Pipe Collapses in FCCU at Esmeraldas Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On July 16 the fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at Petroecuador's 110,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Esmeraldas refinery was shut down after the piping of the cooling system in one of the unit's boilers collapsed. The lack of alum, utilized for the purification of the water used in the cooling system, caused the pipes to clog. It has been stated that the alum was not delivered because of the product's high prices. Untreated water was used to operate the unit, which lead to cooler failing. Alum has now been provided, and maintenance teams are working on the unit. Authorities expected the FCCU to resume operation by July 27. Although no other unit in the plant was affected by the incident, the refinery has been processing about 40% below its normal processing capacity.

After the incident on July 22, a gas leak took place at the refinery, forcing all employees to evacuate. The gas leak resulted from a failure in one of the valves, plant authorities said.

In the first week of July, the refinery had completed a planned maintenance turnaround in the 55,000-BBL/d Crude 2 and 15,900-BBL/d Vacuum 2 units. For more information, view related July 2, 2008, news article - Ecuador's Esmeraldas Refinery Running at Normal Capacity after Maintenance Turnaround.

View Plant Profile - 1021399
View Turnaround Report - 65300 66774 67807 69423

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