Brief fire flares at Oxy Vinyl VCM plant in Texas

19 November 2008 22:39  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--A fire flared briefly at Oxy Vinyl’s vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant at Deer Park, Texas, on Wednesday but was quickly contained and caused no injuries or significant damage, a company official said.

 

A mixture of ethylene dichloride (EDC), hydrogen chloride (HCl) and VCM was accidentally vented from a cracking furnace and ignited, according to a company statement filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

 

However minor, such incidents must be reported to the commission, which monitors atmospheric emissions in the state.

 

“We know no one was injured and it was contained very quickly within the plant,” company spokesman Richard Kline said on Wednesday.

 

According to the TCEQ filing, the fire started a little before 07:00 local time (13:00 GMT) and was put out by 08:31 when the furnace was isolated and fuel gas was shut off.

 

The spokesman said the incident has had no impact on production.

 

VCM and EDC are feedstocks primarily used in the manufacturing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

 

US Gulf export FOB (free on board) spot VCM was assessed at $450-500/tonne (€356-395/tonne) and EDC was assessed at $200-260/tonne on 14 November, according to data from global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing. 

 

US EDC and VCM producers include Formosa Plastics, Basic Chemicals, Occidental Chemical, Oxy Vinyl, Oxy Mar, Georgia Gulf, Dow Chemical, PPG Industries, Shintech and Westlake.

 

Deer Park is located on the eastern edge of the greater Houston metropolitan area.

 

For more on Oxy Vinyl’s Deer Park plant, visit ICIS plants and projects

For more on VCM and EDC, visit ICIS chemical intelligence

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry, go to ICIS connect

By: Leela Landress
+1 713 525 2653

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