Baton Rouge Refinery Explained

Baton Rouge Refinery
Location Map:Louisiana
Location Map Text:Location of the Baton Rouge Refinery in Louisiana, United States
Coordinates:30.4836°N -91.1806°W
Country:United States
Province:Louisiana
City:Baton Rouge
Owner:ExxonMobil
Capacity Bbl/D:540,000
Employees:4000

ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the sixth-largest oil refinery in the United States and seventeenth-largest in the world,[1] with an input capacity of 540000oilbbl per day as of January 1, 2020.[2] The refinery is the site of the first commercial fluid catalytic cracking plant that began processing at the refinery on May 25, 1942.[3]

Standard Oil first erected the refinery in 1909. Today's facility is part of a complex made of nine individual plants across the region. The main plant is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River. There are about 6,300 workers spread across these sites, including 4,000 direct employees (the rest are contractors).

In 2013 Genesis Energy LP announced an investment of $125 million to improve ExxonMobil's existing assets in the Baton Rouge area. The investment includes plans to build an 18miles, 20inches diameter crude oil pipeline that connects Genesis Energy's Port Hudson terminal, to ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery.[4]

Units

Petroleum refining units

According to ExxonMobil's filings with the US DOE's Energy Information Agency, the unit capacities for the Baton Rouge Refinery are presented below:[5]

!Unit!Capacity in BPCD
Total Refinery Nameplate 544,600
Atmospheric Distillation544,600
Vacuum Distillation254,000
Delayed Coking123,500
FCC243,000
Hydrocracker27,000
ULSD Hydrotreating215,800
Gasoline & Naphtha Hydrotreating261,000
Naphtha Reforming80,000
Alkylation41,000
Lubricants Production16,500
Petcoke mt31,525
The refinery undertook a $230 million[6] investment to modernize the crude unit and expand crude flexibility as part of the BRRIC program with plans to increase exports of clean fuels.[7] The project involved up to 600 contractors and took place over 3 years.[8]

ExxonMobil is also considering a biofuels project to be constructed at the Baton Rouge site. [9]

Electricity generation

The refinery operates is own powerplant with the following detail:[10]

PetroChemical production

The ExxonMobil Chemical division operates a steam cracker that is integrated with the refinery and has an output of 975,000 mt per year of ethylene.[11]

Environmental permits

The refinery operates with a Title V Air Major permit covering its emissions. The facility ID is LA0000002203300015 for the air permit which is the most important permit controlling the emissions thresholds of the plant. The permit summary is below.[12]

Statute/ProgramUniverseMediaIdentifier
Clean Air Act (CAA)Air MinorAirLA0000002203300168
Clean Air Act (CAA)Air MinorAirLA0000002203300180
Clean Air Act (CAA)Air MajorAirLA0000002203300015
Clean Water Act (CWA)NPDES MajorWaterLA0005584
Clean Water Act (CWA)Storm Water IndustrialWaterLAR05N757
Clean Water Act (CWA)NPDES Non MajorWaterLAR05N757
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)VSQGLandLAR000067942
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)LQGLandLAD062662887
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)TSDLandLAD062662887
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP)Greenhouse Gas ReporterAir1007643

Greenhouse gas emissions history

As a major emitting facility, The ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery and Petrochemical Site must report its complete greenhouse gas emissions to the EPA every year subject to the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The Baton Rouge reports as four separate facilities but with the integrated refinery and olefins unit being the largest and accounting for >95% of emissions. The reporting codes are below:[13]

!Facility Name!EPA Facility ID!FRS ID
EXXONMOBIL BATON ROUGE REFINERY AND CHEMICAL PLANT1007643110043804185
EXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL CO - BATON ROUGE POLYOLEFINS PLANT1006801110000450011
EXXONMOBIL CHEMICAL CO - BATON ROUGE PLASTICS PLANT1003484110070834663
Exxon Mobil Corporation-Baton Rouge Resin Finishing Plant1014575110071165420
The greenhouse gas emissions by year are reported below:[14]
!Year!Total ReportedDirect Emissions!CO2 EmissionsNon-Biogenic!MethaneEmissions!Nitrous OxideEmissions
metric tonmetric tonmetric tonmetric ton
20235,914,8625,883,26217,16014,440

The Baton Rouge Refinery is one of the ten largest emitting refineries in the United States according to Reuters. However, it is also a top ten refinery in size and complexity and is deeply integrated with its petrochemical business.[15]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. [List of oil refineries#World.27s largest refineries]
  2. Web site: 2018 Baton Rouge Refinery fact sheet . 2018 . September 26, 2020.
  3. Web site: The Fluid Bed Reactor . American Chemical Society . November 3, 1998 . September 26, 2020.
  4. Web site: Perilloux . Gary . Genesis Energy To Invest $125 Million In Baton Rouge Area Infrastructure Project . September 26, 2020 . Louisiana Economic Development . February 4, 2013.
  5. Web site: Data & Statistics . 2024-10-24 . www.afpm.org . en.
  6. Web site: Lowe . Dillon . 2024-01-19 . ExxonMobil completes $230M upgrade of Baton Rouge refinery . 2024-10-30 . Baton Rouge Business Report . en-US.
  7. Web site: Tobben . Sheela . 2024 . Another BRRIC in the Wall - Baton Rouge Refinery Set to Access More Crudes, Boost Exports After Modernization . RBN Energy LLC.
  8. Web site: ExxonMobil BRRIC Update 2021 . ExxonMobil.
  9. Web site: Stewart . Robert . 2024-02-07 . Biofuels could be coming to Baton Rouge refinery, ExxonMobil CEO says . 2024-10-30 . The Advocate . en.
  10. Web site: ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Turbine Generator power station . 2024-11-12 . Global Energy Monitor . en.
  11. Web site: Koottungal . Leena . 2015-07-07 . International survey of ethylene from steam crackers - 2015 . 2024-11-12 . Oil & Gas Journal . en.
  12. Web site: TRI Facility Report . 2024-10-24 . enviro.epa.gov . en.
  13. Web site: US EPA . OAR . 2015-05-18 . Data Sets . 2024-11-01 . www.epa.gov . en.
  14. Web site: US EPA . OAR . 2015-05-18 . Data Sets . 2024-11-12 . www.epa.gov . en.
  15. News: Mclaughlin . Tim . 2021 . Insight: Three Exxon refineries top the list of U.S. polluters . Reuters.