Shymkent petroleum refinery in Kazakhstan will be modernized using ABB’s technologies

ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) has won a multi-million-dollar order to modernize a major oil refinery in Kazakhstan, as the Republic’s ‘Digital Kazakhstan’ program seeks to elevate economic sectors including the oil, gas and chemicals industry and accelerate growth nationally with digital technology.

ABB will leverage ABB Ability, the company’s unified, cross digital offering, in delivering solutions to modernize the Shymkent oil refinery in Kazakhstan. Sensors, data and advanced analytics will monitor and assess the real-time health of the plant’s assets, with operator PetroKazakhstan Oil Products (PKOP) to gain critical, real-time insights into their assets and production processes.

The order win is against a wider backdrop, as the government-led ‘Digital Kazakhstan’ program focuses on accelerating growth and elevating economic sectors including the oil, gas and chemicals industry throughout the Republic through digitalization, with a goal of creating a future digital economy by 2022.

At Shymkent oil refinery, digital transformation enabled by ABB is expected to increase productivity and lower operational costs, with operators empowered to make better informed decisions based on accurate and live data and reporting.  As a technology leader, ABB is strategically positioned to support businesses, as well as wider societal efforts, to offer digital solutions for tomorrow’s world.

“With our leading technologies and deep-domain knowledge, we can help operators across the energy industry move forward confidently towards digital transformation,” said Kevin Kosisko, Managing Director, ABB Energy Industries.

“ABB is uniquely positioned to drive and support the digital transformation of the chemical and refining industry in Kazakhstan, and it is exciting to contribute to the modernization of Shymkent oil refinery.”

Using ABB Ability™ Asset Performance Management solutions, the company’s maintenance strategy will progress from an hourly-based maintenance system to prescriptive-based maintenance. ABB will extend the current maintenance annual turnaround intervals at the refinery to a three-year plan. This will be achieved through early identification of when assets might need repair or replacement – well ahead of  potential failure – supporting operators to prioritize maintenance based on actionable insights.

ABB will also provide a business consultancy service to PKOP to support the lifecycle of the project and promote culture change in adopting digital practices at the plant. This will include assessing current work processes, leveraging opportunities to increase efficiency and resilience, recommending improvements and providing expert training.

The Shymkent project site was first commissioned in 1970 and is in the Sayramskiy region of Kazakhstan Shymkent. It is operated by PetroKazakhstan Oil Products (PKOP), as a joint venture between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and KazMunayGas (KMG), the national oil and gas company of Kazakhstan.