INSIGHT: Ageing US water infrastructure threatens chem operations

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The winter storm in December that tested the resilience of US chemical plants revealed that they could become increasingly vulnerable to the nation’s ageing water infrastructure.

• Calumet Specialty Products could not restart its refinery in Shreveport, Louisiana, because it lacked the water services needed to restart
• Civil engineers gave low grades to the drinking-water infrastructure in the states of Texas (C-) and Louisiana (D-). Both states are home to much of the petrochemical and refining capacity in the US
• Fundamental chemical processes such as steam cracking and steam methane reformer rely on water

CALUMET AND SHREVEPORT
Even though Shreveport is not a large city and Calumet’s refinery is not especially big, they illustrate how vulnerable refiners and petrochemical plants could be to failures in the nation’s water system.

At Shreveport, breaks in the city’s water distribution system and leaks in residential pipes caused water pressure to plummet, said William Daniel, water and sewage department director for the city. He made his comments in a television interview.

Daniel attributed the failures to the age of the city’s infrastructure. It is 80 years old and it is in some cases 30 years past its useful life.

“This is a generational issue of not taking care of your assets. Unfortunately, we’ve reached that point in time where our system is so fragile, this type of weather disrupts the lives of the citizens of Shreveport,” Daniel said in the interview.

Calumet said the problems with the city’s infrastructure delayed the restart of Calumet’s refinery in Shreveport.

AILING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
Water is an integral raw material for chemical plants and refineries.

For refineries alone, 60% rely on municipal water services, said Jennifer Sloan Ziegler, project manager and engineer at Cypress Environment & Infrastructure. She is also the vice president of the ASCE’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI).

The ASCE regularly publishes report cards on the nation’s infrastructure. In its 2021 report, the ASCE estimated that a water main breaks every two minutes and the US loses 6bn gal/day (23bn litres/day) of treated water each day. The nation as a whole received a C- for its drinking-water infrastructure.

TEXAS AND LOUISIANA WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
Like the US as a whole, Texas’s water infrastructure received a C- in 2021.

The ASCE did note improvements in water conservation, planning and management. The state has increased fundings and provided additional financial support.

However, the state’s water supply relies on surface water for 62% of its needs, the report said. These sources are over-allocated, and they can become significantly depleted during droughts.

In addition to droughts, hurricanes can disrupt water supplies. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey shut down more than 200 public water systems, and 61 were rendered inoperable, the report said. Some were destroyed.

The Texas state water plan identified $63bn in capital costs during the next 50 years. Out of that, $36.2bn would require state financing and $26.8bn would require funding from revenue raised by water utilities. The report card did not say if the water utilities would raise enough revenue to cover the $26.8bn.

The report card for Louisiana was for 2017, and it warned of ageing and deteriorating water systems. It cited a database from the Louisiana Department of Health (DHH), which showed that 58% of the state’s drinking-water infrastructure was built before 1960.

The need for maintenance will become more frequent because much of the drinking water infrastructure is older than its intended design life, the report said.

RECENT SPENDING LAWS WON’T ADDRESS GAP
The recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law sets aside $55bn for water infrastructure, according to the consultancy McKinsey.

However, the law is a one-time infusion of funds, Sloan Ziegler said. Even when it is combined with the long-term funding already in place, the US still comes up short.

“The problem is our systems have been chronically underfunded, and they have been chronically underfunded for decades,” she said.

The nation’s water infrastructure has many points that need upkeep and repair.

Machines need to pump water from wells or out of above-ground reservoirs. The water needs treatment, which is a mechanical process.

Distribution systems rely on water towers. Flat areas rely on pump stations. Pipes wear out.

GROWING DEMAND FROM HYDROGEN
If the US continues to build green-hydrogen plants, then that would impose more demands on the nation’s water infrastructure.

Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen in electrolysers.

The US has already adopted legislation to support green hydrogen plants.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, includes up to $7bn to establish six to 10 hydrogen hubs in the US.

The Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits for hydrogen production based on the plants’ emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

2022 WINTER STORM PERFORMANCE
During the latest freeze, Texas and Louisiana avoided the widespread power outages and disruptions in gas supplies that made the 2021 winter storm Uri so destructive. Winter storm Elliott provided a test to show how well the petrochemical plants and refineries along the Gulf Coast would fare against freezing temperatures.

Dow said it avoided operational problems during the winter storm because of steps it took after winter storm Uri.

On the other hand, TotalEnergies shut down its polypropylene (PP) units at La Porte, Texas, even though the company said it took all precautions possible through freeze protection and heat tracing.

Insight article by Al Greenwood

Thumbnail shows water being sprayed on crops. Image by FLPA/REX/Shutterstock.