Exxon Paraffinic Lubes Upgrade Project

Fluor provided engineering, procurement and construction for Exxon's Paraffinic Lubes upgrade project at its Baytown refinery.

The completion of this plant positioned Exxon to sustain its market share by meeting next-generation, base oil performance standards while maintaining a high degree of cost competitiveness.

Client's Challenge

The project utilized the raffinate hydroconversion process technology developed by Exxon Research and Engineering. The new raffinate hydroconversion (RHC) unit was added in parallel with the existing LHU2 to process 100N and 250N raffinate to produce the higher volatility index based products.

Fluor's Solution

The plant's facilities included the grassroots RHC unit, LHU2 modifications, LXU2 modifications and work on a substation.

Fluor installed 4,800 cubic yards of concrete, 760 tons of steel, 38,000 linear feet of pipe and over 100,000 linear feet of conduit.

Conclusion

The engineering for front end loading began in February 1997. The project reached mechanical completion in November 1999.