with respect to water availability, the elevation and slope of the site, 

 and its foundation characteristics. 



The desired location for refineries is as near to the product- 

 demand center as possible. By centrally locating a refinery, numerous 

 products can be distributed with a minimum of transportation difficulty 

 and expense, and bulk shipments of crude oil can be received and shipped 

 in large tankers. This means that refineries are usually located in 

 proximity to urban (and oil consuming) areas. Air, water, and noise 

 pollution standards may, however, cause refineries to locate in under- 

 developed rural areas near a city and not within the urban area itself; 

 the city may have already exceeded ambient air quality levels allowed; 

 this would preclude construction of any new refineries. 



A refinery in actuality is located on a line between its source of 

 crude and its market so as to assure that the oil moves in one direction 

 and incurs a minimum of back-hauls. Transporting oil to a distant 

 refinery and then transporting products back to the region is usually 

 economically infeasible. 



Coastal refineries are usually located several miles inland from 

 the coastline because property is usually cheaper and the chances for 

 storm damage are decreased. They are, however, usually sited adjacent 

 to deep navigable waterways because some crude end products (petroleum, 

 coke, boiler ash, natural gas liquids) will be transported to and from 

 the refinery by smaller tankers and barges. Examples of this are the 

 natural gas liquids--extracted from raw gas at gas processing plants-- 

 which are used in gasoline manufacture. Petroleum, coke, and boiler ash 

 may also be transported on barges. 



A site near water is also needed because a refinery has extensive 

 cooling water requirements. Approximately 4.5 million gallons per day 

 will be consumed by a refinery processing 250,000 barrels per day [26]. 

 Gulf Oil's Alliance Refinery, a 200,000-barrel-per-day unit, uses much 

 more water. It requires 28 million gallons per day for cooling with 4 

 million gallons per day lost due to evaporation. In addition, 

 refineries require another 2 million gallons per day for process water. 



A new refinery has rather extensive acreage requirements. An 

 acceptable site must include from 500-1,500 acres [43]. The Bureau of 

 Land Management estimates 1,200 acres is needed for a refinery [21]. 

 Gulf Oil's Alliance Refinery (200,000 b/d) is on a 700-acre site. 



A new refinery requires level land that is above the flood zone and 

 possesses soil-bearing capacities capable of supporting heavy structures 

 such as retorts, fractionating towers, pumps, and catalytic cracking 

 structures. Support for these heavy structures can be provided by 

 piles, but there must be a firm formation into which the piles can be 

 driven. 



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