Regional Focus

Member-owners of CHS are now benefitting from the recently completed coker at the company’s central Kansas refinery. Construction of the coker unit at the CHS Refinery at McPherson began in March 2013 and began operating on Feb. 5, 2016. Now both CHS refineries at McPherson and Laurel, Mont., have relatively new cokers. The Laurel unit was completed in 2008.

A coker converts the heaviest portion of crude oil, otherwise sold as asphalt, into more valuable liquid products that can be converted into gasoline or diesel fuel. The remaining petroleum coke (similar to coal) is sold as a fuel source for industrial applications, such as cement kilns and electric power plants.

“Replacing our previous coker, built in 1952, was essential for continued operation of the refinery,” says Rick Leicht, McPherson refinery vice president. “We now have a coker that is state of the art, with much improved operational safety and reliability. With this new coker, we have increased freedom to process different crude oil types, depending on economic favorability.”

One of the final steps before startup was to commission each piece of equipment by putting pumps, vessels, valves and piping through rigorous tests. Once they were cleared by engineering and operations personnel, they were ready for use. The new coker was successfully started on Feb. 5.

The McPherson coker main tower reaches 312 feet above grade with a foundation that measures 140 feet by 160 feet and is 7 feet thick. The project required more than 37,000 yards of concrete, more than 4,500 tons of steel, 31 miles of pipe and nearly 2.4 million hours to complete.