No timeline set for restart after Port Arthur plant fire – CP Chem

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) has no timetable for restarting areas of its Port Arthur plant which were affected by a fire and is reviewing when unaffected areas of the facility could safely be restarted, the company said on Wednesday.

“We are committed to completing the investigation and implementing any corrective actions so that we can prevent this from happening again,” plant manager Margie Conway said in a statement.

The blaze, which was localised to one area of the facility, began Monday evening and was put out Tuesday morning.

Two employees were injured in the blaze, the cause of which has not yet been determined, CP Chem said.

The company has not commented on the extent to which production at the facility has been affected, nor has it confirmed the area in the facility in which the fire occurred.

Flames in a process heater were the cause of an emergency shutdown at the Port Arthur facility, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The cracking furnace had unplanned emissions of  495 lbs (225 kg) of carbon monoxide (CO), 68 lbs of nitrogen oxide (NOX) and 7,458 lbs of propane, according to the TCEQ filing. Releases of CO, NOX and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) also were reported as flares.

The plant has a capacity for 415,000 tonnes/year of cyclohexane, 803,000 tonnes/year of ethylene, 500,000 tonnes/year of propylene and 145,000 tonnes/year of toluene, according to ICIS Plants and Projects database.