A scrubber unit explosion Friday that damaged pollution control equipment at Calumets Shreveport, La. refinery forced the company to curtail base oil production at the site. The cause is under investigation.
Calumets Shreveport facility experienced an explosion on Friday, Feb. 5, while performing maintenance to isolate equipment for repair, Calumet Shreveport spokeswoman Liz Swaine told Lube Report yesterday. There were no injuries, and the incident did not damage any processing units, but it did seriously damage a critical pollution control device at the facility. The refinery is currently producing fuel products but has curtailed lube production.
Calumet is working on a recovery plan that should be fully developed by the end of the week, she stated. Once that plan is developed, we will be in contact with customers with additional information.
According to Swaine, a Belco scrubber exploded at 5:40 p.m. Friday. A flash fire inside the unit burned itself out immediately, so there was no post-fire and no environmental emissions issue, she explained. The [scrubber] unit is out of service, but has been secured. The unit removes pollutants from residual gases.
Calumets Shreveport plant has capacity to produce 4,800 barrels per day of API Group I and 7,000 b/d of Group II base oils, and 100 b/d of naphthenics.