Located on 1300 acres in Linden, NJ stands ConocoPhillips' Bayway Refinery. It's about 7 miles south of Newark, NJ, near the Newark Liberty International Airport, as well as Elizabeth, NJ, (and Elizabethport), and easily visible from the NJ Turnpike (NJTP). Built by John D. Rockefeller and starting operation in 1909, it was subsequently owned by Esso, later Exxon, then by Tosco, and now owned and operated by ConocoPhillps. It is the northernmost and either the largest, or second largest, refinery on the East Coast and the 15th largest in the US. It processes ~ 269,000 barrels of crude per day and contains the world's largest catalytic cracker for gasoline with a feed rate of 5 million gallons per day.
Bayway gets its crude from several places including Canada, West Africa and the North Sea but almost never from the Middle East. Crude from that part of the world contains much more of the heavier hydrocarbons making gasoline production more difficult because more energy is required to break up the long chain molecules into shorter ones. It runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and uses a tanker full of crude every two days. It ships out product via pipeline, barge, tank cars and tank trucks. Bayway has its own railway container terminal and heliport. The complex also includes a petrochemical plant for lubricants and additives and a polypropylene plant which outputs 775 million pounds per year. A building that can be seen directly from the NJTP is the Linden Cogeneration Plant which is on the Bayway property.
We folks in NJ refer to it as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Let's also not forget that in nearby Fords, NJ is the Hatco Corporation facility, the world's largest producer of Esthers for high performance lubricants. Also located close by is ExxonMobil's Synthetic Plant in Edison, NJ pumping out esther base stocks and aircraft turbine lubricants.
This is a chemical corridor of which all we NJ residents can be proud, although not as extensive as those in LA and TX.
What's especially fun for me is driving along the NJTP at night when Bayway is flaring. The flames light up the night sky with an otherworldly, eerie, indescribably alluring glow that bathes the stark industrial landscape in a scene reminiscent of a science fiction movie about the end of the world. The locals refer to it as the Exxon Borealis. It’s certainly an impressive sight.
Some travelers claim that the view looks like “hell on earth” and that the refinery is contributing to global warming and the coming destruction of the earth. However, for those who prefer their scenic vistas dominated by the ambience of heavy industry and such things as refineries, chemical plants and tank farms, it would probably be difficult to find a better, more interesting stretch of roadway.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. In any case, NJ is referred to as the “Garden State.”
I've said this before but it bears repeating: When I look at the marvel of Bayway and realize my brother-in-law is a chemical engineer who can design similar facilities, I'm really proud of him.
The existence of this refinery is probably a principal reason for the relatively low cost of gasoline in NJ.
Well, that’s my Bayway and I’m really happy to share it with you. Whatever else happens, Bayway just keeps crackin’ along.
Under the present circumstances, it's difficult for an ordinary guy like me to get close enough to Bayway to take decent photos without getting arrested or shot, so I depend on the web for this material. One excellent site for Bayway photos is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbpixd...57603925082909
Happy Motoring!
Here are some photos however which will give you an idea of the scope of the installation:
The first is a recent aerial view of the entire complex taken from an aircraft which has just taken off from Runway 22R at Newark Liberty Airport. Bayway is to the left of the wing edge and the wide road above it is the 12 lanes of the NJTP (I-95); two outer roadways of 3-lanes each for trucks and cars, and two inner roadways of 3-lanes each for cars only. This stretch of Turnpike is sometimes known as the 9th wonder of the world; i.e. we wonder if there is an uglier section of Interstate anywhere else in the US.
The second is an overall view of part of the complex from the ground taken in 1973 (still looks pretty much the same).
The third is a detail view of the gasoline catalytic cracker from 1969. Today's appearance is virtually unchanged.
Bayway gets its crude from several places including Canada, West Africa and the North Sea but almost never from the Middle East. Crude from that part of the world contains much more of the heavier hydrocarbons making gasoline production more difficult because more energy is required to break up the long chain molecules into shorter ones. It runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and uses a tanker full of crude every two days. It ships out product via pipeline, barge, tank cars and tank trucks. Bayway has its own railway container terminal and heliport. The complex also includes a petrochemical plant for lubricants and additives and a polypropylene plant which outputs 775 million pounds per year. A building that can be seen directly from the NJTP is the Linden Cogeneration Plant which is on the Bayway property.
We folks in NJ refer to it as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Let's also not forget that in nearby Fords, NJ is the Hatco Corporation facility, the world's largest producer of Esthers for high performance lubricants. Also located close by is ExxonMobil's Synthetic Plant in Edison, NJ pumping out esther base stocks and aircraft turbine lubricants.
This is a chemical corridor of which all we NJ residents can be proud, although not as extensive as those in LA and TX.
What's especially fun for me is driving along the NJTP at night when Bayway is flaring. The flames light up the night sky with an otherworldly, eerie, indescribably alluring glow that bathes the stark industrial landscape in a scene reminiscent of a science fiction movie about the end of the world. The locals refer to it as the Exxon Borealis. It’s certainly an impressive sight.
Some travelers claim that the view looks like “hell on earth” and that the refinery is contributing to global warming and the coming destruction of the earth. However, for those who prefer their scenic vistas dominated by the ambience of heavy industry and such things as refineries, chemical plants and tank farms, it would probably be difficult to find a better, more interesting stretch of roadway.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. In any case, NJ is referred to as the “Garden State.”
I've said this before but it bears repeating: When I look at the marvel of Bayway and realize my brother-in-law is a chemical engineer who can design similar facilities, I'm really proud of him.
The existence of this refinery is probably a principal reason for the relatively low cost of gasoline in NJ.
Under the present circumstances, it's difficult for an ordinary guy like me to get close enough to Bayway to take decent photos without getting arrested or shot, so I depend on the web for this material. One excellent site for Bayway photos is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbpixd...57603925082909
Happy Motoring!
Here are some photos however which will give you an idea of the scope of the installation:
The first is a recent aerial view of the entire complex taken from an aircraft which has just taken off from Runway 22R at Newark Liberty Airport. Bayway is to the left of the wing edge and the wide road above it is the 12 lanes of the NJTP (I-95); two outer roadways of 3-lanes each for trucks and cars, and two inner roadways of 3-lanes each for cars only. This stretch of Turnpike is sometimes known as the 9th wonder of the world; i.e. we wonder if there is an uglier section of Interstate anywhere else in the US.
The second is an overall view of part of the complex from the ground taken in 1973 (still looks pretty much the same).
The third is a detail view of the gasoline catalytic cracker from 1969. Today's appearance is virtually unchanged.
Attached Files
It is supposedly the largest refinery in Canada, although I can't back that up for sure.
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