Montreal East Refinery
Encyclopedia
The Montreal East Refinery was an oil refinery
located in Montreal East and formerly Shell Canada
's largest refinery. As of October 2010, refinery operations permanently ceased. The facility is currently being downgraded by converting it into a storage terminal
.
catalytic unit. In 1947 it was expanded with the building of the alkylation
and catalytic cracking refining units, and the refining capacity of was increased. From 1947 to 1960, the isomerisation
, catalytic reforming, chemicals plants were built and the refining capacity was further increased. During 2002 to 2008, desulphuration units were built and the refining capacity was upgraded to its highest level 161000 oilbbl/d.
On January 7, 2010 Shell Canada announced closing the refinery and converting it to a fuel terminal. On June 4, 2010, following the unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer to take over the plant, Shell Canada announced its plans to move forward to downgrade the refinery into a terminal. The conversion commenced in September 2010, with it permanently ceasing operations as a refinery in October 2010. Approximately 800 jobs were lost.
of hydrocracking for distillate upgrading of catalytic hydrotreating for cat reformer feeds of hydrotreating for kerosene/jet desulfurization of API Group I base oil of unfinished wax. The refinery had 154 oil tanks and more than 450 workers.
After conversion the facility receives gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels for distribution through Shell's Montreal terminal.
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
located in Montreal East and formerly Shell Canada
Shell Canada
Shell Canada Limited is the subsidiary of Dutch-based Royal Dutch Shell and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a major part of its business, as well as the marketing of gasoline and related products through the company's...
's largest refinery. As of October 2010, refinery operations permanently ceased. The facility is currently being downgraded by converting it into a storage terminal
Oil depot
An oil depot is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities...
.
History
The now-defunct refinery, the second owned by Shell in Canada, opened on 24 March 1933. It began with three units; the distillation unit, a topping unit, and crakingCracking (chemistry)
In petroleum geology and chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or heavy hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of carbon-carbon bonds in the precursors. The rate of cracking and the end products...
catalytic unit. In 1947 it was expanded with the building of the alkylation
Alkylation
Alkylation is the transfer of an alkyl group from one molecule to another. The alkyl group may be transferred as an alkyl carbocation, a free radical, a carbanion or a carbene . Alkylating agents are widely used in chemistry because the alkyl group is probably the most common group encountered in...
and catalytic cracking refining units, and the refining capacity of was increased. From 1947 to 1960, the isomerisation
Isomerisation
In chemistry isomerisation is the process by which one molecule is transformed into another molecule which has exactly the same atoms, but the atoms are rearranged e.g. A-B-C → B-A-C . In some molecules and under some conditions, isomerisation occurs spontaneously...
, catalytic reforming, chemicals plants were built and the refining capacity was further increased. During 2002 to 2008, desulphuration units were built and the refining capacity was upgraded to its highest level 161000 oilbbl/d.
| Year | Capacity (barrels per day) |
|---|---|
| 1933 | 5,000 |
| 1947 | 40,000 |
| 1951 | 55,000 |
| 1956 | 75,000 |
| 1965 | 124,000 |
| 2003 | 129,000 |
| 2005 | 133,000 |
| 2007 | 161,000 |
On January 7, 2010 Shell Canada announced closing the refinery and converting it to a fuel terminal. On June 4, 2010, following the unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer to take over the plant, Shell Canada announced its plans to move forward to downgrade the refinery into a terminal. The conversion commenced in September 2010, with it permanently ceasing operations as a refinery in October 2010. Approximately 800 jobs were lost.
Description
The refinery consisted of two refining units with capacities of 103000 oilbbl/d and 58000 oilbbl/d. It had alkylation, hydro-cracking, reforming catalytic, cracking catalytic, thermal catalytic, isomerisation, and desulphiration units. Its processing capacities included: of visbreaking of fluid catalytic cracking of semi-regenerative catalytic reformingCatalytic reforming
Catalytic reforming is a chemical process used to convert petroleum refinery naphthas, typically having low octane ratings, into high-octane liquid products called reformates which are components of high-octane gasoline...
of hydrocracking for distillate upgrading of catalytic hydrotreating for cat reformer feeds of hydrotreating for kerosene/jet desulfurization of API Group I base oil of unfinished wax. The refinery had 154 oil tanks and more than 450 workers.
After conversion the facility receives gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels for distribution through Shell's Montreal terminal.
See also
- Montreal RefineryMontreal RefineryThe Montreal Refinery is an oil refinery located in the city of Montreal inside the Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough. The refinery is not far from the Montreal East Refinery. This refinery is the largest Suncor Energy refinery....
- Montreal East Refinery (Gulf Oil Canada)Montreal East Refinery (Gulf Oil Canada)The Montreal East Refinery of the Gulf Oil Canada is a little refinery located inside the city of Montréal-Est and inside the Coastal Petrochemical fields and the operator of the refining unit is Coastal Petrochemical.-See also:*Montreal Oil Refining Center...
- Montreal Oil Refining CenterMontreal Oil Refining CenterMontreal is the largest oil refining centre in Canada. This refining centre is located in the Greater Montreal Area, essentially in the east part of the Montreal Island. Varennes city is another part of the refining centre....
- Shell Canada - Scotford Refinery
- Shell Canada - Corunna Refinery
- Imperial Oil - Nanticoke Refinery