Iran Eyes Self-Sufficiency in Sponge, Needle Coke Production

The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) and Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organization, known as IMIDRO, signed an agreement for production of sponge and needle coke in Bandar Abbas and Imam Khomeini refineries which will render Iran self-sufficient in production of the items used for steel production.

A ceremony was held in Tehran on Monday to strike the deal in the presence of Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zanganeh and Alireza Sadeghabadi, the Managing Director of NIORDC, Reza Rahmani, the Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, Khodadad Gharibpour, IMIDRO chairman, as well as heads of the two refineries.

By signing this agreement, the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) will cooperate with IMIDRO to launch a coke production unit in the two refineries so that the needle and sponge coke required by the steel industry of the country will be produced from low-sulfur fuel oil domestically.

A pilot plant will be built at RIPI, and then, industrial-scale coke units will be constructed in the refineries. This agreement is of great strategic value for Iran given the US sanctions imposed on import of petcoke.

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 nature of feedstock. Significant differences are also to be observed in the properties of different types of coke, particularly ash and volatile matter contents. - Shana