Petroecuador Continues with Maintenance Turnaround at Esmeraldas Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--State-owned PetroEcuador (Quito, Ecuador), the owner and operator of the 90,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Esmeraldas Refinery, which is in the northern regions of Ecuador, is expanding maintenance plans for this year's turnaround at the facility.

For October 2010, the 15,000-BBL/d Visbreaker Unit 1 will undergo a 27-day planned turnaround, focused on the decoking of the unit's furnace. During November, a 20-day turnaround will take place at the refinery's utilities area, were units like Boiler Y-B7003, Boiler Y-B7004, and Boiler Y-B7002 will undergo maintenance and repairs. On November 24, the 13,000-BBL/d HDT naphtha, U1 new gas treatment, S1 sulfur recovery, Z2 sour-water stripper, 10,000-BBL/d continuous catalytic reformer, and 24,500-BBL/d HDS diesel units will be shut down for 20 days for maintenance, cleaning and repairs. For more information, see August 2, 2010, article - PetroEcuador to Perform Planned Turnaround at Esmeraldas Refinery.

Despite rumors of possible union strikes due to a massive personnel layoff during September, PetroEcuador is confident that no alterations in the maintenance program will take place in the coming months. Esmeraldas Refinery is the largest production complex in Ecuador.

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