Units at Chile's Bio Bio Refinery Still Offline

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Bio Bio refinery, owned by Chile's state-owned oil company Enap, was unable to restart the topping 1 and vacuum 1 units on May 18, 2008, as planned. The fluid catalytic cracker unit, which also underwent maintenance work , was scheduled to be restarted on May 20, 2008; however, it is still offline.

A planned turnaround in the FCCU, topping 1 and vacuum 1 had been scheduled in April. For details, view related February 18, 2008, article - FCCU, Delayed Coker at Chile's Bio Bio Refinery Running at Reduced Rates.

Maintenance work in the compressor of the CCR was performed during the last week of April 2008. The unit was offline for six days and came back online on May 2, 2008. It is currently processing at normal rates. Partial maintenance work in the delayed coker has been completed. The unit is still de-rated, though, processing 1,000 cubic meters per day. For more details, view related May 20, 2008, article - Bio Bio Refinery's Important Processing Units Coming Online after Maintenance Shutdown.

The FCCU remains offline because more work in the unit's reactor and compressor is needed; moreover, bad weather has delayed maintenance activities. Plant officials estimate that the unit will be restarted on Saturday, May 24, 2008, and running at normal rates by Thursday, May 29, 2008. Maintenance delays topping 1 and vacuum 1 were mainly caused by a major repair in the furnace and tower. Refractory dry-off in topping 1 is being performed. Topping 1 and vacuum 1 will be processing at normal rates by Sunday, May 25, 2008. Visbreaker, which was shut down on May 4 for decoking in the furnace convection, remains offline because additional minor work in its furnace was needed. The delayed coker is running at normal rates, and maintenance work in the other section of the furnace will be carried out in August 2008. This unit will be restarted after the topping and vacuum units are back online.

The hydrocracking unit was shut down on May 18, 2008, because of compressor issues and was set to be restarted May 22. The CCR is de-rated and will reach normal rates after the topping and vacuum units are back online. The MHC is running at maximum rates without problems.

Bio Bio refinery is currently experiencing lack of diesel because bad weather conditions are preventing low-sulfur fuel imports from the Gulf Coast to arrive on time. All of the refinery's other processing units are running at normal rates.

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