Montreal East Refinery Isomerization Project

Fluor provided engineering, procurement and construction management for Shell Canada's Isomerization Project at the Montreal East Refinery in Montreal, Quebec. The project involved the isomerization of 7,500 barrels per stream day (BPSD) of light straight run naphtha (LSR).

The incorporation of the isomerization process required a number of additional major changes to the overall refinery processing scheme. These included debottlenecking the atmospheric and vacuum unit LSR/HSR splitter, provision of a 7,500-BPSD hydrotreating unit for the Hysomer feed, mercaptan oxidation treating for 6,000 BPSD of Jet A fuel, provision of a sulfur guard bed to pretreat 26,000 BPSD of catalytic reformer feed and minor modifications to a naphtha/kerosene hydrotreater.

Client's Challenge

The Isomerization Project was Phase I of Shell's objective to upgrade the octane value of the Montreal East Refinery gasoline pool. Shell provided the process design for all units. The Hysomer process, developed by Shell and licensed by Union Carbide, was selected for this purpose.

Fluor's Solution

All new process units were formed from the conversion of existing refinery units, with existing equipment and piping utilized to the maximum. The Hysomer unit itself was formed by the conversion of an operating naphtha hydrotreater, and the light straight run hydrotreater from the conversion of an idle catalytic reformer.

Fluor utilized Shell's process design data to develop unit piping and instrumentation diagrams, check rate and verify that the metallurgy of existing equipment and piping was suitable for the new services and specify new equipment where required. The project was schedule driven by specific shutdown windows during which key tie-ins were made and startup of the new facilities occurred.

Conclusion

Fluor provided engineering, procurement and construction management for an isomerization project at Shell Canada's Montreal East Refinery. The isomerization upgraded the octane value of the refinery's gasoline pool.