Environmental Improvements

Moving the Gasoline Production to the Evanston Facility

When Silver Eagle became a part of The International Group, Inc. (IGI), an early decision was made to move gasoline production from the Woods Cross facility to Evanston, WY. This resulted in a reduction of overall emissions in Davis County by 290 tons.  Many of these emissions are ones that the Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has been focused on, to be in compliance with the EPA’s PM2.5 SIP requirements.  These include: NOx, SO2, NH3 and VOCs. The decision to move our gasoline production was made with the understanding that air quality in Utah is a very important issue, and Silver Eagle wants to do what it can to improve the air quality along the Wasatch Front. It should be noted that this action was completely voluntary on our part, and provides no benefit to the financial well-being of Silver Eagle. Instead, this results in additional transportation costs for Silver Eagle to bear, as Naphtha (the gasoline blending component produced in the Woods Cross facility) has to be transported via truck to the Evanston facility where it is blended and/or processed into gasoline. Then, the finished gasoline has to be transported by truck back to Davis County and other counties in Utah. Silver Eagle believes this is having a measurable positive impact on the air quality of Davis County.

Energy Efficiency Projects

A portion of the capital spent within the Woods Cross facility has been allocated toward energy efficiency projects.  These projects include the installation of heat exchangers to recover a substantial amount of heat from the two hottest streams produced in the Refinery: the Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil (HVGO), and the Vacuum Tower Bottoms (VTB’s).  Heat from these streams previously dissipated into the atmosphere, and, on a proactive basis, we will clean heat exchangers that have become fouled, to improve overall energy efficiency.  Additionally, Silver Eagle has also implemented better process controls on the largest heater in the refinery, which is the Crude Unit charge heater.  These projects have resulted in the reduction of energy consumed to process each barrel of crude by over 55%. This means that we can now process crude in Woods Cross using less than half of the energy that was used in 2011, when Silver Eagle first became a part of IGI.  Improved energy efficiency results in lower overall emissions per barrel of crude processed, thus improved air quality.

Internal Floating Roofs

Voluntarily, Silver Eagle has installed internal floating roofs in its Yellow Wax Crude storage tanks. This was not required by regulation, but we took this action to reduce the amount of VOCs being emitted from our crude storage tanks. At this time, all of the crude storage tanks within the Silver Eagle tank farm have internal floating roofs. These installations have reduced the VOC emissions between 9 to 12 tons per year. Silver Eagle believes VOCs are a major contributor to PM 2.5, and this action has also helped improve the air quality of Davis County, specifically South Davis County.

Tier Three Gasoline

Silver Eagle Refining produces a very low sulfur gasoline in its Evanston facility that is mostly transported back to Utah to be sold in retail outlets. Improvements have been made in the processing of gasoline that has resulted in lower sulfur content, to the point that our 2016 annual average reported to the EPA was just 1.27 ppm. All batches of gasoline produced in the Evanston facility in 2016 and 2017 have been below the Tier 3 requirement of 10 ppm.  We have also lowered the RVP to 7.8 psi which allows Silver Eagle Tier 3 gasoline to be sold in the five nonattainment counties within the Wasatch Front, specifically Davis County. The EPA reports that using Tier 3 gasoline in a Tier 2 car will result in approximately 14% lower emissions, as well as extend the life of the catalytic converter by 50,000 miles. Silver Eagle has been working with retailers to have a dedicated retail outlet selling only Silver Eagle Tier 3 gasoline.  Unfortunately we have not been successful in finding a retail outlet that will sell exclusively Silver Eagle Tier 3 gasoline. Why is this important?  To get the benefit of the Tier 3 gasoline in a Tier 2 vehicle, the gasoline being used must be below 10 ppm sulfur. Presently, when Silver Eagle Tier 3 gasoline is sold in the Wasatch Front, it is blended with gasoline from other refiners.  Although the overall average sulfur content between the two would be reduced, it most likely would not be below the 10 ppm requirement.  Silver Eagle has also calculated that if 2,000 barrels per day of Silver Eagle Tier 3 gasoline were to be sold into Davis County, and used in Tier 2 cars, that the emissions reduction (in terms of tons per day of total emissions) would be roughly equivalent to the emissions from our Woods Cross facility. This is a way that Silver Eagle can reduce the impact of the refinery in Woods Cross; and we will continue to pursue retail outlets that want to work with us in Davis County and help improve air quality even further.