Veolia to Expand Sulfuric Acid Regeneration Capabilities in Anticipation of Market, Customer Needs.

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Veolia North America announces a meaningful investment for a new
“debottlenecking” project at its Burnside, La., sulfur regeneration
facility, which provides merchant sulfuric acid regeneration services to
refineries and produces various sulfur-based products. The project
investment will increase spent sulfuric acid regeneration capacity by 15
percent annually and will be completed during the plant’s Fall 2018
turnaround.

“This is an important step forward in growing our Regeneration Services
capabilities,” said Veolia North America president and CEO William J.
“Bill” DiCroce. “The debottlenecking project at Burnside will address
some of the equipment, process and system design issues that limit our
current capacity – and improve our overall market position and
reliability. It will offer a real solution for refiners’ additional
spent acid regeneration requirements, and demonstrates our lasting
commitment to their business.”

Refiners today are pushing the current acid regeneration circuit to
nearly 100% capacity, because of spiking demand for alkylate. Alkylate
is the refining industry’s preferred gasoline additive, used to help
achieve the fuel efficiency standards and low emission ratings demanded
by regulators and consumers. By adding capacity through this expansion
project, Veolia is taking the lead in supporting its customers’ growth
requirements as well as positioning itself for further growth.

In the United States, there are approximately 100 refineries with
alkylation units, which use either sulfuric acid or hydrofluoric acid as
the production catalyst. Veolia offers regenerative solutions for both
alkylation types, specifically potassium hydroxide (KOH) processing and
sulfuric acid regeneration capabilities.

In addition to the expansion, the Burnside facility will celebrate its 50th
anniversary with an event on December 7. “This major milestone is a
testament to the dedication of management and staff that have safely
provided high quality merchant sulfuric acid regeneration services,
advanced improvements to the facility and supported the local community
over the last half century,” said Steve Hopper, president and COO,
Industrial Water and Regeneration Services for Veolia North America.
Veolia’s largest "hybrid" sulfuric acid regeneration and sulfur burning
facility, capable of handling both fuming and non-fuming acids, the
Burnside facility has been continuously upgraded since its construction
in 1967 and has been recognized repeatedly by the local community and by
the state of Louisiana for its strong safety and environmental
compliance records.

Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management.
With over 163,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides
water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the
sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three
complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to
resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them. In 2016,
the Veolia group supplied 100 million people with drinking water and 61
million people with wastewater service, produced 54 million megawatt
hours of energy and converted 30 million metric tons of waste into new
materials and energy. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext:
VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €24.39 billion ($25.7 billion) in
2016. www.veolia.com

Contacts

Veolia
Denisse Ike, 832-300-5771
[email protected]