Oil

Coking, a deep conversion process, will improve the refining of heavy crude oil at our wholly-owned Port Arthur, Texas refinery, boosting its light product capacity. The facility will also conform to the strictest environmental standards.

Because American crude oil is heavy and incompatible with today's stringent environmental requirements, we have decided to adapt our Port Arthur refinery in the United States, the only one we have in North America. The goal is to produce cleaner-burning light automotive fuels beginning in 2011. The stakes are high. Located near the oil and gas fields of the Gulf of Mexico and in Texas' "Golden Triangle," Port Arthur supplies the main distributors of the American Midwest and eastern seaboard.

From heavy crude oil to clean automotive fuel

To meet these objectives, the Port Arthur refinery needs to be upgraded. A brand-new unit dedicated to deep conversion, a process also called "coking," is being added. The new coker will convert heavier fractions into lighter products and coke, a solid residue resembling coal. Two other units are also being built, one to remove sulfur from diesel fuel and the other, a more conventional vacuum distillation unit.

There's nothing particularly difficult about transforming heavy bottom fractions into lighter products. It is just a very expensive, extremely energy-intensive process. That is why Total's experts are striving to enhance its energy efficiency. Coking is slated to begin in early 2011. In the meantime, more than 2,200 people will work on building the various units, racking up some seven million man-hours, without shutting down the current refinery.

Coking

Basically, coking consists of breaking large oil molecules and extracting some of their carbon atoms. In practical terms, heavy bottom fractions are fed into a furnace and heated to between 485 and 505°C, then sent on to a coke drum. The heat in the drum cracks the heavy molecules, yielding lighter compounds and coke. The lighter compounds are sent to a fractionating column, where they separate naturally in order of density by condensing at different heights. Moving from top down, you find LPG, followed by naphtha and middle distillates, with petroleum coke at the bottom.

Drums usually operate in pairs, alternately: the cracking reaction produces coke, which accumulates at the bottom. When the first drum is full, cracking shifts to the other drum, while the first is cooled, depressurized and emptied with the aid of a very high-pressure water jet. This process is repeated ad infinitum. The coke is recovered in a pit, then moved by conveyor belt to an open-air storage area. It is subsequently sold, usually as an industrial fuel.

Listening to local stakeholders

People in the United States, from all walks of life- politicians, scientists, neighborhood associations and the media - want to be informed. In response, we created Community Advisory Panels (CAPs) several years ago. Each CAP identifies the expectations of all stakeholders and takes advantage of the opportunity to discuss industrial issues with them, as part of a trust-based relationship.