STEAG builds water supply for bp refinery in Gelsenkirchen
In addition to the design and construction of the water treatment plant, which is spread over a total of three construction sites, STEAG will also take on maintenance of the facilities for an initial period of five years. The new water treatment plant will complement the steam supply plant already designed by STEAG and currently under construction at the Scholven plant.
Water to be conditioned for steam production
The fuel used for steam production will primarily be the refinery gas created at the site. Among other things, this use can reduce the safety-relevant combustion of process gases during plant startup and shutdown by means of refinery flares. The process steam generated in the new steam boilers is then used in the refining process. The purpose of the new water treatment plant is to provide sufficient water of an adequate quality for steam production. Successful steam production requires demineralized water.
Self-contained system
“Steam production operates with a closed water-steam cycle,” explains STEAG’s project manager Volker Veelmann. Returning condensate is to be collected, reprocessed and fed back into the water cycle. “Only minor process-related losses have to be made up for with fresh water.” In this respect, he says, the energy concept developed by STEAG is also exemplary in terms of efficiency and resource conservation.
“As bp, we want to be climate-neutral by 2050 or earlier. For that reason, we are continuously investing in the modernization of our plants and actively looking for opportunities to save CO2 in the production process,” says José Luis García Galera, Chairman of the Management Board of Ruhr Oel GmbH – BP Gelsenkirchen. The project is part of a modernization program worth around two billion euros that will make the refinery in Gelsenkirchen fit for the future over the next ten years.
Energy solutions from a one stop shop
With the expansion of the collaboration, STEAG is underlining its own expertise in industrial customer solutions. “Thanks to our more than 80 years of experience in the design, construction and operation of complex energy plants and systems, STEAG is able to provide customized answers to almost all questions relating to energy and decarbonization – and all from a single source,” says Dr. Ralf Schiele, Member of the Board of Management of STEAG GmbH.
The order volume of the contracts concluded between bp and STEAG is in the mid hundreds of millions range, and construction of the water treatment plant is to be completed by the end of 2022.
