LyondellBasell 's Houston refinery returns to normal operations

LyondellBasell’s Houston refinery. Photo courtesy of LyondellBasell.

(Reuters) LyondellBasell Industries returned its 260 Mbpd Houston refinery to normal operations Wednesday, one day after a power interruption on a unit cut production in half, sources familiar with plant operations said.

The sources said the refinery's output had been at full capacity when the sulfur recovery unit lost power Tuesday afternoon, but production was cut, amid worker evacuations and orders to shelter in place, to about half capacity following the power interruption.

Due to the quick restart of the SRU, the refinery's production is expected to return to full capacity within a few days, the sources added.

Last month, the company said the refinery's production averaged 73% of capacity during Q2 as Lyondell performed extensive repairs to a coking unit damaged in an April 8 fire. It also said the refinery was not able to run at full production until the coker restarted July 15.

Flaring from the refinery lasted for about eight hours beginning at 2 p.m. CDT Tuesday, the sources familiar with the plant's operation said.

In a notice filed by the refinery on Wednesday with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Lyondell said an estimated 592,500 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 6,400 pounds of hydrogen sulfide were released into the atmosphere during flaring from the refinery.

The Houston Ship Channel was shut for about 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon so the crew of a ship on the waterway north of the Lyondell refinery would not be exposed to the facility's hydrogen sulfide release, the US Coast Guard said.
A sulfur recovery unit extracts sulfur from hydrogen sulfide removed from motor fuel feed stocks in compliance with US environmental rules.

Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by G. Crosse

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