Qatargas opens $200m diesel hydrotreater project

The Diesel Hydrotreater (DHT) project at Laffan Refinery will operate on April 30, Laffan Refinery’s Venture Manager at Qatargas Salman Ashkanani said.During a Qatargas organized tour for media representatives at Laffan Refinery Wednesday , Ashkanani told reporters that the project cost $200 million, noting that it will process light gasoil from Laffan Refinery 1 and Laffan Refinery 2 and produce ultra-low sulfur diesel (less than 10 ppm sulfur) Euro 5 Specifications.The DHT will contribute to serve domestic demand and secure Qatar’s self-sufficiency in transport fuel. It will have the capacity to process 54,000 BPSD. Like LR2, DHT is designed to meet the most stringent environmental standards.Ashkanani said construction of LR2 will officially commence at the LR2 Stone Laying Ceremony on April 1, adding that the new facility will double Qatar’s condensate production and increase its capacity to meet increasing domestic demand in order to continue to be self-sufficient in transport fuels. Upon completion of LR2, Qatar will have the capacity to process approximately 40% of the condensate from the north field into high quality products, he noted.He said the refinery produces the five products of naphtha, kerosene, gasoil as well as the two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) components of butane and propane. As a final product, naphtha can be used as a general solvent and cleaner. It is also considered an intermediate product which can be used as a petroleum and petrochemical feedstock to produce gasoline, ethylene, propylene, aromatics (benzene, toluene, xylenes).Kerosene, fuel to power jet aircraft, is also commonly used as a heating fuel. It gets hydro-treated in the Kerosene Hydrotreater (KHT) to remove the sulfur and produce a final product Jet A-1 considered as a high quality jet fuel.Gasoil is mainly used to produce diesel fuel. The ultra-low diesel fuel (hydrotreated Light gasoil from LR2) produced will serve the domestic demand and contribute to Qatar becoming self-sufficient in terms of transportation fuels.While propane is mainly used for cooking, butane is used for small industry as fuel and auto-gas (as an alternate fuel for gasoline).