LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

About the Database

Shell Chemical East (26336), Norco

Causal Factor: Maintenance/Procedures

LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date	Point Source(s)	Notes	Amount of Release
145352 2012-12-13	OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84)	Cause: Shell Chemical's OL-5 Process Unit experienced an unexpected unit upset which led to flaring at the OL-5 Elevated Flare. This process upset was caused by the production of off specification debutanizer overhead product. The off specification debutanizer overhead product was caused by temperature control issues while OL-5 operations was in the process of swapping heat exchangers. Followup: No Notes: OL-5 Operations left both exchangers in service to regain temperature control and recover from the unit upset and stop the flaring. OL-5 Operations will return to single exchanger operation as soon as practical and clean the fouled exchanger. The cause of the exchanger fouling is attributred o the breaking off of polymer produced in the process. The polymer was believed to have been broken off and moved into the exchanger causing it to be fouled during a recent, unexpected process upset. A further investigation into the cause of this incident will be conducted and any preventative actions discovered will be implemented.	1,3-Butadiene: 117.1 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 69.5 pounds Carbon Monoxide: 378.1 pounds Particulate Matter: 13.1 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 272.3 pounds
141821 2012-08-03	Flange in OL-5 Process Unit	Cause: On August 3, 2012 Shell Chemicals OL-5 Process Unit experienced a release of pryolysis pitch from a flange while attempting to prepare a piece of equipment for a maintenance activity. Followup: No Notes: At the time of the release the flange was immediately closed and preparation of the equipment stopped until a new plan to complete the activity could be developed. The material was cleaned up and properly disposed. The only information given was from Shell Chemical East's Final Release Report.
139194 2012-04-26	West Operation Elevated Flare (EPN 5-84)	Cause: On April 26, 2012, Shell Chemical made a notification of flaring of unknown materials at the West Operations Elevated Flare (EPN 5-84). The flaring was a result of maintenance work on a ground flare that resulted in re-routing of routine vents to the flare. Investigation into the flaring confirmed that only routine permitted vents were going to the flare at the time. Followup: No Notes: Two block valves had to be adjusted and that stopped the flaring. Initial report states material went offsite. Air monitoring was conducted around the perimeter of the facility which showed no elevated levels of pollutants. Flares were reported to be back to normal at 23:57 hours.
152916 2013-12-18	OL-5 Ground (EPN 7-84) and Elevated (EPN 6-84)	Cause: On December 18, 2013, Shell Chemical's OL-5 Unit shut down to complete scheduled maintenance. While walking out the unit, a pressure equipment inspector found a section of piping that was experiencing corrosion under insulation. After further investigation, a plan was devised to shut down the unit in order to repair this thinned section of piping and prevent additional unit upset conditions. Flaring to OL-5 Ground Flare (EPN 7-84) and OL-5 Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84) resulted from a unit shutdown to complete planned maintenance on a section of piping downstream of the ethylene refrigerant compressor experiencing corrosion. Followup: Yes Notes: To minimize additional unit upset conditions and impacts, the OL5 unit was shutdown and the thin wall piping was repaired. A review of the corrosion under insulation will be performed to identify improvements which can be made to prevent future re-occurrences.	Carbon Monoxide: 50,885.5 pounds Nitrogen Oxide: 9,351.9 pounds Particulate Matter: 1,760.4 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 25,921.6 pounds 1,3-Butadiene: 913.3 pounds Benzene: 8.9 pounds
148252 2013-04-20	GO-1 Elevated Flare, FE-602	Cause: On April 20, 2013, GO-1 operations restarted compressor K5741 after planned maintenance was executed. During the restart event, GO-1 flared dry gas at the GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90) until the dry gas met specification to be used feed in the unit. The GO-1 flaring resulted in no reportable quantities exceeded but a permit limit exceedence of 46.32 lbs of Hexane. Followup: No Notes: The cause was a mechanical failure of the compressor check valve that required a dry gas compressor shutdown to repair. Once repairs were completed, dry gas must be flared until it meets specification to be used in the unit. An investigation determined the cause was the mechanical failure of the compressor check valve. This required a dry gas compressor shutdown to repair. Shell Chemical procedures require that the dry gas must be flared until it meets specification to be used in the unit.	Carbon Monoxide: 2,343.7 pounds NOx: 430.7 pounds Particulate Matter: 81.1 pounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 640.0 pounds Hexane: 59.4 pounds
148040 2013-04-11	GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90)	Cause: On April 11, 2013 Shell Chemical's GO-1 Process Unit flared at the GO-1 Elevated Flare. The flaring was a result of a restart of the import dry gas from a supplier. GO-1 operations has to flare the import dry gas until it can be confirmed that it meets the specifications for feed to the GO-1 Process Unit. Followup: No Notes: Carbon monoxide, ethylene, propylene, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic compounds were released from flaring at the GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90). Investigation and calculations confirm that no reportable quantities or maximum permit limits were exceeded. No duration or additional information was provided.
159530 2014-10-18	BD5 Unit	Cause: On October 18, 2014, Shell Chemical's BD5 Unit flared butadiene heavy ends (BDHE) at the OL5 Ground Flare (FG-101). The process filters in Shell Chemical's OL5 Unit plugged from coke being in the system. To safely change the filters, the feed to the OL5 furnaces was reduced. In order to reduce the feed to the furnaces at OL5, an alternative routing for BDHE one of the OL5's feeds, is controlled to the flare. BDHE were routed to the flare during the furnace feed reductions at OL5 to change the unit's process filters. Flaring of BDHE during unit maintenance is a permitted activity. Followup: No Notes: Report states that flaring was permitted and no reportable quantities or permit limits were exceeded. No information given about remedial actions.
157155 2014-06-30	BD5 Unit	Cause: On 6/30/2014, Shell Chemical's BD5 Unit flared butadiene heavy ends (BDHE) at the OL5 Ground Flare (FG-101). Motiva Enterprises LLC's Naptha Hydrotreater (NHT) reduced its rates in order to complete a planned exchanger water wash and as a result stopped receiving BDHE from BD5. Flaring of BDHE during planned unit maintenance is a permitted activity. Followup: No Notes: No Information Given
155753 2014-05-06	Motiva Enterprises Residue Cat Cracking Unit	Cause: On 5/6/2014, propylene from the fuel gas blend drum was flared at Shell Chemical's Utilities East (UE) Flare. Motiva Enterprises Residue Cat Cracking Unit (RCCU) unexpectedly had to route propylene to the UE Flare when the C3 Splitter Column at Shell Chemical's GO1 Unit was shut down to safely repair an unexpected leak on a transmitter line. Propylene from RCCU was diverted to the UE Flare to prevent the over pressuring of the fuel gas blend drum. Followup: Yes Notes: To prevent the over-pressuring of the fuel gas blend drum, the propylene from the RCCU was diverted to the UE Flare. No information about actions taken to prevent future occurrence. Incident report LDEQ # 155756 also resulted from the shutdown of the C3 Splitter Column.
155756 2014-05-06	C3 Spliiter Column	Cause: On 5/6/2014, Shell Chemical's GO1 Unit flared process gas at the GO1 Elevated Flare to repair an unexpected leak on a transmitter line at the C3 Splitter Column. To safely complete this repair the C3 Splitter Column was shut down and decontaminated, resulting in the flaring. Followup: No Notes: No Information Given
155898 2014-05-06	C3 Splitter Column at GO1 Unit	Cause: On 5/9/14 Shell Chemical's GO1 Unit flared process gas at the GO1 Elevated Flare to start up the C3 Splitter Column. On 5/6/2014, an unexpected leak was found on the C3 Splitter Column at GO1. To safely repair the leak, the C3 Splitter Column was safely shut down. The repairs were completed on 5/8/2014 and to return to normal operation, the C3 Splitter Column started up resulting in flaring. On 5/9/2014, Shell Chemical's GO1 Unit flared process gas at the GO1 Elevated Flare to safely start up the C3 Splitter Column. Followup: Yes Notes: No Information Given. Appears that this event refers to flaring that occurred during the start up of the C3 Splitter Column at GO1 after safely repairing a leak. As such, this event likely occurred on 5/9/2014, not during the release start/end time reported. Multiple reports have stemmed from this repair.
155666 2014-04-29	Methyl Acetylene and Propadiene Converter	Cause: On April 29, 2014 Shell Chemical's GO1 Unit flared off speciation propylene at the West Operations Ground Flare (WOGF) as a result of an unexpected loss of hydrogen to the Methyl Acetylene and Propadiene (MAP) Converter. The transmitter that controls the total feed flow to the MAP Converter and the instrument protective function transmitter closed during maintenance activities. This caused the valves controlling hydrogen flow to close and hydrogen flow to the MAP Converter suddenly stopped. Followup: Yes Notes: No Information Given
153069 2014-01-03	OL-5 Ground Flare (EPN 7-84) and OL-Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84)	Cause: xylene, toluene, 1-3 butadiene, benzene, carbon monoxide, ethyl benzene, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide flared at the OL-5 Ground Flare (EPN 7-84) and OL-Elevated Flare (EPN 6-84). The flaring resulted from a unit shutdown to repair the C2 Splitter Exchanger that was leaking. Followup: No Notes: There is no information on the amounts nor an incident ending date. The anticipated end time was reported as 1/17/2014. Shell stated they would provide an update within 60 days of the initial report on 1/9/2014 as of 9/5/2014 there has yet to be any kind of follow up report from Shell regarding this matter.