Oil and petrochemicals company BP in May announced the successful commissioning of a diesel hydrotreater and hydrogen plant at its 234 000 bl/d Cherry Point refinery located in Blaine, Washington.

“BP is committed to safe operations and providing consumers in the Northwest with cleaner fuels,” says BP’s Northwest fuels value chain president Jeff Pitzer.

The multimillion-dollar project included construction of the new diesel hydrotreater unit, with a production capacity of 25 000 bbl/d, a new hydrogen unit able to generate 44-million standard cubic feet of hydrogen a day and associated infrastructure.

“Not only was the project completed safely, it positions Cherry Point for future opportunities as we continue to deliver on BP’s strategy of operating feedstock-advantaged and technologically advanced refineries tied to strong retail networks,” notes Pitzer.

The new units enhance Cherry Point’s ability to meet regulations calling for lower-sulphur diesel fuel. A diesel hydrotreater creates a chemical reaction that removes sulphur from diesel fuel by using hydrogen to help break the bond between sulphur and the fuel.

“These two units will significantly improve the plant’s effi- ciency and competitiveness. “The new units allow the refinery to make a full slate of ultralow-sulphur diesel fuels and provide hydrogen to other refinery operations,” says refinery manager Stacey McDaniel.

The latest technology for both hydrotreating and hydrogen production was used for the project.

“This recent investment resulted in more than 1 000 skilled tradespeople working over the last two years to ensure a successful and safe completion of these significant new process units. Our workforce and business partners did an outstanding job delivering this project,” notes McDaniel.

The project took place on June 8, 2011 and the construction brought hundreds of well-paying jobs to Whatcom County. Twenty-five contracting companies and more than 1 200 contract workers took part in constructing the units and laying the infrastructure.

Equipment supply came from throughout the US and internationally, including Canada, England, Germany, India, South Korea and Mexico.

Construction involved setting 206 pieces of equipment, driving 1 457 piles, pouring 13 500 cubic yards of concrete, erecting 1 250 t of structural steel, laying 21 miles of pipe and installing 170 000 linear feet of above ground conduit.