TotalEnergies' crude unit shut at Texas refinery
(Reuters) - A crude distillation unit (CDU), a coker and the alkylation unit are shut at TotalEnergies' 238,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, people familiar with plant operations said on Friday.
The refinery since Sunday has been dependent on the neighboring BASF SE chemical plant for steam following the shutdown of its cogeneration plant because of a fire, the sources said. The BASF steam supply went down on Friday morning.
TotalEnergies spokeswoman Tricia Fuller said the refinery lost its steam supply at about 7:55 a.m. CDT (1255 GMT) on Friday.
“The refinery immediately responded by following established procedures to minimize emissions,” Fuller said. “The steam loss caused operational upsets at some process units resulting in process upset gas being routed to the refinery flares.”
In a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the company said a coker was also shut at the refinery. The refinery shut the ACU-3 CDU on Friday afternoon while the alkylation unit and sulfolane unit were shut earlier in the day, the sources said.
CDUs break down crude oil into feedstocks for all production units at the refinery.
Cokers convert residual crude oil from distillation units into either feedstock for motor fuels or petroleum coke, a coal substitute.
The alkylation unit converts refining byproducts into additives that boost octane in gasoline.
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