Gazprom Neft has given a chromatograph — a modern gas-analysis device — to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Omsk Oblast. The chromatograph, acquired at the request of the Oblast Government, marks a further addition to the mobile environmental laboratory given to the Oblast by Gazprom Neft in March 2018. The laboratory identifies the presence of key air pollutants emitted by motor transport vehicles, industrial enterprises and local heating boiler units. The RUB6-million chromatograph will facilitate the identification of a greater number of chemical components.
The mobile laboratory is fitted with computer equipment allowing the timely processing of results and automatic data transmission to regulatory authorities. The use of the chromatograph has increased the scope of what local environmentalists are able to do, being designed to detect the presence of 11 chemical compounds (including carbon disulphide and phenol) in the air, and to determine the concentrations of these with a high level of accuracy. The chromatograph is controlled by specialist software, with data from the device being processed online. The Omsk Refinery has arranged for specialists at the Environmental Monitoring and Rapid Response Centre at the Omsk Oblast’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to be trained in using the device.
Ilya Lobov, Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment, Government of the Omsk Oblast, commented: “An environmental monitoring system has been established — and is being constantly improved — in the Omsk Oblast. Gazprom Neft, a reliable partner in this endeavour, has already given us a mobile eco-lab, for which we have now received even more cutting-edge equipment. Helped by this we will be able to detect — and curtail — activities by unscrupulous organisations polluting the atmosphere. This new equipment will allow us to quickly obtain data on the presence of sulphur compounds and aromatic hydrocarbons in the air. Thanks to our agreement — which the Omsk Refinery was the first to sign with our Ministry — we have acquired a new gas analyser, which will allow the Centre to significantly improve environmental monitoring in the region. The Omsk Refinery acts as an example for all industrial enterprises in the region in setting standards in environmental monitoring and collaboration.”
Oleg Belyavsky, General Director of the Omsk Refinery, stressed: “The Omsk Refinery is involved in implementing the federal ‘Clean Air’ project, implementing environmentally friendly technologies and being involved in a unique system for monitoring air quality throughout our facilities. The Omsk Refinery has signed a Partnership Agreement with the Omsk Oblast’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. Donating the chromatograph is just one step in that process.”
The RUB21-million mobile laboratory was given to the Omsk Oblast by Gazprom Neft in March 2018. The laboratory is equipped with modern gas analysing systems, urban noise measuring equipment, and an automatic meteorological station.
Gazprom Neft is currently in the process of the full-scale modernisation of its Omsk Refinery, with total investment to date standing at more than RUB300 billion. The first stage of modernisation involved the full transition to the exclusive production of Euro-5 fuels. The second stage of the modernisation programme is now ongoing, as a result of which refining depth and light-product yield are expected to match the best international standards, at 97 percent.
