Overview of Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU)

Hot spots – localized areas of overheating in pressure equipment – can lead to deformation or even loss of process containment. It is important to understand the effects of elevated temperature caused by hot spots on the mechanical integrity of equipment.

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Summertime requires refiners to push even harder on certain equipment, such as the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU), alkylation unit, and reformers to be able to meet increased demand. Warmer ambient temperatures can negatively affect process units in many different ways. Effectively managing these temperatures can save operators time and money during the heat of summertime operations.

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Citgo Petroleum Corp idled the small gasoline-producing unit at its 157,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery this week for economic reasons, sources familiar with plant operations said on Wednesday.

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The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recently released a Factual Investigative Update regarding their investigation of the April 26, 2018 explosion and fire at Husky Energy's 50,000 bpd Superior Refinery. According to the CSB, evidence collected to date suggests strong similarities with a previous investigation of the February 18, 2015 explosion at a refinery in Torrance, CA.

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A fire broke out in an oil refinery in Moscow on Saturday morning, shutting down a unit that Thomson Reuters data said produced more than half the plant’s gasoline output.

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Varo Energy’s Vohburg plant at the Bayernoil refining complex in Germany will likely remain shut for several more months for repairs after a major fire in early September, a source familiar with the matter said.

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Motiva Enterprises returned the gasoline-producing, alkylation and small coking units to normal operation at its 603,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, TX refinery, the nation’s largest, on Monday, said sources familiar with plant operations.

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Auto-refrigeration can impose low temperatures onto process vessels and piping causing them to be at risk of brittle fracture, the sudden break-before leak phenomena that can result in catastrophic rupture of the equipment.

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Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 45,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) heavy oil hydrocracker at its Convent, Louisiana, refinery remained shut on Monday following a Sunday fire, sources familiar with plant operations said. Also, the refinery’s 92,000-bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) may be shut up to two weeks for repairs to a malfunctioning compressor, the sources said.

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Today, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released its final report into the February 18, 2015, explosion at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, California. The blast caused serious property damage to the refinery and scattered catalyst dust up to a mile away from the facility into the nearby community. The incident caused the refinery to be run at limited capacity for over a year, raising gas prices in California and costing drivers in the state an estimated $2.4 billion.

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