Scotford Upgrader
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The Shell Scotford Upgrader is an oilsand
upgrader An upgrader is a facility that upgrades bitumen (extra heavy oil) into synthetic crude oil. Upgrader plants are typically located close to oil sands production, for example, the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada or the Orinoco tar sands in V ...
, a facility which processes crude
bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
(extra-heavy crude oil) from
oil sands Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and wate ...
into a wide range of
synthetic crude Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the ...
oils. The upgrader is owned by
Athabasca Oil Sands Project Albian Sands Energy Inc. is the operator of the Muskeg River Mine and Jack Pine Mine, an oil sands mining project located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. It is a joint venture between Shell Canada (10%), CNRL (70%) and Chevron Canad ...
(AOSP), a joint venture of Shell Canada Energy (60%), Marathon Oil Sands L.P. (20%) and Chevron Canada Limited (20%). The facility is located in the industrial development of Scotford, just to the northeast of
Fort Saskatchewan Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 municipalities that constitute the Edmont ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
in the
Edmonton Capital Region The Edmonton Metropolitan Region (EMR), also commonly referred to as Greater Edmonton or Metro Edmonton, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Alberta's provincial capital of Edmonton. The EMR's commonly known boundaries are coincide ...
.


Site

The Scotford Upgrader is a part of a larger site known as Shell Scotford located 40 km northeast of
Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...
. Shell Scotford comprises three operating units: the Upgrader, a Refinery, and a Chemical plant. The Scotford Cogeneration Plant is also located on the site. Currently, work is being done on the first Upgrader expansion. In 1984, Shell opened both the Refinery and Chemical plant on the Scotford site. As one of North America's most modern and efficient refineries, the Scotford Refinery was the first to exclusively process synthetic crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands. Benzene that is produced during the refining process is sent to the adjacent Chemical plant and is used in the production of Styrene Monomer, a chemical needed to make many of the hard plastics people use daily. In 2000, a glycols plant was opened at Scotford Chemicals. Much of the output of the Scotford Upgrader is sold to the Scotford Refinery. Both light and heavy crudes are also sold to Shell's Sarnia Refinery in Ontario. The rest of the synthetic crude is sold to the general marketplace.


History of Scotford

In 1891, a group of immigrants from Galicia, Austria settled on the land south of the North Saskatchewan River, near the South Victoria Trail. Philip Krebs, along with his son John, settled on the north side of South Victoria Trail. Their home became a popular stopping place for those travelling along the trail. Besides being a hospitable natured man, John was fluent in four European languages (German, English, Polish, and Ukrainian) and could speak Cree - making him popular with those who stopped by. When the
Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...
was being built into Fort Saskatchewan, Philip Krebs’ homestead was a natural place for a stop. In 1905, a loading station was erected there, and on the siding of the building was the name “Scotford” (named after ''Walter Scott'' and ''Alexander Rutherford'', the premiers of the two provinces – Saskatchewan and Alberta - that were formed that same year). The area is still referred to by that name.


Description

The Scotford Upgrader has a rated processing capacity of . It was shut down after being damaged in a fire 19 November 2007. The production was resumed in December 2007. The facility uses hydrogen addition to convert the bitumen from CNRL's Muskeg River Mine in the Athabasca oil sands into refinery-ready sweet, light
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
. The Muskeg River Mine is the first commercial unit using Shell's ''Enhance'' froth treatment technology — a process for removing sand, fine clay and water from oil sands froth to make clean bitumen suitable for upgrading via hydrogen addition. According to Shell, the
hydrogenation Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a Catalysis, catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to redox, reduce or S ...
process is well suited to the very clean bitumen produced at the Muskeg River Mine, and results in the upgrader producing more light crude oil than it inputs in the form of heavy bitumen. It also produces lower levels of
sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
emissions than the alternative coking method which removes carbon to produce
petroleum coke Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining, and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as cokes. Petcoke is the coke that, in particular, derives from a final cracki ...
as a by-product. The Scotford Upgrader has its own hydrogen manufacturing unit and produces most of the
hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
required for the hydrogen-addition process. The Scotford Upgrader capacity was expanded by in March 2010, an increase of 60% in capacity. In May 2007, the US$9 billion to US$11.3 billion expansion contract was awarded to TIC, Bantrel Constructors, PCL & KBR. KBR built 160 modules and performed construction work for the Atmospheric and Vacuum (A&V) unit and Sulphur Recovery Unit (SRU). Bantrel completed the tank farm, Utilities, Waterblock and Flare units, PCL completed the Residue Hydroconversion Complex (RHC) and TIC constructed the Hydrogen Manufacturing Unit (HMU) .


See also

* Alberta's Industrial Heartland *
Albian Sands Albian Sands Energy Inc. is the operator of the Muskeg River Mine and Jack Pine Mine, an oil sands mining project located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. It is a joint venture between Shell Canada (10%), CNRL (70%) and Chevron Canada ...
*
Husky Lloydminster Refinery The Husky Lloydminster Refinery is an asphalt refinery located in the city of Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada owned by Husky Energy. The refinery provides oil products, primarily 30 different grades of asphalt (2120 m³/day ), as well as light dist ...
,
Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administrati ...
(
Husky Energy Husky Energy Inc. is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates in Western and Atlantic Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region, with upstream and downstream business segm ...
), * Scotford Upgrader,
Strathcona County Strathcona County is a specialized municipality in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region within Alberta, Canada between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park. It forms part of Census Division No. 11. Strathcona County is both urban and rural in n ...
(
Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...
), *
Strathcona Refinery The Strathcona Refinery is an oil refinery located in Strathcona County adjacent to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, owned by Imperial Oil. The refinery provides oil products, primarily gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel, lubricating oils, petroleum wax ...
,
Strathcona County Strathcona County is a specialized municipality in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region within Alberta, Canada between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park. It forms part of Census Division No. 11. Strathcona County is both urban and rural in n ...
(
Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...
), *
Sturgeon Refinery The Sturgeon Refinery also NWR Sturgeon Refinery is an crude oil upgrader—built and operated by North West Redwater Partnership (NWRP) in a public private partnership with the Alberta provincial government. It is located in Sturgeon County ...
,
Sturgeon County Sturgeon County is a municipal district the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is north of Edmonton and west of the North Saskatchewan River. Sturgeon County is located in Division No. 11 and was named for the Sturgeon River. ...
(
North West Redwater Partnership North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...
Canadian Natural Resources Canadian Natural Resources Limited, or CNRL or Canadian Natural is a senior Canadian oil and natural gas company that operates primarily in the Western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, with offshore op ...
and North West Refineries), *
Suncor Edmonton Refinery Suncor Energy (french: Suncor Énergie) is a Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in production of synthetic crude from oil sands. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Suncor Energy was ranked as the 48th-larg ...
,
Strathcona County Strathcona County is a specialized municipality in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region within Alberta, Canada between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park. It forms part of Census Division No. 11. Strathcona County is both urban and rural in n ...
(
Suncor Energy Suncor Energy (french: Suncor Énergie) is a Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in production of synthetic crude from oil sands. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Suncor Energy was ranked as the 48th-lar ...
),


References


External links

* ww.bechtel.com/assets/files/PDF/DetailDesign.pdf Upgrader Design Detailsbr>Scotford Upgrader (Shell Canada website)(Oil Sands Magazine)
{{coord, 53, 48, 14, N, 113, 06, 00, W, type:landmark, display=title Petroleum technology Bituminous sands of Canada Petroleum industry in Canada Oil refineries in Canada Buildings and structures in Alberta Shell plc buildings and structures Strathcona County