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Shell Chemical East (26336), Norco
Causal Factor: Process Upset
| LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date |
Point Source(s) | Notes | Amount of Release |
| 97746 2007-07-10 | OL-5 Flare (EPN #6-84) | Cause: Instrument problems at DHT (diesel hydrotreater) Process Unit caused a vent gas compressor to trip, resulted in flaring at Shell Chemical's OL-5 elevated flare. Followup: Yes Notes: Upon discovery, Motiva operations secured the DHT unit and shutdown the unit. Motiva's long-term plan to prevent recurrence is to install plug connectors on the unused pins of the DeltaV backplans. The plug connectors will be installed once the manufacturer provides suitable plugs that have been tested to allow problem-free installation and as control systems can be powered down during planned unit shutdowns to allow the installations of the plugs. | Sulfur Dioxide: 73.9 pounds Carbon Monoxide: 10.5 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 1.9 pounds Particulate Matter: 0.4 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 2.8 pounds |
| 145447 2012-12-18 | exchanger in GO-1 Process Unit | Cause: Propane and propylene were released to the atmosphere from a leaking exchanger in the GO-1 Process Unit. Followup: Yes Notes: The exchanger was isolated to stop leak source. Upon investigation into the leak it was determined that the exchange had a ruptured tube. Investigation into the cause of the rupture continues. The exchanger will be repaired before it is returned to service. | Propane: 28,681.0 Propylene: 2,159.0 |
| 145423 2012-12-17 | heat exchanger in the GO-1 Process Unit | Cause: Operations discovered a leak on a heat exchanger in the GO-1 Process Unit. The release began at 2100 hours on December 17, 2012 and ended at 1500 hours on December 18, 2012 for a duration of 18 hours. Followup: Yes Notes: Maintenance tightened bolts on the head of the exchanger and the leak stopped. Insulation on the exchanger head was removed and repairs were made to the exchanger. Follow-up letter reported that the reportable quantity for High Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (propylene) was exceeded. | Propylene: 153.7 pounds Propane: 11.6 pounds |
| 145085 2012-12-02 | OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84) | Cause: On December 2, 2012, Shell Chemical's OL-5 Process Unit experienced an unexpected leak of the Core Exchanger, which led to flaring at the OL-5 Elevated Flare to isolate the leaking exchanger, repair, and return it to service. The release began on December 2, 2012 at 6:15 AM and ended on December 6, 2012 at 11:55 PM.
Repairs were made to the core exchanger and the unit was safely returned to normal operations conditions. Followup: Yes Notes: The unit was secured and adjustments made to minimize flaring. Preparations were begun to complete repairs to the core exchanger. The flaring was stopped once the repairs were completed and the OL-5 process unit was safely restored to normal conditions. To prevent recurrence, maintenance practices were reviewed and improvements were made. Entire PDF report was not able to be uploaded. Contact LABB for the full report. | Carbon Monoxide: 176,542.9 pounds NOx: 32,445.7 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 99,656.4 pounds Butadiene: 6,341.0 pounds Benzene: 2,859.1 pounds Ethylbenzene: 508.2 pounds Toluene: 1,969.1 pounds Xylene: 1,016.3 pounds |
| 144473 2012-11-06 | GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) | Cause: On 11/6/12, Shell Chemical's GO-1 Process Unit flared at the GO-1 Elevated Flare
(EPN 1-90). The flaring was a result of an unexpected unit upset in GO-1 caused by the receiving of off specification feed from a supplier. Followup: No Notes: Once the upset occurred, GO-1 operations took the necessary steps to minimize flaring and safely return the units to normal operating conditions and the flaring stopped. Investigation and data gathering confirm that no RQ or maximum permitted limits were exceeded. | |
| 144282 2012-10-30 | GO-1 and OL-5 Elevated Flare | Cause: Shell Chemical's GO-1 Process Unit flared at the GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90). The flaring was a result of an unexpected unit upset in GO-1 caused by the receiving of off specification feed from a supplier. Additionally, flaring occurred at the OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84), caused by the same issue. Followup: Yes Notes: Once the upsets occurred, GO-1 and OL-5 operations took the necessary steps to minimize flaring and safely return the units to normal operating conditions and the flaring stopped. Investigation and data gathering confirm that no RQ values or maximum permitted limits were exceeded. | |
| 142287 2012-08-21 | GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) | Cause: Flaring from the GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) was a result of an unexpected shutdown of the propylene refrigerant compressor. Followup: No Notes: GO-1 operations took the necessary steps to minimize flaring and safely return the unit to normal operating conditions and the flaring stopped. Investigation and data gathering confirm that no RQ or maximum permitted limits were exceeded. | |
| 141462 2012-07-19 | Pressure relief device on the GHT Process Unit | Cause: On July 19, 2012 in Shell Chemicals GHT Process Unit, a pressure relief device opened up releasing hydrocarbon to the atmosphere. The opening of the relief device occurred after the completion of a unit shutdown caused by the need to load shed the unit to help with a curtailment of the site's steam supply. Followup: Yes Notes: The unit was stabilized by stopping a feed pump and lowering of the pressure of the vessel that the device was protecting. A mitigation plan was developed and emergency response personnel went in and isolated the relief device to stop the leak. The unit remained down until the relief device could be sent out and repaired. Inspection of the relief device indicates that there was a failure of a bellows inside the relief device. Pressure equipment personnel recommended the use of a stronger bellows in the relief device. There is also a "management of change: in process that will change it to a conventional relief device and tie the discharge line to an existing line to the flare to prevent a release to atmosphere. In the calculations table it is reported that 10 lbs* of benzene was released. The asterisk note states that the actual estimated release was 9.55 lbs. The report was submitted more than 7 days after the incident and verbal notification. | Benzene: 10.0 pounds |
| 140766 2012-06-23 | GO-1 Pressure Relief Device West Ops Ground Flare (EPN 9-84); GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) | Cause: On June 23, 2012 Shell Chemical's GO-1 flared at the GO-1 Elevated Flare. The flaring was a result of an upset when the Propylene Refrigerant Compressor kickbacks started swinging and affecting the rest of the process unit. The swings became uncontrollable and the cold-side of GO-1 was shutdown to get the propylene refrigerant compressor and the ethylene refrigerant compressor under control. GO-1 flared process gas off the Process Gas Compressor 4th stage discharge and light fractionation columns, dry gas off the dry gas compressor discharge, and propylene and ethylene off the refrigeration compressors.
On June 23, 2012 Shell Chemical's GO-1 experienced a unit upset which led to flaring at Motiva's West Operations Ground Flare (EPN 9-84). The flaring was a result of a unit upset that caused a cold-side shutdown of the GO-1 Process Unit. Followup: No Notes: The report was submitted more than seven days after the incident and verbal notification. GO-1 operations took the necessary steps to minimize flaring and safely return the unit to normal operating conditions and the flaring stopped. During this incident a pressure device opened to lower process pressure, releasing ethylene to the atmosphere. GO-1 operations took the necessary steps to safely return the unit to normal operating conditions and the flaring stopped. The pressure relief device closed once the pressure was lowered below the set-point. GO-1 Operations completed a Management of Change to reset the parameters in the compressor surge control system for the propylene refrigerant compressor to allow for the compressor to be restarted and prevent a reoccurrence of another similar incident. Motiva did not exceed any reportable quantities or maximum permitted limits. Shell Chemical - East exceeded its reportable quantity for highly reactive volatile organic compounds (ethylene) which was released from the a pressure relief device on GO-1 operations. It also exceeded its maximum permitted limits for 1,3 butadiene and hexane. It flared for 1 day and 21 hours (45 hours). Although Shell Chemical - East has stated that no reportable quantities were exceeded from flaring, some chemicals, such as benzene (RQ: 10 lbs) and sulfur dioxide (RQ: 500 lbs), etc. , exceeded their reportable quantities. The release of particulate matter from both flares was reported as smoking. | Ethylene: 8,663.0 pounds Carbon Monoxide: 107,188.4 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 19,679.5 pounds Particulate Matter: 3,708.1 pounds Sulfur Dioxide: 3,662.8 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 51,011.3 pounds 1,3-Butadiene: 3,600.2 pounds Benzene: 825.7 pounds Hexane: 582.1 pounds Toluene: 38.3 pounds |
| 137608 2012-02-29 | OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84) | Cause: Shell Chemical's OL-5 Unit's Converter and Product Hydrogen Methanators shutdown due to a high level in the crude hydrogen drum. This led to flaring of unmethanated hydrogen at the OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84). Followup: No Notes: The crude hydrogen level was lowered. The methantators were safely returned to normal conditions and flaring was stopped. Initial report states there was offsite impact. | |
| 136804 2012-01-28 | OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84) | Cause: On January 28, 2012 Shell Chemical's OL-5 Process Unit experienced an upset. This upset led to a false indication that there was flaring of acid gas at the OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84). OL-5 experienced an unexpected high level in the DEA Stripper column trays due to plugging which carried over to the DEA accumulator. The elevated level in the accumulator forced a high pressure indication in the DEA overhead system and caused the flare valve to open to safely relieve the pressure on the system (as designed). However the liquid buildup in the overhead system due to this upset prevented any acid gas from being vented through the control valve to the flare. A review of the process data during the upset indication was a result of high liquid level in the overhead system. Followup: Yes Notes: It was confirmed that although the control valve had opened to the flare, no flaring through this path was possible as the overhead system was liquid full. The flare was smoking for 0 minutes according to Shell's initial and follow up reports. Once it was determined that the DEA Stripper was plugged and causing the flooding conditions in the overhead system, OL-5 Operations lowered the heat on the column and pumped the level in the accumulator down to lower the pressure indication/close the vent valve and stabilize the system. The DEA treatment system was shutdown and decontaminated for maintenance to completely clean the system. The cleaning removed plugging issues that lead to the unexpected flooding and high pressure indication in the overhead system. The DEA treatment system was safely returned to normal operating conditions once the cleaning activities were completed. Initial State Police Hazmat Hotline report states there was offsite impact, and up to time of call and 24-hour update there was still minor and occasional flaring. Shell's Notification Release Form states that occasional flaring may occur until system was returned to normal conditions. | |
| 152977 2013-12-21 | OL-5 Ground (EPN 7-84) and Elevated (6-84) Flares OL-5 Ground flare (EPN 7-84) | Cause: On December 21, 2013, Shell Chemical's OL-5 operations discovered a pressure relief device opening to the OL-5 flare system. Followup: Yes Notes: To close the pressure relief valve and stop the flow to the flare system, operations reduced the pressure of the propylene refrigeration compressor system, returning the unit to safely normal operating conditions. To minimize additional unit upset conditions and impacts, Operations drained exchangers, reducing the pressure of the propylene refrigeration compressor system caused by excess material in the system. In addition, Operations restored the propylene refrigeration systems to its normal operating conditions by reversing actions taken to stabilize the unit during the unit upset. An evaluation of the operating conditions of the propylene refrigeration compressor system will be performed to identify improvements which can be made to prevent future re-occurrences. If an corrective actions are identified, they will be reported in the 2013 2nd Half Semiannual Report. | Carbon Dioxide: 2,078.4 pounds Nitrogen Dioxide: 382.0 pounds Particulate Matter: 151.7 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 1,284.2 pounds |
| 152921 2013-12-19 | GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) | Cause: On December 19, 2013, GO-1 had an unexpected process upset which resulted in flaring at the GO-1 Elevated Flare. The flaring was a result of a swing on the cold site of GO-1, which resulted in an upset at the propylene re-compressor.
Ending date above is the reported anticipated end date, assuming troubleshooting efforts continue as planned. Followup: No Notes: Operations is currently stabilizing the unit and minimizing the flaring. Data gathering to perform calculations and investigation are ongoing. Shell will provide an update within 60 days. | No information on re No information on re No information on re No information on re No information on re No information on re No information on re No information on re No information on re No information on re |
| 152800 2013-12-10 | OL-5 Ground Flare (EPN 7-84) and Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84) | Cause: On December 10, 2013, OL-5 operations experienced high acetylene content in the process. The material was flared to prevent further upsets which may have resulted in an even greater amount of flaring. OL-5 made adjustments to return the acetylene content back to specification.
The OL-5 converter hydrogen appears to have been slipping a small amount of flow through a closed control valve into the hydrogen line supplying the acetylene converters causing the off specification production. Followup: No Notes: OL-5 is making changes in process guidelines to prevent recurrence. Shell Chemical confirmed that no reportable quantities were exceeded, however the maximum lbs/hr limit was exceeded for particulate matter. | Carbon Monoxide: 588.8 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 108.2 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 248.4 pounds Particulate Matter: 43.0 pounds |
| 152357 2013-11-13 | GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) | Cause: On November 13, 2013, GO-1 had an unexpected process upset which resulted in flaring at the GO-1 Elevated Flare. The flaring was a result of the GO-1 South Acetylene Converter going off specification due to contaminants in the hydrogen supply to the converter due to a valve misalignment at Motiva's S3 Sulfur Unit. The material was flared at the GO-1 Elevated Flare to prevent additional upsets in GO-1. Incident Investigation is ongoing. Shell will provide an update within 60 days.
Report states that no reportable quantities were exceeded. Followup: Yes Notes: GO-1 operations took corrective actions to return the acetylene converters to normal operation. GO-1 added steam and hydrogen to both converters. A pressure control valve for import hydrogen was put in manual to correct variations in the flow to the converters. The PSA hydrogen was stopped to the converters as part of initial troubleshooting, but was later lined up after the valve misalignment was discovered and corrected. Once the acetylene converters were returned to normal operating conditions the flaring stopped. To prevent this incident from reoccurring, the operations specialist at S3 has updated piping and instrument drawings to clarify the location of the S3 hydrogen and nitrogen valves in the field. Also the operations specialist at S3 has car sealed close the hydrogen valve from S3 to GO1. | Carbon Monoxide: 1,992.0 pounds NOx: 366.1 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 767.9 pounds Particulate Matter: 145.4 pounds |
| 152132 2013-11-03 | OL-5 Ground Flare (EPN 7-84) and OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84) OL-5 Ground Flare and Elevated Flare | Cause: On November 3, 2013, OL-5 had an unexpected process upset which resulted in flaring at the OL-5 Ground Flare (EPN 7-84) and OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84). The flaring resulted from OL-5 taking a stream into the unit from OP-1 which caused the Acetylene Converter to go off specification. The material was flared at the OL-5 Ground Flare and OL-5 Elevated Flare to prevent additional upsets in OL-5. Followup: Yes Notes: Once OL-5 Operations was aware that the acetylene content increased above specification in the outlet of the acetylene converters, OL-5 Operations followed normal procedure and diverted the acetylene converter effluent to the OL-5 flare system until the Acetylene converter effluent was back in specification. The material was flared to prevent additional upsets in the unit. OL-5 operations immediately stopped the OP-1 de-ethanizer tops flow into the unit and ethylene product flow to the pipeline. The ethylene splitter received some of the high acetylene process gas exiting the acetylene converters. The ethylene splitter overhead and the liquid in the ethylene splitter reflux drum were sent to the flare until the column was also back on specification. Once the ethylene product stream was back on specification, the ethylene product leaving the ethylene splitter was returned to the pipeline and the flaring stopped. Report states that all released materials were dispersed naturally in the atmosphere from the OL-5 Ground and OL-5 Elevated flare stacks. Currently, an investigation is occurring. The results from this investigation will be incorporated, where applicable, into the standard work processes at the OL-5 Unit to prevent recurrence. Shell Chemical confirmed that the reportable quantity for Highly Reactive Organic Compounds was exceeded. The maximum permitted limits were exceeded for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds. | Carbon Monoxide: 5,713.0 pounds NOx: 1,050.0 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 4,425.6 pounds Particulate Matter: 2,933.7 pounds |
| 152124 2013-11-02 | GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) | Cause: On November 2, 2013, GO-1 had an unexpected process upset which resulted in flaring at the GO-1 Elevated Flare. The flaring resulted from GO-1 taking a stream into the unit from OP-1 which caused the Acetylene Converter to go off specification. The material was flared at the GO-1 Elevated flare to prevent additional upsets in GO-1.
Following the investigation and calculations, Shell Chemical confirmed that no reportable quantities or Maximum Permitted Limits were exceeded. Followup: Yes Notes: | Carbon Monoxide: 919.5 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 169.0 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 354.5 pounds Particulate Matter: 67.1 pounds |
| 150789 2013-08-31 | 7-84 (OL-5 Ground Flare, 6-84 (OL-5 Elevated Flare, FE-101) | Cause: On the morning of August 31, 2013, Shell Chemical's OL-5 Process Unit experienced a higher than normal level of carbon monoxide (CO) in the furnace feed. The additional unexpected CO in the feed came from Enterprise, a supplier of feed to OL-5, and as a result of recent decoking activities. The higher level of CO was initially consumed by the Product Hydrogen and Converter Hydrogen Methanators, however, this did not resolve the issue. Without taking action, continued high levels of CO would have led to the ethylene product going off specification which in turn would have led to substantial additional flaring. Therefore, as per normal operating procedures, OL-5 opearations began routing the high AC converter stream to the flare to lower the CO levels in the process in an effort to prevent a further, more severe, upset in the OL-5 Process Unit. Once the AC converter effluent was within specifications, it was routed back to normal operation. Followup: Yes Notes: To minimize impacts, OL-5 operations adjusted unit operations in order to consume the excess CO in the Product Hydrogen and Converter Methanators. Once the Product Hydrogen and Converter Hydrogen Methantators became overwhelmed, OL-5 operations immediately diverted the AC converter effluent to the OL-5 flare system. Operations then used a different source of hydrogen that did not contain elevated carbon monoxide. Once the AC converter effluent was within specifications OL-5 operations positioned the stream back to its normal routing, eliminating flaring. An investigation is occurring. The results will be incorporated, where applicable, into the standard work processes at the OL-5 unit to prevent recurrence. Shell Chemical confirmed that reportable quantities for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and High Volatile Organic Compounds were exceeded. In addition, the maximum permitted limits were exceeded for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds at the OL-5 elevated flare. Shell admitted that Carbon Monoxide exceeded RQ for August 31, but not Sept 1. Carbon Monoxide exceeded RQ on both dates. Similarly, VOCS exceeded RQ for both Aug 31 and Sept 1, but was only reported as exceeding for the first. VOCs are mislabeled as HRVOCs (highly reactive VOCs). | Carbon Monoxide: 14,697.4 pounds NOx: 2,701.1 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 3,758.2 pounds Particulate Matter: 1,072.5 pounds |
| 149323 2013-06-20 | EPN 1-90 GO-1 Elevated Flare FE-602 GO-1 Elevated Flare | Cause: On June 20, an upset in the Shell Chemical's GO-1 unit caused by the AC Converter high temperatures due to unforeseen low hydrogen purity from the Pressure Swing Absorber which was started up and placed in service following the GO-1 South turnaround. The unforeseen low hydrogen purity prompted operations to divert feed to the elevated flare to prevent an off specification incident with ethylene production. This resulted in flaring at the GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90). Followup: No Notes: GO-1 operations took the necessary steps to minimize flaring, restart the PSA and safely return the unit to normal operating conditions. The PSA was isolated from the header and remained isolated until lab samples indicated on specification hydrogen. To prevent recurrence, operations will incorporate additional guidance and operational measures into the PSA start up procedures to proactively identify unforeseen low hydrogen purity. The procedure will be updated with steps to ensure on specification hydrogen prior to introducing into the header. Shell claims no reportable quantities were exceeded, but CO and NOx emissions exceed lb/hr permit limits. | Carbon Monoxide: 1,204.3 pounds NOx: 221.3 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 464.3 pounds Particulate Matter: 618.4 pounds |
| 148877 2013-05-23 | West Operations Elevated Flare (EPN 5-84) | Cause: On May 23, an upset in the Shell Chemical's OP-1 process unit led to flaring at the West Operations Elevated Flare (EPN 5-84). The flaring was due to a high level in the Ethylene Refrigeration Compressor causing the compressor to shut down unexpectedly. Followup: No Notes: OP-1 operations took the necessary steps to minimize flaring, restart the compressor and safely return the unit to normal operation conditions. Operation's support will provide additional guidance and operational measures to be more effective in controlling levels and restoring normal operations after a compressor shutdown. States that no reportable quantities were exceeded, but the maximum permit limits for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and VOCs were exceeded. | Carbon Monoxide: 62.6 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 11.5 pounds Particulate Matter: 4.6 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 39.2 pounds |
| 148901 2013-05-16 | West Ops Elevated Flare | Cause: On May 17,a release of carbon monoxide, ethane, and methane occurred due to flaring from a GO-1 unit upset caused by a De-methanizer shutdown. Unit feed composition caused unanticipated low temperature issues leading to a unit shutdown. Followup: No Notes: GO-1 operations took the necessary steps to safely return the unit to normal operating conditions and minimize flaring. Procedures will be updated to provide guidance and operational measures to restore normal operations after a unit shutdown. | Carbon Monoxide: 36,792.2 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 6,761.8 pounds Particulate Matter: 11,932.6 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 11,114.4 pounds 1,3-Butadiene: 719.3 pounds Benzene: 110.9 pounds Methanol: 719.3 pounds Toluene: 7.6 pounds Hexane: 279.0 pounds |
| 148176 2013-04-19 | OL-5 Elevated Flare, FE-101 | Cause: On April 19, 2013 Shell Chemical's OL-5 Process Unit experienced an unexpected upset that led to flaring at the OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84). The flaring was caused by high pressure on the process gas compressor (PGC) first stage suction drum. A pressure increase on the suction drum was due to the PGC slowing down as a result to the loss of vacuum on the compressor surface condenser. The surface condenser vacuum was lost due to a faulty level indication causing the loss of vacuum on surface condenser. The PGC upset also caused OL-5 cold-side to flare propylene off the outlet of the map converters because of a low flow shutdown of the converters. Followup: No Notes: OL-5 operations field verified the level int he PGC surface condenser and took corrective actions to safely return the unit to normal operating conditions and stop the flaring. OL-5 Maintenance repaired the PGC surface condenser level transmitter. Control systems adjusted the vacuum alarm setting for the PGC surface condenser to warn operators before the surface condenser vacuum is lost. Final calculations confirm that no reportable quantities were exceeded. The maximum permitted limits were exceeded for particulate matter, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene. | Carbon Monoxide: 2,101.7 pounds NOx: 386.3 pounds Particulate Matter: 681.6 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 1,204.9 pounds 1,3-Butadiene: 32.5 pounds Benzene: 29.7 pounds Ethylbenzene: 2.7 pounds Toluene: 20.9 pounds Xylene: 10.8 pounds |
| 145744 2013-01-07 | GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) | Cause: Shell Chemical's GO-1 Process Unit flared at the GO-1 Elevated Flare as a result of an unexpected unit upset in GO-1 caused by the receiving of off specification feed from a supplier. Followup: Yes Notes: GO-1 operations took the necessary steps to minimize flaring and safely return the units to normal operating conditions and the flaring stopped. No reportable quantities were exceeded. | |
| 158697 2014-09-12 | DU-5 Unit | Cause: On September 12, 2014, Motiva's DU-5 unit received a shipment of crude oil that contained an unusually large amount of water. DU-5's normal operations removes the water from the crude and sends the water to the unit desalters. The large volume of water that was removed from the crude formed an emulsion which caused the desalter level instrumentation to malfunction. After the desalters, the water is routed to the sour water drum, but due to the instrumentation malfunction on the desalter, the water sent to the sour water drum exceeded the volume that could be pumped from the drum. The water sent to the sour water drum overflowed into the Low Pressure Flare Header. Once the water overflowed to the Low Pressure Flare Header, the liquid went to the Shell Chemical LP Utilities East Flare Pot and was combusted at the Utilities East Flare. Followup: No Notes: | |
| 158624 2014-09-10 | OL5 Elevated Flare | Cause: The OL5 Unit at Shell Chemical flared propylene at the OL5 Ground and Elevated Flares. Flaring occurred as a result of the overfilling of the propylene refrigerant compressor (PRC) accumulator. The overfilling of the PRC accumulator caused the downstream piping that is routed to the primary demethanizer column reboiler to fill with liquid propylene. Normally, vapor propylene is routed to the primary demethanizer column reboiler from the PRC accumulator to heat the demethanizer column. Contrarily, the overfilling of this line with liquid propylene caused the primary demethanizer column reboiler to operate improperly and affect the primary demthanizer operation. Followup: No Notes: To mitigate this abnormal situation, Operations personnel flared the excess propylene to the propylene refrigerant compressor (PRC) accumulator. Report states that an investigation is ongoing. No information given about remedial actions taken or pollutant amounts released. | |
| 156402 2014-05-31 | BD5 Unit, diethanolamine supply pump | Cause: On May 31, 2014, Shell Chemical's BD5 Unit flared butadiene heavy ends (BDHE) at the OL5 elevated flare. Motiva unexpectedly had a diethanolamine supply pump begin to smoke and exhibit high vibrations. In response to the pump issues, Motiva had to utilize one pumping source for supplying the site with diethanolamine. To safely operate within the design capacity of the pump, Motiva required their units to reduce their diethanolamine usage. The Naptha Hydrotreater (NHT) had to reduce its rates in order to decrease its diethanolamine usage by not receivign BDHE from BD5, routing BDHE to the OL5 Elevated Flare. Followup: Yes Notes: Report on 7/2/14 states that no reportable quantities were exceeded. | |
| 156193 2014-05-23 | Cause: On May 23, 2014, Motiva's DU-5 unit unexpectedly had the relief valve on their Debutanizer Accumulator, part of the Debutanizer Overhead System, relieve to Shell Chemical's Utilities East Elevated Flare (FE-501). The relief valve lifted as a result of an accumulation of hydrocarbons in the Debutanizer Overhead System. Followup: Yes Notes: Unit pressure and feed levels were safely diminished to conform to standards. 6/6/14 report states that no reportable quantities were exceeded. | ||
| 154582 2014-03-17 | Primary depropanizer and debutanizer columns in OL5 Unit | Cause: On 3/17/2014, Shell Chemical's OL5 Unit flared process gas at the OL5 Ground Flare due to fluctuations in temperatures on the primary depropanizer and the debutanizer columns. The fluctuations in the temperatures at the primary depropanizer and debutanizer columns affected the pressure of the columns. Hydrocarbons from the depropanizer column were routed to the debutanizer column causing the pressure of the debutanizer column to rise and relieve to the OL5 Ground Flare (EPN 7-84). Followup: Yes Notes: To minimize additional unit upset conditions and impacts, additional furnaces within the unit were put into operation. This minimized the temperature fluctuations and the OL5 Unit was safely stabilized and able to return to normal operations. No specific remedial actions have been taken or planned at this time. Values for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) includes Highly Reactive VOCs (HRVOCs), including specifically Propylene and Ethylene. These HRVOC's exceeded LADEQ RQ values, but were not reported individually. | Carbon Monoxide: 531.0 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 97.0 pounds Particulate Matter: 18.0 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 378.0 pounds 1,3-Butadiene: 120.0 pounds |
| 154274 2014-03-06 | Process gas compressor in OL5 Unit | Cause: On 3/6/2014, Shell Chemical's OL5 Unit flared process gas at the OL5 Elevated Flare due to low seal oil pressure on the process gas compressor (PGC). To improve the performance of the seals on the PGC, operations manipulates valves on the PGC seal oil system. While shifting from automatic operation of the pressure controller on the second stage seal of the PGC to manual operation of the pressure controller, the valve on the pressure controller closed and caused low seal oil pressure. As a result, the PGC unexpectedly shut down as a safety measure to prevent potential catastrophic failure of the equipment. Followup: Yes Notes: To minimize additional unit upset conditions and impacts, the OL5 Unit was safely stabilized. Operations adjusted the valve on the pressure controller and the seal oil pressure was restored. Operations was able to safely restart the PGC and return normal operating conditions. To prevent the reoccurence of this incident, it will be determined if tuning adjustments are needed on the pressure controllers associated with the PGC operation. As an additional precautionary measure, all employees that operate the PGC will review the transfer process for these local controllers. In the report, it is stated that the process gas was flared at the OL5 Elevated Flare. Later in the document both the OL5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84) and the OL5 Ground Flare (EPN FE-101) are implicated in the flaring of the process gas. There is some improper labeling on the EPN number in the tables, but it appears that the flaring occurred at both flares simultaneously. As such, all values released are combined in this database. | Carbon Monoxide: 18,346.0 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 3,372.0 pounds Particulate Matter: 635.0 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 8,771.0 pounds Ethylbenzene: 8.0 pounds 1,3-Butadiene: 574.0 pounds Benzene: 90.0 pounds Toluene: 62.0 pounds Xylene: 32.0 pounds |
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