Phillips Petroleum Co. Tuesday announced plans to increase capacity at its Borger, Tex., refinery by 20,000 b/d to 145,000 b/d. The firm will initiate a debottlenecking project later this year, with completion slated for 2002.
"The debottlenecking project complements the S Zorb unit under construction at the facility and scheduled to start up in early 2001," said Phillips. "This unit will also help position the refinery for low-sulfur gasoline compliance and assist in generating sulfur credits under new federal regulations."
S Zorb SRT is Phillips's new technology for lowering sulfur content in gasoline blending streams (OGJ Online, May 17, 2000). The process uses a regenerative sorbent that chemically attracts sulfur and removes it from blend stocks.
"We are confident this debottlenecking project will improve overall operations and increase the facility's profitability with a very low incremental cost," said Thurman Nance, general manager of the Borger refinery and NGL complex.
Most of the work on the expansion will be performed during scheduled maintenance periods, says Phillips, leaving refinery operations "largely unaffected" by the project.