Petroleum Refiners Focus on NOx Compliance Projects

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). On a recent Industry Today radio broadcast, Chris Paschall, Industrialinfo.com's Petroleum Refining Group manager spoke about the large number of NOx (nitrogen oxide) reduction related projects in the refining industry and how these projects make up a good portion of this year capital budget. "NOx reduction projects are becoming an increasingly large portion of a refinery's annual budget as environmental regulatory groups across North America are mandating reductions in NOx emissions, especially along the Texas Gulf Coast," Mr. Paschall commented.

Click on the image at right to view the U.S. Petroleum Refinery NOx Reduction Projects Table

In support of this growing trend Industrialinfo.com evaluated the refining projects identified as part of its North American Project Database and assembled the attached table showing that based on a construction kick-off date greater than March of this year, there are forty (40) projects with NOx related equipment requirements planned for the coming years. "The number of projects with NOx reduction equipment will only continue to increase over the next year. Many producers have already implemented new technology or equipment, but an even larger number of producers are still evaluating or developing technologies best suited for their production applications,"Mr. Paschall added.

NOx reduction can be achieved through the installation of new ultra low NOx burners, the addition of SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) units and even the retirement of old inefficient process heaters and boilers. In some cases grassroot construction of a new plant becomes a valid choice. Dow Chemical is planning to replace several Texas ethylene crackers with one new and larger ethylene cracker in Seadrift, Texas. By constructing this new plant, Dow Chemical will be ensured that the plant will be operating on the best available technology to meet new environmental regulations for decades to come. "One other advantage is that the new plant could bring Dow the ability to employ technology capable of using naphtha and other heavier feeds as feedstock to reduce its exposure to the volatile price fluctuations of natural gas," commented Trey Hamblet, Chemical Group Manager with Industrialinfo.com.

Industrialinfo.com recently released a similar news article titled NOx Reduction Requirements Along the Gulf Coast Drive Capital Spending, which features a similar analysis and capital spending table for the chemical processing industry.