ASHLAND REFINERY STARTS UP TWO SULFUR UNITS

Ashland Petroleum Co. has placed two new units on stream at its Catlettsburg, Ky., refinery after more than a year of construction. The refinery's new sulfur recovery/SCOT unit and a hydrotreater are designed to reduce and recover sulfur from products manufactured at the refinery.

Oct. 28, 1991

2 min read

Ashland Petroleum Co. has placed two new units on stream at its Catlettsburg, Ky., refinery after more than a year of construction.

The refinery's new sulfur recovery/SCOT unit and a hydrotreater are designed to reduce and recover sulfur from products manufactured at the refinery.

The $40 million, 200 ton/day sulfur recovery/SCOT system doubles the refinery's sulfur recovery capacity. It provides more than the required amount of pollution control capacity and will permit the refinery to produce diesel fuel with significantly lower sulfur content when an additional process unit goes on stream in 1993.

The 10,000 b/d hydrotreater will reduce the sulfur content in lube oil to provide better performance under new, more stringent SG lube oil specifications developed for automobiles. The unit is used in conjunction with the company's production of oils that are blended by Valvoline Inc.

The refinery produces more than 300,000 gal/day of lube oils.

Both units are part of a program in which Ashland will spend about $200 million at the Catlettsburg refinery to produce cleaner burning fuels and to keep pace with environmental laws. Included in the program is construction of a 40,000 b/d distillate desulfurizer and a catalytic reformer at Catlettsburg. The projects are to be completed by mid-1993.

The added diesel desulfurization capacity will allow Ashland to meet new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency product specifications of 0.05 wt % sulfur by 1993. Current EPA regulations permit 0.5 wt % sulfur content in diesel fuel.