Austria’s OMG AG has pledged to hit net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner with a carbon intensity cut target in refining by at least 20% by 2025. The company has attempted decarbonization measures by using energy efficiently in its refineries including Schwechat, in Austria.
OMV is auditing the Schwechat refinery, where it overhauled three out of the four steam turbines. Two of the turbines have already been fitted with modern 3D blade geometry, which enhances the performance of the steam turbines and thereby their efficiency and cutting CO2 by 40,000 mt already in 2020. The third blade is set to follow in the coming year, which could save 60,000 t of CO2 each year.
The refinery also applied a digital twin in optimizing the preheat train of the crude distillation unit and the selection of cleaning cycles and flow conditions in the heat exchangers in the Schwechat Refinery. The method would result in another increase in efficiency and reduction of up to 18,000 t of CO2 annually.
Schwechat refinery also deploys digital controllers to balance out fluctuations in the control loops, for example in the butadiene unit or when reusing exhaust process heat. This step saved roughly 4,000 tpa of CO2 and is about to be completed.
OMV has formed an internal team to develop and implement energy-efficiency measures and save CO2. The team is responsible for implementing these optimizations based on the needs of each individual site.
