| Home | Search | Emissions | Pollutants | About the Database |
Calumet Lubricants 8 (1214), Shreveport
Releases of Sulfur Dioxide
| LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date |
Point Source(s) | Notes | Amount of Release |
| 80869 2005-07-28 | Sulfur Recovery Unit v-f | Cause: Catalyst problems in the SRU (Sulfur recovery unit). discharging above the 37.1#/hr for SO2 permit on the unit. Three hour rolling 1300 ppm SO2 is exceeded. 1560 lbs excess S)2 discharged OVER the RQ in the last 96 Hours. 4 days, 890lbs/day = 3560lbs emitted. Followup: No Notes: Emissions detail noted release of 890 lbs per day. Immediate corrective action notes that a variance was submitted to the state to change the catalyst. | 3,745.4 pounds |
| 80245 2005-06-30 | Sulfur Recovery Unit Incinerator | Cause: Speculation that there is a faulty air valve. No follow up on the report to determine the exact cause. Followup: No Notes: A manufacturer representative will visit the site to determine the equipment's accuracy. September letter says flow meter was malfunctioning and the amounts released are lower. | 620.0 pounds |
| 80104 2005-06-26 | Sulfur Recovery Unit Incinerator - Emission point Vf | Cause: The SRU was regenerating catalyst and during the recovery process, the material was released. Suspected that the stack flew meter is measuring high but until confirmed there may be a catalyst regeneration issue in the SRU. Followup: No Notes: The reports give three different dates for the upset: 6.25, 6.26 and 6.27. The notes said there was an off site impact. Report says a manufacturer representative was scheduled to visit the refinery in the near future to determine the equipment's accuracy. | 815.0 pounds |
| 78459 2005-04-21 | Sulfur Recovery Unit, valve SO 5-1288 | Cause: Valve failure; air monitoring found an excess of 1300 ppm for 3 hours Repeat incident of 78390. Date and report date are different but the details of the incident are the same. Followup: No Notes: SO2 release in excess of 1300 ppm. | |
| 78390 2005-04-19 | Sulfur Recovery Unit | Cause: A valve failure at the SRU forced a unit failure. Light liquids made air demand controls hard to adjust. Average PPM of SO2 was 1450 (Reg Limit was 1300ppm). Followup: No Notes: Repairs ongoing but no specific remedial action taken to prevent recurrence. | 455.0 pounds |
| 86121 2006-02-10 | Flare Gas Compressor - FL 2001 Same as above | Cause: Broken valves in FGC were repaired during and emergency shutdown. Followup: No Notes: Valves were repaired upon shutdown. | 11,880.0 pounds |
| 85317 2006-01-22 | Sulfur Recovery Unit Same as above | Cause: SRU tripped due to weather conditions. Had to be restarted and release occurred at that point. Followup: No Notes: No Information Given | 5,000.0 pounds |
| 85269 2006-01-19 | Sulfur Recovery Unit v-f | Cause: SRU incinerator SO2 over 1300 PPM limit for 4h in regeneration mode. 1450ppm SO2 and that is 600ppm over the four hour limit. Followup: No Notes: No Information Given | |
| 110467 2008-10-30 | Tank Farm | Cause: : Sour water tank caught on fire while vac trucks were removing residual oil from an open manway. The truck engine ignited vapors which caused an explosion and fire. Calumet policy on truck entry into the dike wall was not followed. Followup: No Notes: Fire extinguished. Dark smoke from the refinery for two hours. | 50.0 pounds |
| 109224 2008-09-16 | No information given | Cause: STORM and Refinery is still having problems with the flare due to the power outage associated with Hurricane Ike Followup: No Notes: None detailed. Monitoring report says that SO2 is below reportable quantities, but isn't it the release - not air monitoring results - that should be categorized that way. | |
| 109029 2008-09-13 | FL 2001 #3 Flare vacuum truck loading area, flare line knock-out drum | Cause: Hurricane Ike blew down 2 power poles inside the refinery causing plant power failure. Both Sulfur Recovery Units (SRUs) were down and all acid gas was routed to the #3 flare. The boilers were also down and there was no steam on the flare. As a result the #3 flare opacity was greater than 20% for 2 hours.
While in start-up, refinery operators noted that the flare pressure was higher than normal. The investigation revealed that the flare knock-out drums were full of liquid and the flare lines had liquid in them as well. Followup: No Notes: Power lines and poles were replaced In response to problems during start-up, contractors were immediately brought in to provide vacuum truck services, and the liquids removed from the knockout drums and flare lines was placed into Baker fractionation tanks. The Vacuum truck operations of removing the liquid from the flare line had the unfortunate result of creating odor problems within the refinery. Low levels of Hydrogen Sulfide were detected around the vacuum truck loading areas and at the three flare line knock-out drums. Calumet personnel monitored hydrogen sulfide levels within the refinery for industrial hygiene purposes. Liquids from the Sour Water Stripper were also found to be entering the flare lines, adn the sources of these liquids were identified and blinded off. | 12,800.0 pounds |
| 102692 & 102679 2008-01-29 | FL 2001 #3 Flare | Cause: Numerous units shut down Followup: No Notes: SRU and Boilers shut down. Also reporte with another incident number 102679 | 3,650.0 pounds |
| 102122 2008-01-08 | FL 2001 #3 Flare | Cause: Power outage on previous day caused motor windings to burn out on liquid pump on flare drum. The flare gas compressor shut down as a result. Followup: No Notes: This incident is linked to the previous day which is why the state police numbers are the same. The pump was replaced. | 2,736.0 pounds |
| 102158 2008-01-07 | FL 2001 #3 Flare | Cause: SRU and Flare gas compressor vented to the #3 Flare Followup: No Notes: None. See Verbal complaint from the same day. There are two different LDEQ incident report numbers. The other is 102121 generated by citizen complaint. | 2,736.0 pounds |
| 116014 2009-06-26 | Flare #3 | Cause: All 3 flare gas compressors shut down due to electrical breakers tripping. Followup: Yes Notes: Electrician called to repair/replace breakers. | 252.0 pounds |
| 115655 2009-06-12 | Flare #3 | Cause: Swepco off-site transformer failed and cause plant power failure at approximately 7pm. SRUs and boilers shut down causing excess SO2 to be released to #3 Flare. Because of lack of boilers thick black smoke was also coming from the #3 flare. Followup: No Notes: power restored, restarted all process units. | 850.0 pounds |
| 113122 2009-03-04 | #3 SRU | Cause: #3 SRU shut down to high temperature. The acid Gas was routed to the #3 flare until the #3 SRU could be restarted. Followup: Yes Notes: restarted SRU | 5,600.0 pounds |
| 112663 2009-02-11 | #3 flare | Cause: Plant power failure from storm event caused shut-down of processing units. Utility pole was knocked down which caused electrical sub-station to fail. Both Sulfur Recovery Units went down, the belco thermal oxidizers and most other processing units. Followup: No Notes: Attempting to repair electrical and restart units. LDEQ conducted a field inspection and completed a field interview form: Strong odor was noted upon arrival. Perimeter air monitoring was conducted. SO2 and H2S were the parameters that were monitored. All monitoring showed non-detect. Full PDF was not able to be uploaded at this time. Current PDF does not include LDEQ investigation form. No refinery letter. | 5,640.0 pounds |
| 126344 2010-09-13 | FLARE | Cause: Bird got into electrical equipment at the facility, flew into fuse, causing a power outage and subsequent SO2 release. Flare started up right away but smoked because plant was shut down and there was no steam going to it. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: Exceeded RQ. Power restored after a few hrs. Verbal/LEDQ Report only. No refinery letter. | 1,024.0 pounds |
| 135180 2011-11-09 | Flare | Cause: "Excess hydrogen gas and Flare Gas compressors not fully loaded". In other words, flare gas compressors not taking the load of the system. The hydrogen plant #1 was putting excess hydrogen in the flare line causing high flow issues a well. Reportable quantities of sulfur dioxide were exceeded from flare # 2. Followup: No Notes: Immediate corrective action taken was just to increase FGC pumping rates. No specific remedial action or plan to prevent recurrence. No LDEQ or SPOC report included | 1,258.0 pounds |
| 135107 2011-11-07 | unspecified boilers and heaters | Cause: SRU unit down because scrubber was not cleaning gas fast enough. Caused rich gas to burn in the heaters and boilers, releasing SO2 to the atmosphere. Followup: No Notes: #3 SRU started up to relieve problem. | 1,619.0 pounds |
| 133067 2011-08-11 | catalytic dewaxing unit (CDW) | Cause: According to the FIF report, "both SRUs (sulfur recovery units)went down. Problems with CDW(catalytic dewaxing unit)caused hydrocarbons to go to amine unit, which shut down the SRU." Followup: No Notes: RQ Equipment was cleaned out and restarted. FIF report only. | 2,235.0 pounds |
| 132893 2011-08-02 | sulfur recovery unit (SRU) | Cause: According to the FIF report, there were "problems with SRU (sulfur recovery unit) due to high temp and pressure. Flare compressors only partially compressing gas." Followup: No Notes: RQ The facility did not report the unauthorized discharge within the required 24 hours. No further information given. FIF report only. | 30,393.0 pounds |
| 132858 2011-08-01 | flue gas compressor | Cause: The flue gas compressor shut down due to high temp and pressure. Followup: No Notes: RQ According to the LDEQ report, "The compressor was shut down about two hours then the issues were corrected" LDEQ and FIF reports only. | 2,048.0 pounds |
| 132749 2011-07-28 | SRU Units | Cause: Both SRU units down due to a damaged expansion joint on the wet gas scrubber. There is a release of SO2. Followup: No Notes: There is no information regarding amount of SO2 released. Replaced the expansion joint. LDEQ report only. No refinery letter included. | |
| 131623 2011-06-02 | FLARE: Flare #3 | Cause: Two Sulfur Recovery Units tripped and became plugged. The SO2 was routed to the number 3 flare and released. Production was reduced. Followup: No Notes: The SRUs were unplugged and repaired. There is no incident report in the file. | 14,160.0 pounds |
| 129867 2011-03-14 | FLARE: Sulfur Recovery Unit (SRU) | Cause: LDEQ states that sulfur dioxide, exceeding 500 lb, was released to the #3 flare during an SRU failure. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: RQ. Reportable quantities for sulfur dioxide were exceeded. The facility conducted air monitoring throughout the incident. Nothing was noted on the air monitors. LDEQ report and FIF only. | 9,297.0 pounds |
| 129125 2011-02-10 | FLARE: SWEPCO Transformer | Cause: LDEQ states that a blown SWEPCO transformer caused a plant wide power failure; sulfur dioxide was sent to the flare. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: RQ. Reportable Quantity. Power was restored after twenty minutes, and normal plant operations was resumed. Air monitoring was conducted by the facility at the incident. LDEQ report & FIF only. No refinery letter. | 500.0 pounds |
| 128512 2011-01-08 | Diesel Hydrotreater | Cause: LDEQ report states that an upset occurred with the Diesel Hydrotreater resulting in a flare. Reddish black smoke. Followup: No Notes: sulfur dioxide were released to the flare resulting in a large black plume. No other information on remedial action was given. LDEQ report only; no refinery letter. | 140.0 pounds |
| 145587 2012-12-25 | Flare #2 | Cause: On 12/20/12, The voltage on the six 12.5 kV feeders supplying service to Calumet from the Midway Substation experienced a significant voltage sag. The voltage dropped down to 18.9 volts (16.4%) on the West 12.5 kV bus for 37.32 cycles, and 18.3 volts (15.9%) on the east bus for 37.31 cycles. This event caused all the incoming voltage to sag, which caused Calumet to lose production. At the same time, 12.5 kV OCB 5500 tripped and reclosed auto. At the time of the event, the area was in midst of a severe storm, including very strong wind gusts and lightning. A 12.5 kV knife-blade switched burned up, probably due to lightning, which caused 12.5 kV circuit breaker 5500 to open. Calumet personnel reported seeing a blue flash at the time of the incident, which was most likely the offending lightning strike.
On 12/25/12, the west 69/12.5 kV transformer differentialed, causing both of the 69 kV Breakers (8310 and 10320) in the Midway Substation to lock out. Therefore, the voltage went to 0.0 volts (0.0%) on all six 12.5 circuits feeding the refinery. At the time of the event, the area was in midst of a severe storm, including strong wind gusts and lightning. 12.5 kV circuit breaker 5500 experience both external and internal damage. 12.5 kV circuit breaker #5500 failed which caused the west 69/12.5 transformer to differential, which triggered the operation of the 69 kV breakers. Also, lost on 12.5 kV middle phase metering PT when the neutral burned off.
On 12/30/12, the incoming voltage to the six 12.5 kV feeders supplying service to Calumet from the Midway Substation dropped down to 59.3% of normal for approximately 3.84 cycles. At the time of the event, the 69 kV circuit breakers on the transmission line between SWEPCO's Arsenal Hill and Shed Road Substations tripped on time and reclosed automatically. The cause of the fault is unknown.
The events that occurred on 12/20/12 and 12/25/12 were due to weather, but the cause of the event that occurred on 12/30/12 is unknown. Followup: No Notes: The 69 kV breakers (8310 and 10320) in both the Midway and Hardy substations operated one time and reclosed automatically, with no further problems. Circuit breaker 5500 was cleared, and then the rest of the station was restored to normal. The SWEPCO protection scheme worked as designed to prevent further damage to the system. Circuit breaker 5500 was later replaced, which should help to prevent a further outage like this one. SWEPCO is also looking at replacing 12.5 kV circuit breaker #4910. SWEPCO will also be replacing another 15 switches, bus PT's, station post insulators and adding transition plates where needed. On 12/25/12, a citizen reported flaring, black smoke, and a sulfur odor at the Calumet Lubricants Shreveport Refinery. The LDEQ contacted the facility who advised that the plant suffered a power failure during the bad weather when a circuit breaker failed at Southwester Electric and Power Company and caused a refinery circuit breaker to trip. Due to the incident, the flare increased, and an estimated 80 pounds of SO2 was released from Flare #2. This flare is permitted to emit a maximum of .01 pounds per hour of SO2. In a Power Disturbance/Interruption Analysis submitted by Calumet, the facility reported three separate incidences of power outages. The event reported by the concerned citizen occurred on 12/25/12. The following incidents are reported by Calumet: On 12/20/12, the 69kV breakers in both the Midway and Hardy substations operated one time and reclosed automatically, with no further problems. The 12.5 kV knife-blade switch was later bypassed by SWEPCO, thus temporarily eliminating the problem. The SWEPCO protection scheme worked as designed to prevent further damage to the system. All three phases on the switch with the burned blade were changed out the next morning, and the substation was returned to normal. On 12/25/12, the 69kV breakers in both the Midway and Hardy substations operated one time and reclosed automatically, with no further problems. Circuit breaker 5500 was cleared and then the rest of the station was restored to normal. The SWEPCO protection scheme worked as designed to prevent further damage to the system. Circuit breaker 5500 was later replaced, which should help to prevent further outage like this one. SWEPCO is also looking at replacing 12.5 kV circuit breaker #4910. SWEPCO will also be replacing another 15 switches, but PT's station post insulators and adding transition plates were needed. On 12/30/12, after the 69 kV breakers reclosed automatically, no further action was required. The RQ for sulfur dioxide is 500 pounds. | 80.0 pounds |
| 139058 2012-04-22 | SRU Unit | Cause: On 4/22/12 both Sulfur Recovery Units (SRUs) tripped and sent acid gas to flare gas recovery system. This increased the hydrogen sulfide concentration of the fuel gas and caused an exceedance of the 500 lb RQ limit for sulfur dioxide. Emission point v-f . Followup: No Notes: Attempt to restart SRUs and reduce DHT/LOHT charge rate. Specific remedial actions and plans to prevent recurrence are to be determined. 2 copies of written report were included in this document. Written report says that the release started on 4/23/12 at 12 pm and ended on 4/23/12 at 11 pm. The duration says 11 hours. Then it says that the event occurred on 4/22/12. They reported the release on 4/23/12. A memorandum is included in this document dated 4/25/12. It states that the permit levels for hydrogen sulfide gas released through a flare with exceeded several times during this incident. There were no complaints and no follow ups related to this incident. | 1,696.0 pounds |
| 138122 2012-03-21 | #2 Flare | Cause: Electricity to the flare gas compressors failed, returned, and failed again, causing sulfur dioxide to be released to the #2 flare on two occasions. The power failure was attributed to a bad solenoid valve, which cauased a primary fuse to blow in the breaker. Followup: Yes Notes: The bad valve has been replaced, and the compressor began running well again as of 15:30 on 3/22/12. | 1,000.2 pounds |
| 137502 & 137503 2012-02-27 | No Information Given | Cause: On 2/27/12 Calumet self reported a sulfur dioxide release around 5:00 am. A site visit was conducted on 2/28/12 with report of release of sulfur dioxide on 2/28/12. SRU, Dinowave, and Thermoxidixer units down. An estimated 1100 lbs of sulfur dioxide was released. Calculations pending. Air monitoring conducted on 2/28/12 with no hazardous detection of sulfur dioxide.
The fuel gas system's H2S contents had increased to a point where the refinery exceeded 500 lb/day limit for SO2 through the heaters and boilers systems from February 27-29. Caused by emergency shutdown in the No. 1 Hydrogen Unit for safety concerns. Followup: No Notes: The total emissions of SO2 for the three days were as follows: 1775, 6169, and 3639. These estimates are based on the operator samples and flow meter data. | 11,583.0 pounds |
| 137126 2012-02-11 | FLARE: Flare #2 | Cause: Workers were purging hot air treater with gas and the compressor could not handle the amount. SO2 was released from flare #2. Followup: Yes Notes: There are no remedial actions listed in the report. This file does not contain an Incident report, LDEQ report, or SPOC report. The only form is the field interview form. Release over 500lbs not reported within 24 hours. Investigation occurred on 2/14/12 LDEQ report as of 2/14/2012. Facility representaive state he didnt know it was over 500 lb RQ until Monday. | 1,462.0 pounds |
| 149948 2013-07-29 | Cause: On July 27, at approximately 9 AM, the plant sustained a power loss during inclement weather. Power was out for 2h 30m. The resultant startup caused the flares to exceed the maximum permitted pounds per hour release. Followup: No Notes: No information given on remedial actions. Flares exceed permits and are to be reported in deviation reports, but due to the incident being unavoidable, and not of reportable quantity, the permit exceedences are to be deferred to the next enforcement inspection. H2S fuel gas concentration was 1600 ppm following the event during startup, and the rolling average was approximately 360 ppm when the permitted limit is 160 ppm. There was approximately 87 pounds of SO2 from flare #2 and 2 pounds of SO2 from flare #3 in the 24 hour period. | 89.0 pounds | |
| 148076 2013-04-12 | Flare | Cause: The facility flared for approximately 6 to 8 minutes around 2045 hours on April 12, 2013, releasing Sulfur Dioxide from the flare when the diesel hydrotreator compressor went down. Followup: No Notes: This report was prompted by a concerned citizen reporting a Hydrogen Sulfide and Sulfur Dioxide odor around the entire perimeter of the Calumet Lubricants Plant in Shreveport. LADEQ report indicates that Calumet representative James Desonier stated no major incidences occurred that evening. He stated that flaring occurred for about 6 to 8 minutes releasing Sulfur Dioxide because of diesel hydrotreator compressor going down. | |
| 147939 2013-04-08 | Flare #2 | Cause: The compressor for the Pressure Swing Absorber (PSA) tripped for 35 seconds on April 8, 2013. The PSA is responsible for purifying low grade hydrogen into high grade hydrogen. As a result of the PSA tripping, a mixture of 80% hydrogen gas and light hydrocarbon gas routed to the Flare #2 for approximately 3 minutes between 12:29 PM to 12:32 PM on April 8, 2013. Later on the same day, the PSA tripped again and upset the Propane De-asphalt Unit. Propane, which is used to separate the asphalt ingredients in this Propane De-Asphalt Unit, in excess was sent to this unit creating an overabundance of propane gas to be routed to Flare #2. Approximately 6.5 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide emissions were released to the flare between 1421 and 1454 hours on April 8, 2013. This amount was below reportable quantity. Followup: Notes: This investigation was prompted by a citizen complaint (Velma White) reporting on flaring black smoke was coming from Calumet refinery in Shreveport on April 8, 2013 at 12:34 PM. Air monitoring and an on-site investigation were conducted by LDEQ on 4/8/2013. Air monitoring report states that instrument "detected no harmful levels of CO, LEL, O2 or H2S". | 6.5 pounds |
| 146534 2013-02-11 | Flare #2 | Cause: Flaring and black smoke was documented by a citizen complaint and visually observed by LADEQ report author on February 11, 2013. Calumet representative attributed the flaring to three different factors. 1) The flare gas compressor tripped due to a bump in the fuel gas system. 2) The MEK Unit was being started up, and vents propaline to the flare with start up. 3) Boiler #6 was down due to a problem with the pressure control valve on the fuel gas line. While no reportable quantity levels were exceeded, the sulfur dioxide permit limits were exceeded. A total of 0.47 pounds of sulfur dioxide were released in the 24 hour period from flare #2. Sulfur dioxide emissions permit was exceeded between 1200 and 1400 hours on February 8, 2013. Followup: No Notes: A citizen report voicemail was received on the date of the incident (February 11. 2013) at approximately 1339 hours documenting flaring and black smoke that had lasted about 32 minutes at the time of the phone call. The LADEQ report author also visibly confirmed flaring and black smoke from the Northwest Regional Office. Also, lower explosive level (LEL) recorded by LADEQ was recorded at 1-2 ppm after car idled. LABB could not locate refinery letter to LADEQ citing sulfur dioxide permit exceedance. | 0.5 pounds |
| 146493 2013-02-08 | Flare #2 | Cause: A citizen reported flaring and black smoke at Calumet Lubricants Shreveport Refinery at approximately 1100 hours on February 8, 2013 to LADEQ. The flare was utilized due to the over-pressuring of the stripper tower downstream from the reactor during startup of the naphtha unifer. The LADEQ report author could also visibly see a black cloud of smoke from flare #2 from the LADEQ Northwest Regional Office. Communication between the LADEQ report author and plant provide flaring occurred around 0700 hours and 1100 hours on February 8, 2013.
The event did not exceed reportable quantities, but the hourly permit limit of sulfur dioxide emissions (0.01 pounds per hour) were exceeded by a range of 0.08 to 3.34 pounds per hour (a total of 8.04 pounds SO2) on February 8, 2013. Followup: No Notes: LABB could not locate a refinery letter documenting this incident to LADEQ. | 8.0 pounds |
| 146440 2013-02-04 | Flare #2 | Cause: Heavy flaring of sulfur dioxide resulted due to power failure on February 4, 2013. The heavy flaring began at approximately 2026 hours on February 4, 2013, and continued until 0730 hours on February 5, 2013. At 0949 hours on February 5, 2013, an email from Calumet documented that the flaring stopped at 0730 hours that morning. The plant lost a substation in the west side of the refinery that brought down the boiler systems due to loss of feed pumps and water softeners. This cascaded to loss of other units in the plant. Flaring continued until the flare gas compressor operation could be restored. Reportable quantities were not reported to Louisiana State Police. While reportable quantities were not exceeded, the permit limit for Flare 2 (the point source for this incident) of 0.01 lbs/hour of sulfur dioxide was exceeded by a rate of 41.1 lbs/hour. Also, the plant reported that the highest average three hour value to be 3325ppm SO2. Followup: No Notes: Even though email correspondence has been located between the refinery and LADEQ the day of the discovery and after heavy flaring had stopped, LABB COULD NOT LOCATE OFFICIAL REFINERY LETTER BEYOND EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH LADEQ. A memoranda from LADEQ dated February 8, 2013 cites that this scenario has also occurred with an incident labeled by LADEQ on 12/25/2013 (a typo, but still mentions a repetitive incident). A complaint was reported to LADEQ by Ms. Velma White citing "extremely bad flaring" on February 4, 2013 at 1635 hours. | 455.0 pounds |
| 160325 2014-11-25 | #2 and #3 Flares | Cause: A citizen complaint was received on 11/25. The description of the complaint was that flaring at Calumet Lubricants was noticed 5 minutes ago. Flaring occurred at Calumet Lubricants from 09:03 to 09:22 on 11/25 from both the #2 and #3 flares. Operators were switching compressors in the Catalytic Dewaxing Unit and over pressured the unit which cause relief of gas to the flares. Followup: No Notes: No information on remedial actions provided | 18.0 pounds |
| 158553 2014-09-05 | #2, #3 Flares; Dynawave | Cause: A citizen complaint was received on 9/5/14. The description of the complaint was that high flaring with black smoke was coming from Calumet Lubricants. Also on 9/5, Calumet notified the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) that flaring was a result of a power failure which caused the facility to shut down. The preliminary cause of the power outage was a dead buzzard that had gotten between the phase and ground lines. Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions detailed in report | 254.0 pounds |
| 156054 2014-05-18 | Amine Process Unit | Cause: Upset in amine scrubbing/SRU fuel treating units. Pressure control problems in acid gas feed system. Refinery exceeded 500lb RQ limit for SO2 from heaters/boilers and No. 2 flare. Followup: No Notes: The immediate corrective action taken was balancing the sulfur load through the refinery to reduce SO2 make. No specific remedial actions were taken to prevent recurrence. | 822.0 pounds |
| 154884 2014-03-28 | Amine Process Unit | Cause: Refinery exceeded 500 lb RQ limit for SO2 from heaters and boilers during upset in refinery fuel gas system. Carryover of H2S from No. 1 amine scrubber resulted in high H2S in fuel system. Followup: No Notes: Report states that immediate corrective action included "make up amine into system to increase scrubbing". There were no actions taken to prevent recurrence. | 920.0 pounds |
| 153374 2014-01-14 | SRU / Boilers, heater stacks facility-wide | Cause: Loss of SRU's and Boilers resulted in high sulfur content of refinery fuel gas. Field interview form states taht "sulfur dioxide release due to boilers shut down in the morning, causing sulfur to build up in the refinery fuel gas and release to atmosphere through all heater stacks facility-wide." Followup: No Notes: Facility circulated refinery units to reduce sulfur load as an immediate corrective action taken. There is no specific remedial action planned to prevent recurrence. Facility did not include process units, though form asks which emission points were involved in the accident. A field interview form (FIF) and site visit was completed on 1/14/2014. FIF states that there was a concentration of 1920 ppm H2S during the incident. | 953.0 pounds |
| 153352 2014-01-07 | NIG | Cause: It was reported on January 7, 2014 that boilers shut down due to the level transmitter freezing up, therefore there was not enough steam to run the amine unit. Sulfur built up in the fuel gas and caused sulfur dioxide to be released into the atmosphere. Followup: No Notes: According to the Field Interview Form from LDEQ, the same problem occurred the day before on January 6, 2014. On January 7, 2014, a release of 520 pounds of sulfur dioxide was reported. The field interview form states that approximately 895 pounds of sulfur dioxide was released during the incident. Field interview form also states that there was an average concentration of 1680 ppm hydrogen sulfide during the accident. No other documents available for this incident besides the Field Interview Form. | 895.0 pounds |
| 153164 2014-01-06 | Plant Boilers | Cause: The Facility lost the boilers due to the cold weather and the level transmitter froze up. When the boilers shut down, the whole plant shuts down. Therefor, there was not enough steam/ heat to operate the amine unit; the steam is used to regenerate the amine solution to scrub the sulfur out of the fuel gas. The amine unit is responsible for removing hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from gasses. As a result, hydrogen sulfide derived from refining petroleum crude oil was allowed to build up in fuel gas. Sulfur dioxide was combusted out of the refinery heater stacks (CRG 0005) and released to the atmosphere. The fuel gas is used to fire all heaters and boilers in the plant facility-wide. Followup: No Notes: Hydrogen Sulfide was reported to be at 190 ppm (BRQ) however it was later discovered to be 590 ppm ppm = parts per million | 559.0 pounds |
Connect With Us: