Texas Petrochemical and Resin Producers Note Production Hiccups Following Severe Winter Weather
February 07, 2022
A handful of petrochemical and resin producers in Texas filed environmental emission reports over the weekend following severe winter weather conditions and short-lived power utility outages on Friday.
ExxonMobil said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Saturday there was a minimal impact to production at its Baytown petrochemical unit, following an incident on Friday, but it expects to meet its contractual commitments. ExxonMobil's report said at its Polypropylene (PP) unit, a feed pressurization drum experienced a leak that resulted in emissions to the atmosphere. The drum was isolated and depressurized to minimize emissions. ExxonMobil did not say what led to the drum leak.
In a separate TCEQ report filed on Saturday, TotalEnergies said at its PP unit in La Porte, Texas, there was an incident in its Train 8 reactor circulating pump on Friday. The primary seal on the pump failed, which required operations to rapidly clear the reactor to the flare before becoming a safety issue.
Enterprise also reported flaring to the TCEQ and said on Friday failed power supply at its Mont Belvieu, Texas complex caused process control screens to power off leaving operators unable to control or monitor the process. Operators initiated an emergency shutdown to halt the process and work to restore power and process control abilities. The Mont Belvieu facility also includes 750,000 mt/yr PDH unit.
By Brian Balboa for The Plastics Exchange.
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