FFS REFINERS CAPE TOWN PLANT

Regional Manager Dave Sands

OVERVIEW

The FFS Cape Town plant supplies the bulk of the industrial heating fuels consumed in the Western and Southern Cape and is also the only supplier of low sulphur heavy fuel oils in this region. This branch utilises static separation and thermal evaporation water removal processes as well as filtration, decanting, centrifuging and thermal cracking-distillation processes to process used oils. Multiple refinery by-products and reprocessed oils are blended to produce products varying from high-grade fuels for environmentally sensitive operations, to heavy oils for more robust applications.

PRODUCTS

The Cape Town 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,
  
• Light Oil 10 (LO10) - A cost effective, low ash, low sulphur diesel / paraffin replacement furnace fuel.

FEEDSTOCKS

The Cape Town plant's primary feedstocks are:

• Synthetic oils, which are by-products from a local GTL process. These oils have extremely low sulphur levels but require significant processing to reduce catalyst residue.
  
• Heavy fuel oils, derived from marine and industrial applications.
  
• Heavy fuel oils, derived from crude oil refining.
  
• General recovered industrial and used lubricating oil.
  
• Ship slops collected from Cape Town harbour under the Marpol Agreement.
  

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.

QUALITY CONTROL

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

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 Cape Town facilities approved to issue the Certificates of Safe Disposal that are essential for the disposal of marine ship slops.

CONSTRUCTION OF PETROLEUM STORAGE FACILITY : CAPE TOWN

FFS Refiners is making application for the construction of a petroleum storage facility at its Cape Town Harbour Tank Farm. It is a requirement of the Petroleum Pipelines Act, No. 60 of 2003, that this application be available for public viewing. Click here