FFS REFINERS DURBAN PLANT

Branch Manager Denzil Bazley

OVERVIEW

The FFS Durban plant has comprehensive processing facilities and is able to accept various liquid hydrocarbons for the manufacture of industrial heating fuels.

The plant has a range of gravity separation systems, such as decanters, vertical spindle machines and super-centrifuges. Water removal is achieved using thermal evaporation; the first-stage forced feed evaporator removes the bulk of the water, and vacuum drying removes final traces of water and corrects the flash point. The plant uses sophisticated filtration techniques to produce high quality furnace fuels. Low sulphur fuel oils, for environmentally sensitive areas, are produced by blending standard fuel oils with various low sulphur feedstocks.

The company operates a crude tank bottoms sludge-processing facility at one of the local refineries. This reduces the need for landfill disposal of what is ultimately a useful hydrocarbon product, saves the oil refiner expensive landfill costs and limits the unnecessary use of valuable landfill space and the environmental impact of such dumping.

PRODUCTS

The Durban plant produces and supplies the following products:

• Fuel Oil 150 (FO150) - Standard industry heavy fuel oil for larger furnace applications,
  
• Low Sulphur Oils (LSO and LSO1) - Low sulphur heavy fuel oil for environmentally sensitive larger furnace applications,
  
• R50:50 - Recovered and reprocessed furnace fuel for ash-tolerant furnace applications (asphalt plants, rotary kilns, etc).
  
• Fuel Oil 18 (FO18) - High viscosity heavy fuel oil for large furnaces,
  
• Coating Oil - Pour-point-controlled fertiliser anti-caking and moisture-repelling coating agent.
  

FEEDSTOCKS

Feedstocks for Durban are generally refinery by-products, side-streams and fuel oils, as well as ship slops and recovered oils derived from marine slops and industrial wastes. Ship slops and industrial waste oil are typically contaminated with water, salts, catalysts and other sludge that is removed by the various processes described above. Ship slops are collected under the Marpol agreement from Durban and Richard's Bay harbours. Pictured right : FFS used oil collection vehicles at the Prospecton Depot.

EFFLUENT TREATMENT

Aqueous effluent is processed through a comprehensive water effluent plant, that includes a dissolved air flotation oil separator. All effluent complies with requirements for disposal to the municipal sewer.

Industrial oily water effluents are processed at competitive rates, and generators of such waste are often encouraged by the Durban Municipal Authorities to use this disposal route in preference to any other.

QUALITY CONTROL

The Durban plant has a well equipped laboratory with sophisticated equipment to undertake all required analysis for feedstock, process and final product quality control.

Much of the company's R & D work is done in this laboratory.

ENVIRONMENTAL

This plant has a SANS ISO 14001-accredited environmental management system that has been in place since 1999. It is one of the very few Durban facilities approved to issue the Certificates of Safe Disposal, which are essential for the disposal of marine ship slops.