Guwahati, Nov. 29: Guwahati Refinery has commissioned three new units with an eye on higher revenue earning.

The units are in tune with the refinery’s commitment to provide quality products for customer satisfaction, Guwahati Refinery general manager J.B. Guharoy said here today.

The three new units are ISOSIV, hydrotreater and the Indmax. The ISOSIV unit is the first in the country to produce lead-free petrol by molecular sieve technology.

The capacity of the refinery, which belongs to the Indian Oil Corporation, is one million metric tonnes per annum at present.

Guharoy said the Indane maximisation (Indmax) technology, developed by the Research and Development Centre of Indian Oil, installed at the refinery is designed to achieve LPG yield over 40 per cent.

He said the Indmax unit enables the refinery to upgrade all its residual products to high-value distillate products and make it a zero-residue refinery.

The hydrotreater unit produces low sulphur diesel conforming to the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications. The unit also produces superior kerosene oil with high smoke point and low sulphur dispensing with the earlier process, which involved use of toxic sulphur dioxide, Guharoy said.

Units like hydrogen, nitrogen, amine treating unit, sulphur recovery unit have been included in the hydrotreating facility for various process requirements, he added.

Guharoy said the refinery is making efforts to produce speciality products including low pour diesel and branded premium motor spirit of 91 octane.

“It is the only refinery in the country which has made some headway in producing needle coke, a high value import substitute,” officials of the refinery claimed. It has also started another initiative by starting stream sharing with the Digboi Refinery. This move is expected to add to the profitability of both the refineries, the officials said.

Digboi Refinery belongs to the Assam Oil Division.

“As part of stream sharing initiatives, Guwahati refinery is despatching naptha to Digboi refinery for processing and is receiving foot oil as feed for Guwahati Refinery’s Indmax unit,” Guharoy said.

Other new streams from Digboi and Bongaigaon refineries are also being explored, he said.