US DuPont shuts down Texas PE unit following upset

HOUSTON (ICIS)–A polyethylene (PE) unit at DuPont’s Sabine River Works plant in Orange, Texas, remains down on Wednesday following an emergency shutdown at the plant on Tuesday night, a company spokesman said.

A unit upset at 23:05 local time on Tuesday (05:05 GMT on Wednesday) caused the reactor to dump and release ethylene gas, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The unit was shut down, isolating the reactor, while area personnel closed manual valves to complete the isolation of the reactor, the report stated.

A company spokesman said the unit, which is one of three at the plant, has not been restarted and will remain down while the company completes its investigation. The spokesman said he had no information on when the unit would restart.

US-based DuPont has a 235,000 tonne/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Orange, Texas, according to ICIS Plants and Projects.