Technical insulation in Russian megaprojects

In Russia, Rockwool Technical Insulation products are applied in numerous, well-known development projects in the non-residential, residential and process industries.

Non-residential constructions

The Russian commercial real estate market has attracted big international corporations, giving an impulse for new project developments. This has in turn increased the demand for stone wool products for fire protection and insulation purposes. Rockwool Technical Insulation recently supplied pipe insulation and fire protection solutions for Moscow City: a 12 billion dollar, sixty hectare project aimed at combining business activity, living space and entertainment in one central area. The first project developments are estimated at four million square meters of real estate which will be operational this year. About 250.000 – 300.000 guests and employees are expected to make use of this complex, making it extremely important to have strict performance requirements for the products that are used for fire protection. Rockwool’s products meet these requirements with solutions that offer up to 240 minutes of fire resistance.

Oil and gas industry

The oil and gas industry plays an important role in the Russian economy and it is one of the main objects of both Russian and foreign investments. Process efficiency is a vital issue, resulting in increased upgrading of refineries and petrochemical factories. In order to ensure process efficiency, RTI pipe sections have been used by Gazprom, the biggest gas supplier in the world and by LUKoil for the exploitation of the Yuzhni-Khilchuya oil field. Pipe sections have also been used for the oil pipe-line system which transports oil from Eastern Siberia to the coast of the Pacific Ocean. This system will be a part of Transneft’s oil transportation system. Transneft is a Russian state owned company responsible for the national oil pipelines. The total length of this pipeline is approximately 5.000 km with a total carrying capacity of 80 million tons of oil per year. Russian Corporations have discovered the potential and profitability of not only the extraction and exportation of hydrocarbons but also the processing of these resources. RTI supplied products for two big petrochemical projects in the region of Tatarstan: the Taneko petrochemical factory and the Nizhnekamskneftekhim production complex.

Alexey Volkov, RTI Russia concludes: “Regardless of the current financial challenges, oil and gas projects are expected to go on as planned. In Russia people are also becoming more aware of the benefits of energy efficiency and the Russian government has started to invest in the upgrade of housing and communal services. The current financial crisis gives RTI Russia new challenges but we also see enough new opportunities.”