Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In order to ensure the fulfillment of the tasks set by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on import substitution of oil products and hydrocarbon raw materials, ensuring the sustainability of the economy in our country, members of the Working Group are carrying out a number of works.

The Chairman of the Board and members of the "Working Group" visited the production sites of the Bukhara Oil Refinery (Bukhara Oil Refinery) to study the status of fulfilling the tasks set for import substitution, export of products, and achieving fuel independence.

During the working visit of the Chairman of the Board of Uzbekneftegaz JSC to the Bukhara Oil Refinery, a meeting was held with the specialists of the enterprise, where they discussed important issues related to the production of Jet A-1 aviation fuel through the involvement of GTL synthetic kerosene.

The Chairman was presented with a report on the work done and that to date the entire infrastructure has been prepared to receive synthetic fuel, and a complete program has been developed to bring it to the level of finished products for the production of Jet A-1 (SSF) aviation fuel.

In turn, in order to receive and store synthetic kerosene at the Bukhara Oil Refinery, two tanks with a volume of 5000 m3 each were built and put into operation.

The project also envisages the supply of GTL synthetic kerosene to the Bukhara Oil Refinery for the purpose of blending with the traditional Jet A-1 aviation fuel of the Bukhara Oil Refinery and the production of semi-synthetic aviation fuel for Jet A-1 (Jet A-1)-SSF gas turbine engines.

Starting from the design stage of this project, the specialists of the Bukhara Oil Refinery in the period 2012-2022, laboratory studies were constantly carried out with samples of synthetic kerosene produced by similar GTL plants in order to determine the optimal ratio with traditional kerosene, in accordance with the requirements established by regulatory documents.

In order to ensure the compliance of semi-synthetic fuel with international requirements, the specialists of the Bukhara Oil Refinery during 2020-2021, a lot of work has been done to develop, coordinate with ministries, departments and bodies of supervision and control and approve by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan amendment No. 5 to the state standard "O’z DSt 1117: 2007" "Aviation fuel for gas turbine engines Jet A-1. Specifications".

As a result, on 15 September 2022, the Bukhara Oil Refinery received the first batch of synthetic component in the volume of 511 tons. On 17 September, synthetic kerosene was obtained at the plant with the participation of representatives of the Bukhara Oil Refinery, Uzbekistan GTL and the independent laboratory SGS.

Then, it was drained and mixed with traditional BOR kerosene in a proportion of 50% to 50% in accordance with the requirements of "O’zDSt 1117:2007" with amendments No. 1-5. On September 18, certification of the OPP (pilot batch) of semi-synthetic jet fuel was carried out. The certification results showed full compliance of the semi-synthetic aviation fuel with the requirements of the O’zDSt 1117:2007 standard.

On 19 September, the National Certification System of the Republic of Uzbekistan certified a new product - aviation fuel for gas turbine engines Jet A-1 (Jet A-1) -SSF and received a certificate of conformity.

On 21 September, headed by the Ministry of Transport and the Chairman of the Board of Uzbekneftegaz JSC, the management and responsible specialists of Uzbekneftgaz JSC, Uzbekistan Airways JSC, Uzaviatsia Agency, Uzbekistan GTL LLC and Bukhara Oil Refinery LLC at the next meeting of the working group discussed the production of semi-synthetic aviation kerosene JetA-1 at the Bukhara Oil Refinery using the Uzbekistan GTL synthetic component and identified the necessary measures to switch to a new type of aviation fuel.

On 23 September 2022, Boeing gave a positive opinion and officially confirmed the request for the possibility of using GTL kerosene produced at the Uzbekistan GTL plant as a blending component with traditional Jet A-1 aviation fuel produced at the Bukhara refinery.

And on 25 September, the French airline Airbus sent a similar confirmation, citing the international standards ASTM7566, which govern aviation fuel specifications.

At the same time, the Swiss company SGS, which is engaged in independent examination, control, testing and certification, confirmed that the quality of GTL Jet A-1 semi-synthetic aviation fuel produced at the Bukhara refinery meets international standards. This allows it to be used as a fuel for aviation.

To date, on the basis of the above mechanisms, the Bukhara Refinary has produced a product that fully meets the requirements of international standards, and the first 1020 tons of Jet A-1 (Jet A-1) -SSF jet fuel were sold to Uzbekistan Airways.

Establishing the production of this type of product in our republic serves not only domestic consumers, but also the needs of aviation equipment in other countries of the world, increases tourism potential, saves foreign currency and serves as the main factor in import substitution.