Calumet is working at its Shreveport, La., refinery to bring back online critical equipment damaged by a Feb. 5 scrubber unit explosion that forced the company to curtail base oil production at the site.
“We will be restarting our pollution control devices in the next 24 to 48 hours. Once that is accomplished, we will start bringing our other units back up, including our catalytic lube oil units, Calumet Shreveport spokeswoman Liz Swaine told Lube Report yesterday. Once we achieve our minimum rates, we’ll begin to ramp up to target capacities.”
The 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.
Calumet Specialty Products Partners said the Feb. 5 explosion occurred while performing maintenance to isolate equipment for repair. Although the incident didnt injure any workers or damage any processing units, it did seriously damage a critical pollution control device at the facility. The scrubber unit removes pollutants from residual gases.