implementation of the three-year project (Oct. 2001-Sept. 2004), Eni received
a financial contribution from the EU LIFE-Environment Fund.
Outcome
The main goal of the RefinARS project was to demonstrate the feasibility of an
innovative technology for the flue gas desulphurization by using a regenerative
absorbing buffer, which allows the sulfur recovery.
For this purpose a plant to regenerate the buffer solution was realized. After the
testing activities, a technical and economical comparison with the best available
technologies (BAT) relevant to the sector was carried out, as well as an analysis of
the overall environmental impact.
The project had a direct bearing on 54 cracking plants and 49 sulfur recovery plants
throughout the EU and can be applied to other industrial productions. For this reason
a dissemination program was conducted during the whole length of the project to
reach potential interested parties at a local, national and international level, such as
public administrations, institutions, environment control authorities and industries of
the sector. The dissemination included targeted information, web pages, publications
and meeting-seminar events.
A series of environmental targets were reached during the test campaigns and 2005
unit run, namely:
 High SOx removal efficiency, since SOx concentration at FCC stack outlet is
lower than 250 mg/Nmc (referred to a 208000 Nmc/hr gas flow with an inlet of
1700 mg/Nmc SOx)
 Recovery of saleable sulfur from the gaseous SOx rich stream produced by the
buffer regeneration process;
 No impact on soil, being negligible the quantity of solid waste to be land-filled
(less than 500 kg/d);
 No impact on transportation of solid waste generated by the SOx absorption
reactions;
 Very low impact on water, as the liquid effluents from the process are very low
(less than 1 mc/hr)
In addition to the environmental achievements, operating costs were significantly
reduced, if compared with the BAT, in terms of chemicals consumption and energy
requirements.