BP restarts Cherry Point CDU, coker, reformer-agency
* Refinery units shut since April 11 for work
HOUSTON, May 24, 2011 (Reuters) – BP Plc was restarting a crude distillation unit, coking unit and reformer at the 225,000 barrel per day (bpd) Cherry Point refinery in Ferndale, Washington, on Tuesday, according to a notice filed with Washington state’s Northwest Clean Air Agency.
Most of the refinery’s units have been shut for a planned overhaul that began on April 11 to prepare the plant for the summer driving season.
A BP spokesman declined to discuss operations at the Cherry Point refinery. West Coast refineries usually perform planned maintenance in the spring to prepare for the high deamnd in the summer. A crude distillation unit does the initial refining of crude oil coming into a refinery.
A coker unit increases the amount of refinable material taken from a barrel of crude oil. It also converts the unrefinable residue of a barrel of crude into petroleum coke, a coal substitute. A reformer converts naphthas into octane-boosting components in gasoline.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Gary Hill)