ConocoPhillips Gearing Up Sweeny Refinery For Low Sulfur Fuels

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, TX). ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)(Houston, Texas) is restructuring process streams and equipment at its Sweeny refinery to meet requirements for low sulfur gasoline and diesel fuels. Central to the scheme are two reactors in a new diesel hydrotreater unit recently set in place this month after delivery from Japan. Cat cracker feed will also undergo deeper desulfurization with the integration of a former resid hydrotreater. Catalysts for these units will be supplied by Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)(Baton Rouge, Louisiana). The process design is being provided by Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR)(Sugar Land, Texas) and construction is now 70% complete.

High-pressure hydrogen for these services will be supplied off-site by a new steam-methane reformer being constructed by Air Liquide Process and Construction, Incorporated (NASDAQ:AIQUY) (Houston, Texas) and delivered by the growing hydrogen network in the area.

Oxygen enrichment and column retraying in existing sulfur recovery units has opened up additional capacity without major new construction and previous tail gas treating facility upgrades will handle the new requirements. A large sour water storage tank is now in service to meet regulations as well.

This ingenious project and process stream arrangement strategy has allowed the Sweeny facility to participate in the new low sulfur fuel climate at a substantially lower investment than originally envisioned.

The Sweeny refinery is located about 65 miles southwest of Houston, in Old Ocean, Texas. The refinery processes on average 250,000 barrels per day of sweet and sour crude oil, although nameplate capacity is 216,000. ConocoPhillips owns twelve U.S. refineries with a total capacity of 2.2 million barrels per day (10% of which is handled in the Sweeny facility), and either has or is modifying most of them to accommodate current low sulfur fuel regulations.

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