Honeywell to provide technology to Iraq’s $6.5bn Karbala refinery

Honeywell is set to provide new process technology and advanced automation controls to the $6.5bn Karbala refinery, which is currently under construction in South Karbala province, around 100km away from Iraq’s capital Baghdad.

Using the refining processes from Honeywell UOP and automation controls from Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) the State Company of Oil Projects’ (SCOP) will be able to increase production of fuel and other products at the Karbala refinery.

This would help balance the more than 350,000 barrels per day of refined products imported by the country at present.

Honeywell UOP Process Technology and Equipment business vice-president and general manager Mike Millard said: "The Honeywell solution combines UOP’s deep process knowledge with HPS’s expertise in plant automation to make the refinery run at the top of its capability.

"The integration of process technology with a controls solution enables the Karbala refinery to make more gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and asphalt, and make it more efficiently."

The refinery has a capacity of 140,000 barrel-per-day and is expected to come on-stream in 2020.

For the Karbala refinery, Honeywell technologies that have been licenced include the UOP Penex process, the UOP fluid catalytic cracking process and the UOP CCR Platforming process.

Other technologies include the UOP unionfining process, the UOP chlorsorb process, the Experion Process Knowledge System, safety manager, fire and gas safety systems and UniSim training simulators.

In July 2011, SCOP appointed Refinery of Karbala Corporation to execute the project under build, own and operate terms.

Being built on a 6km² area, the refinery will produce liquefied gas, gasoline, gas oil, fuel oil, jet fuel and asphalt.