Lake Charles Refinery Reduces Downtime & Saves Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Per Day
Runs Reciprocating Compressors on CITGO® CompressorGard® XA 200
Challenge
The CITGO Lake Charles Refinery, the seventh-largest refining facility in the United States, wanted to reduce overall downtime so they looked at possible solutions by upgrading their lubrication usage on its high-pressure, reciprocating compressors. It is essential that this lubricant can perform well in the frame, which includes the crankcase, and running gear, which consists of the main bearings and crossheads and in the cylinders that are exposed to the process gas. The CITGO Lubricants Technology team, along with Breaux Petroleum, recommended using a compressor fluid that will not polymerize and can support the loads and equipment bearings.
Solution
The CITGO Lubricants experts worked with the CITGO Lakes Charles Refinery and advised them to use CITGO® CompressorGard® XA 200, an oil that is specifically designed for use in reciprocating compressors subjected to sour, wet, high-pressure gases found in refineries, gas compression stations and fertilizer plants. This lubricant has state-of-the-art rust and corrosion inhibitors that do not contain barium and has outstanding demulsibility. It also has excellent thermal and hydrolytic stability and has great resistance to gelling when contaminated with water.
Outcome
Since making the switch, the CITGO Lake Charles Refinery's polymerization problem went away almost immediately. They went from celebrating a week of runtime to experiencing a year or more.
CITGO CompressorGard XA 200 does not contain barium and has performed very well in the frame and running gear and also inside the cylinder. The CITGO Lake Charles Refinery has reduced overall downtime since using the product and has also started to see valve life in the order of two to two and a half years.
About
Built in 1944, the CITGO Lake Charles Refinery is the seventh-largest refining facility in the United States and has gained a reputation as one of the safest facilities in the industry. As the largest of the three CITGO refineries, the Lake Charles Refinery consists of a modern, deep-conversion facility with a crude oil refining capacity of 479,000 barrels per day (bpd).
