WITCO: DIESEL GRADE MEETS CALIFORNIA SPECS

Witco Corp. has developed a new low sulfur, low aromatics content diesel fuel grade it says will meet California and federal rules that take effect Oct. 1. Although the company's 10,300 b/d Golden Bear refinery at Oildale, Calif., has the technical capability to precisely meet the new diesel fuel standards, Witco says its decision to ultimately produce and market the fuel will be an economic choice based upon market price that develops for the new fuel compared with the higher cost of

Aug. 30, 1993

2 min read

Witco Corp. has developed a new low sulfur, low aromatics content diesel fuel grade it says will meet California and federal rules that take effect Oct. 1.

Although the company's 10,300 b/d Golden Bear refinery at Oildale, Calif., has the technical capability to precisely meet the new diesel fuel standards, Witco says its decision to ultimately produce and market the fuel will be an economic choice based upon market price that develops for the new fuel compared with the higher cost of producing it.

Witco's new diesel grade is the result of 2 years of development work conducted by the Golden Bear products research and development team at its Oildale laboratory.

Witco said its new diesel fuel is among the few--if not the only--product made by a small refinery that meets specifications set for diesel under new California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations, but the New York City based company did not indicate whether it had submitted the new diesel formula to CARB for certification. CARB has certified under performance conditions reformulated diesel grades marketed by ARCO, Chevron Corp., and Texaco Inc. (see related story, p. 21).

The product exceeds the low temperature performance level recommended under American Society for Testing Materials standard ASTM D975, Witco said, which qualifies it for winter grade vehicular use.

NICHE ADVANTAGE

Witco Golden Bear products General Manager Donald Weinberg said the Oildale refinery's position on the West Coast as a small specialty refiner of naphthenic crude oil works to its advantage in meeting the new diesel standard.

Diesel fuel refined from its wax free naphthenic crude has inherent low temperature properties, compared with diesel refined from other crudes that customarily requires dilution with kerosine or other light distillate to meet low temperature requirements.

The latter blending technique involving such diluents may run afoul of state standards for aromatics and sulfur content, Weinberg said.