Robert Brelsford
Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co. Ltd. (JPRC), the sole refining company of Jordan, has let a contract to KBR Inc. to provide basic engineering for a residue hydroprocessing unit to be built as part of the proposed expansion of its 100,000-b/d refinery at Zarqa, 35 km east of Amman.
KBR’s scope of work will include delivery of the basic design package for the unit, which will be based on its proprietary Veba Combi-Cracking (VCC) slurry phase hydrocracking technology to enable the refinery to process a wider range of feedstocks and produce fuels meeting environmental specifications without further upgrading, the service provider said.
The unit will be at the core of the refinery’s proposed fourth expansion project, which aims to increase crude processing capacity at the site to 120,000 b/d, KBR said.
This latest contract follows JPRC’s previous selection of KBR to deliver licensing of its VCC technology for the project.
While KBR disclosed neither values nor durations of either of its contracts with JPRC, the service company did confirm revenues associated with the project will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for its technology and consulting business segment in this year’s fourth quarter.
Expansion overview
JPRC previously let a contract to Honeywell UOP LLC to facilitate the planned $1.6-billion Zarga refinery expansion, which alongside expanding crude processing capacity will allow JPRC to upgrade the quality of its production to meet Euro 5-quality emissions specifications (OGJ Online, May 8, 2017).
As part of its work on the project, Honeywell UOP will deliver managing licensor services, technology licensing, front-end engineering design consultancy services, basic engineering design as well as provide catalyst supplies, process equipment, training, and start-up services for various units.
In addition to licensing technologies for crude and vacuum distillation units, Honeywell UOP will deliver a series of its proprietary process units, including Unicracking and hydrotreating units as well as CCR Platforming, Penex, MinAlk, Merox, and Selectfining units for producing high-octane motor fuels, and a Polybed PSA unit for purifying hydrogen.
Both Honeywell UOP and KBR are scheduled to complete basic engineering and design on their scopes of work for the project by early 2018, after which time JPRC will move into the more detailed FEED phase, JPRC Chief Executive Officer Abdul Karim Alaween said in a series of releases between July and August.
