United States refining capacity

Outside the United States, refining capacity is cited in metric tons per year. Precise conversion from one unit of measure to the other depends upon the specific gravity of the crude oil, but an approximate relation is 1 barrel per day equals 50 tons per year (tpy). 

Figiire 3.5. United States refining capacity, 1980-2004. (Source EIA, 2006f). 

Figure 6 represents our current forecast of coke production and average sulfur content. Coke production through the first half of 1984 occurred at an annualized rate of 19.7 million short tons (about 86 percent of calendar day capacity basis). However, monthly production rates have recently dropped considerably. From April s rate of about 56,000 short tons per day, which was the highest ever incurred by the United States refining industry, production has slipped to 52,000 short tons per day. 

Presently, worldwide refined acrolein nameplate capacity is about 113,000 t/yr. Degussa has announced a capacity expansion in the United States by... 

Petroleum Waxes. Waxes derived from petroleum are hydrocarbons of three types paraffin [64742-43-4] (clay-treated) sernimicrocrystaUine or intermediate and microcrystalHne [64742-42-3] (clay-treated). SernimicrocrystaUine waxes are not generally marketed as such (7). Others include acid-treated, chemically neutrali2ed, and hydrotreated and paraffin and hydrocarbon waxes, untreated. The quaHty and quantity of the wax separated from the cmde oil depends on the source of the cmde oil and the degree of refining to which it has been subjected prior to wax separation. Petroleum waxes are produced in massive quantities throughout the world. Subject to the wax content in the cmde, paraffin and, to a substantially lesser degree, microcrystalHne wax are produced in almost all countries of the world that refine cmde oil. Production capacity in the United States and imports for the years 1990 to 1995 are Hsted in Table 2. Canada suppHes over 50% of the petroleum wax imported into the United States (3). 

In general, the production of fused materials is much more energy intensive than that of hydrated products, and this difference is reflected in their prices. The primary producers are the United States Borax Chemical Corp. and the North American Chemical Co. Yearly fusion capacities for the two companies ate reported to be 86,000 and 36,000 metric tons B2O2, respectively (6). There is a plant in Turkey designed for the production of 60,000 t/yr of refined anhydrous borax from tincal ore (102). Small quantities of anhydrous borax have been produced in Argentina. 

The United States is largely self-sufficient with respect to copper, meeting any shortfall by imports. AustraHa and the CIS consume most of their production on the domestic market. Japan and Western Europe import substantial quantities of copper in the form of concentrates, bHster, and refined copper. World mine, smelter, and refining capacities in 1989 are given in Table 6. Copper industries in Chile, Pern, Zaire, and Zambia are nationalized. 

Presently, worldwide refined acrolein nameplate capacny is about 113,000 t yr. Degussa has announced a capacity expansion in the United States by building a 36.000 t/yr acrolein plant in Theodore. Alabama to support their methionine business. The key producers of refined acrolein are Union Carbide (United States), Degussa (Germany i, Atochem (France), and Daicel (Japan). 

Economies of scale have led to minimum capacities of about 2000-3000 metric tons per day for new United States regional soybean extraction plants, and larger facilities (4000-6000 tons per day) for soybean plants that pool some of their output for export. At the United States average yield of 38 bushels per acre, each 1000 metric tons per day solvent plant capacity requires the output of 966.65 acres per day, or 338,328 acres per year (136,975 ha). A 2750 metric tons per day plant would use the soybean crop of 930,402 acres per year (376,681 ha). An extraction plant of this size will support a 500 tons per day refin-... 

The major importers of palm oil used to be the developed countries of the European Economic Community (EEC), the United States, and Japan. They accounted for about 75% of the imports of palm oil in the early 1970s. With the increasing exports of refined palm oil products, many developing countries, which did not have refining capacities, were able to import processed palm oil for direct consumption with minimal or no further refining. This helped to expand the market for palm... 

Wastes Generated from Petroleum Refining. Petroleum refining wastes are regulated by EPA in several ways. There are approximately 150 active petroleum refineries in the United States. RCRA Subtitle C currently lists four characteristics as hazardous in 40 CFR 264.21 and. 24 and five waste categories as hazardous in 40 CFR 261.31 and. 32. When most of these wastes were listed beginning in 1980, there were 250-300 active refineries ranging in capacity from about 400,000 barrels (bbl) per day to only a few hundred bbl per day. 

Throughout the World War II years, great demands were made on the Frasch industry to supply the war effort with its large productive capacity and substantial reserves of sulfur. After the war ended, Frasch sulfur in Mexico, sour gas sulfur in Canada, France, and the United States, and sulfur from expanded refining of sour crudes challenged successfully the pre-World War II dominance of the U.S. Frasch sulfur producers. 

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