MTBE MOVEMENTS BETWEEN TEXAS GULF COAST PLANTS TO BE ENHANCED

Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. (Teppco), Houston, has begun construction of its "shuttle" pipeline, a 10-mile, 6 and 8-in. line to move methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) between producers and refiners along the Houston Ship Channel (Fig. 1a).

Funding for the project has been approved, rights-of-way are secured, and procurement of materials is under way, according to Teppco.

The line will flow from the western edge of Shell's refinery eastward to storage facilities at Teppco's Baytown terminal.

The shuttle pipeline anticipates the U.S. requirement for oxygenated gasolines that takes effect Nov. 1. Approximately 70% of the available U.S. merchant capacity for MTBE is located along the shuttle's path, Teppco says.

The company feels the system offers improved logistics for Houston-area refiners because more than 40% of the Gulf Coast MTBE capacity will be linked into the shuttle system. Proposed future expansions will tie-in even more.

PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE

Final approval for the shuttle came last month, but Teppco has been working on the project for almost 2 years. In fact, says Teppco project engineer Dwight Schultz, the company has examined demand, power requirements, and other factors for at least 3 years.

The system is designed to handle 10 million bbl/year, and contingency plans exist for more if demand warrants, he says.

In the first phase of the project, says Teppco, a pump station and metering system will be constructed and about 1 mile of pipe will be installed near the Intercontinental Terminals Corp. (ITC) facility (Fig. la).

Approximately 3.25 miles of new line will be laid between the Baytown terminal and the ship channel, around the perimeter of Exxon's Baytown refinery, and an additional 75,000 bbl of MTBE storage will be prepared at the Baytown terminal to ease batch movements to the company's Beaumont terminals.

Memphis is the only end-use market Teppco serves which must begin burning oxygenated fuels this winter. Nevertheless, the shuttle system will help shippers position MTBE inventories and handle increasing oxygenated-fuel demand in other markets, according to Teppco.

Such MTBE users as the Shell, Mobil, and Chevron refineries (Fig. la) will be capable of accepting deliveries of MTBE by the time the shuttle begins service later this year, says Teppco.

But the company declines to provide specifics about any supply contracts, saying only that the shuttle line will be operated as a common carrier system, open to all shippers equally.

Amoco's Beaumont terminal will be connected, and Exxon is considering links with its Baytown refinery, indicates Teppco. Hess, GATX ITC, and Teppco's own facilities offer additional shipment and storage options.

BEAUMONT TERMINAL

Critical to Teppco's overall MTBE movements is the Beaumont marine terminal, situated near Texas' Sabine River border with Louisiana and immediately across the Neches River from the Teppco Beaumont terminal (Fig. 1b).

Eventually, MTBE will be moved by pipeline to the marine terminal. Current MTBE stocks arrive there by barge or tanker.

Neat MTBE and oxygenated gasolines already move up Teppco's main line into the U.S. Midwest from the Beaumont terminals. That 20-in. line was retrofitted last year to handle MTBE.

The retrofit process, says Teppco, involved changing out all "soft" materials--seats, stem packings, seals, etc.--in valves, pump stations, and tankage. The new products installed that better tolerate the chemical makeup of MTBE were DuPont's Chemraz, Dow's Calrez, as well as Teflon.

A variety of fuels and petroleum products passes through the marine terminal: premium and unleaded regular gasolines, jet fuel, fuel oil, natural gasoline, MTBE, raffinate, and toluene.

Teppco's marine facilities at Beaumont allow shippers to import the various products, store them until needed, then transfer products or move them northward through Teppco's 20-in. line (Fig. 2).

Product deliveries arrive at the marine terminal by barge or ship, then leave via marine vessels or pipeline. Most imported products arrive by ship, while domestic products usually arrive by barge.

The marine terminal's ship dock is equipped with two 12-in. loading arms; the barge dock has two 6-in. loading arms. The unloading rate is 12,500 bbl/hr, limited by meter-run facilities. The loading rate is 5,000 bbl/hr.

All the loading arms and some tanks are equipped for MTBE service. MTBE storage, however, is currently under lease.

The terminals 16 tanks provide 1.6 million bbl of storage. Thirteen of the 16 are 55,000 bbl tanks; 3 hold 300,000 bbl each.

With 1.6 million bbl capacity, the 2,000-acre complex is one of the country's larger marine terminals, according to Teppco.

There are no truck racks at the terminal, but products can be transferred over an 8-in. line across the Neches River through the Teppco Beaumont terminal for distribution throughout Teppco's entire pipeline system.

Highly automated systems allow a crew of seven to keep the complex running 24 hr/day, 365 days/year.