TEHRAN - The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) for joint production of sponge and needle coke in two of the country’s refineries.

The MOU was signed in a ceremony on Monday which was attended by senior officials from the two entities and the oil ministry, including the Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, NIORDC Managing Director Alireza Sadeq-Abadi, the Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani, and IMIDRO Head Khodadad Gharibpour, as well as the heads of the two refineries.

The document was signed by NIORDC Managing Director Alireza Sadeq-Abadi and IMIDRO Head Khodadad Gharibpour.

As reported by Shana, the said petcokes are planned to be produced in Bandar Abbas and Imam Khomeini refineries and will make the country self-sufficient in the production of these fuels which are used in the steel industry.

Under the MOU, the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) will cooperate with IMIDRO to launch a coke production unit in the mentioned refineries and the needle and sponge coke required for the steel production will be produced using these low-sulfur fuel oils.

The pilot plant of the unit will be built at RIPI, and with the signing of this memorandum, industrial-scale coke units will be contracted in the refineries afterward.
This agreement is of great strategic importance for Iran since the U.S. sanctions have impeded the imports of petcoke into the country.

Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as cokes.
There are at least four basic types of petroleum coke, namely, needle coke, honeycomb coke, sponge coke and shot coke. 

Different types of petroleum coke have different microstructures due to differences in operating variables and the nature of the feedstock. Significant differences are also to be observed in the properties of the different types of coke, particularly ash and volatile matter contents.
EF/MA

Photo: NIORDC Managing Director Alireza Sadeq-Abadi (R), and IMIDRO Head Khodadad Gharibpour exchanging signed MOU document in Tehran on Monday, as Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh (2nd L) and Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani (3rd L) look upon.