The Vega Ploieşti refinery, a member of The Rompetrol Group, starts today production of Eurobitumen – a polymer-modified road-use bitumen. The new assortment boasts superior reliability and resistance as compared to the normal road bitumen employed for the manufacturing of asphalt mixtures.
“The Vega refinery development strategy aims at focusing on niche products (solvents, environmental-friendly heating fuels, special bitumen – such as bitumen used for waterproofing or for protecting buried pipes) – precisely because competitors have a strong position on the normal bitumen market. To this end, the investment made in polymer-modified road bitumen turns Vega into an exclusive special bitumen producer. Eurobitumen does not compete with traditional bitumen, because it is applied onto the road surface. A need was felt for a better raw materials “recipe” for Romanian roads, and Vega managed to successfully complete this project, in response to demand,” stated Cosmin Cocean, vice-president of the Refining and Petrochemicals Business Unit of The Rompetrol Group.
The USD 7+ million investment for the modified bitumen installation was achieved with own funding. The equipment has a 60,000 tons/year output capacity and works were carried out by Rominserv, the general contractor of The Rompetrol Group. The original technology conceived by Rompetrol and technical novelties cleared the way for a patent filed with OSIM and held by the company.
“In the area of normal road bitumen and polymer-modified bitumen, we abide by the highest quality standards, and thus can supply feedstock for Romanian roads in line with European standards. Eurobitumen output is aimed at the domestic market. The installation’s capacity will allow us to cover a +50% share of the current consumption of said sort of bitumen, which at present is supplied only via imports. The new product will be available for delivery to domestic market clients on a daily basis, thus eliminating import-related difficulties,” said Marcel Pavel, Vega CEO.
Vega aims at further diversifying its Eurobitumen-based range of products for other industrial applications (cements, mastic, waterproofing, etc.) and manufacturing of bituminous emulsions. Bringing the modified road bitumen installation into service has lead to the creation of 16 new jobs via re-distribution and hire of specialized staff.
“The polymer-modified bitumen produced by Vega displays improved elasticity and superior resistance to wear and temperature variations. Moreover, the asphalt layer achieved with the product enjoys a 50% longer life span, maintenance costs are cut down by half, resistance to permanent deformation is improved by 85%, and, additionally, it can decrease traffic noise by up to 20%, in line with the solution selected by the constructor,” stated Dumitru Mănoiu, vice-president Research and Development, The Rompetrol Group.
The Vega refinery is part of the Refining and Petrochemicals Business Unit, jointly with the Petromidia refinery and Rompetrol Petrochemicals. Owned by The Rompetrol Group, the Ploieşti-based refinery is focusing on churning out special products, such as solvents and environmental-friendly heating fuels, and is Eastern Europe’s sole producer of n-Hexane, a material employed in polypropylene output and extraction of vegetable oils in the food industry. In 2007, Vega forecasts a turnover of USD 183 million, marking a 50% rise vs. last year, when it posted a gross turnover of USD 121.6 million*.
* Turnover of the Vega Work line, in compliance with IFRS standards