According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Information Administration (EIA), a total of 135 petroleum refineries were operable in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2019. Six were built in this century, three during the 1990s, and two in the 1980s. That leaves 124 that are 40 or more years old. Most of these units, and even the handful built during the last two decades of the 20th century, are in urgent need of upgrade.
That makes Texas ground zero for a boiler upgrades in the U.S. The Lone Star state has 47 refineries, the bulk of which are clustered long the Gulf Coast. And most of them are old. As a result, they tend to suffer from unplanned outages, higher fuel costs, and general inefficiency. These facilities are under attack on two fronts: tightening environmental mandates call for upgrades to bring refineries within acceptable emissions limits; in parallel, management demands predictable profits and the elimination of sudden shutdowns, which can mean millions in losses per day.