Amoco No 3 PTA unit at Geel out until April '99

23 October 1998 13:12  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (CNI)--Amoco Chemical Belgium's No 3 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) unit at Geel will be out of action until the beginning of the second quarter next year, the company said Friday.

The 500 000 tonne/year capacity unit, which was only commissioned about five months ago, was shut down following an outlet pipe rupture on 25 August.

Amoco has been forced several times to revise its estimates of the unit's likely downtime as further information became available on the scale and complexity of repair work. The company said Friday that its investigations and inspections are now complete and remediation of the affected sections will be undertaken as soon as fabrication and supply of new parts is complete.

The failure was caused by advanced corrosion in a stainless steel pipe and it is understood that large amounts of similar pipework will have to be replaced with a more durable material. No estimates were available on the likely cost of the work.

Amoco said its PTA customers would continue to be supplied through its global supply system.

"Amoco is the world's largest PTA producer and therefore it is possible for us to maintain supplies to our customers throughout this period," said Alain Dugueyt, vice president chemical intermediates for Amoco Chemical Europe.

The balance of lower paraxylene (PX) demand has been absorbed in Amoco's internal system, said the company.

Amoco manufactures PTA, polypropylene (PP) and purified isopthalic acid (PIA) acid at Geel. It said all other units are unaffected and are running to capacity.

By: Neil Sinclair
+44 20 8652 3214

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