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Motiva Enterprises (1406), Norco
LDEQ Accident Report
| Accident # | 153610 |
| State Police # | 14-00484 |
| Accident Date | 2014-01-29 |
| Report Date | 2014-02-05 |
| Follow-up Date | 0000-00-00 |
| Follow-up: | No |
Pollutants Released
| Pollutant | Duration | Point Source | Greenhouse Gas | Criteria Pollutant | Ozone forming chemical | Amount of Release |
| Sulfur Dioxide | 18h 45m | Air control transmitter at Sulfur Plant #3, Incinerator at Sulfur Plant 3, Incinerator at Sulfur Plant #2 | NO | YES | NO | |
| Carbon Monoxide | 18h 45m | Air control transmitter at Sulfur Plant #3 | NO | YES | NO | |
| Nitrogen Oxide | 18h 45m | Air control transmitter at Sulfur Plant #3 | NO | YES | YES |
Accident Classified As: No Information Given
Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure
Main air control transmitter at S3 failed resulting in the plugging of the units quench system. Due to the quench system plugging and the quench system not being able to work as designed, Sulfur Dioxide traveled directly to the incinerator at S3. The Acid gas that was normally sent to S3 was diverted to S2. Due to the rapid swap of gas from S3 to S2, the water in the waste heat boiler at S2 tripped. With both sulfur plants having issues, the pressure in the acid gas header was abnormally high. Consequently the acid gas backed into the SCOT stripper column at S2 and overwhelmed the system causing gas to travel to the incinerator at S2. Additionally the issues at the sulfur plants lead to gas flaring at the OL5 Elevated flare. (subject of another report by Shell)
Discharge Preventable - No Information Given
Notes/Remedial Actions
Data gathering to perform calculations and investigations are ongoing.
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