Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has commissioned a residue upgradation facility (RUF) at its Visakhapatnam refinery, significantly enhancing the plant’s deep-conversion capability, distillate output and profitability, the company said on Monday.
The 3.55 million tonnes-per-year facility includes India’s first residue hydrocracking unit and the world’s first LC-Max unit, capable of converting about 93 per cent of low-value bottom-of-the-barrel oils into high-value petroleum products.
The project marks a major step in upgrading India’s refining complexity and reducing dependence on imported fuels.
HPCL in a statement said the new unit will raise distillate yields at the Visakh refinery by up to 10 per cent from pre-modernisation levels, and substantially improve gross refining margins by enabling the processing of heavier and opportunity crudes and delivering a superior product slate.
The commissioning follows the Visakh Refinery Modernisation Project and lifts the refiner
