BP Texas Refinery Article

<a href="http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?tool=print&ewcd=49844f3a2f8a8c14">http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?tool=print&ewcd=49844f3a2f8a8c14</a>

I am reproducing this article in full (rather than providing just a link and excerpt as usual) because I think it is directly related to what we discuss here.

Paul

THE DAILY NEWS
Texas' Oldest Newspaper
<a href="http://galvestondailynews.com">http://galvestondailynews.com</a>

Copyright © 2005 The Galveston County Daily News

Bye bye, blowdown drums at refinery

By TJ Aulds

Published October 30, 2005

TEXAS CITY — Steam lines and insulation are not the only items being replaced as BP continues an overhaul of its Texas City refinery. The refinery has been in a total shutdown since before Hurricane Rita made landfall in September.

When startup of the refinery begins, there will also be five fewer blowdown drum pressure relief systems in place. All five of the blowdown drums will be replaced by flare systems.

Company officials said this past week they hope limited operations at the refinery would resume by the end of December.

In cases of overpressure on a unit, pressure-relief valves designed to vent the pressure release material through a series of control devices and into a vertical tank called a blowdown drum. Liquid material is supposed to go to the bottom of the tank while gases are released through a 114-foot-tall narrow stack.

On March 23, the highly flammable material being released from an overpressured octane-boosting unit at BP flooded the nearby blowdown drum and shot the explosive liquids into the air like a geyser. A vapor cloud that spread as far out as 600 feet ignited, setting off a cascade of explosions that leveled trailers, cars, a nearby warehouse and caused severe damage to parts of the unit and some nearby storage tanks.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 170 injured as a result.

Federal investigators looking into the fatal explosions have been critical of BP’s continued use of the blowdown drum systems as a way to relieve pressure. The lead investigator for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said Thursday that the use of a flare system would have likely prevented or at least mitigated much of the damage and death toll caused by the explosions.

BP officials confirmed that the company expects to have five of its outdated blowdown drum pressure relief systems removed and replaced by flare systems by the end of the year.

In August, BP announced it was going ahead with a plan to replace all of the blowdown stacks within its Texas City refinery.

It was unclear if new flare systems were being built to replace those five blowdown drum systems or if the units where they are placed will be redirected to existing flares within the refinery.

A flare system, also known as a closed-in flare system, is a series of pressure relief valves and piping that eventually have combustible materials burned off by a large flame.

Flares have long dotted the Texas City skyline. While considered safer and more efficient ways to relieve pressure, flares also tend to be at times noisy, prompting complaints from nearby neighbors.

There are 11 blowdown drums in the Texas City refinery, company officials said. The engineering and design work to replace the remaining blowdown drum systems is under way. No timelines as to when those systems would be replaced was given.

BP and its predecessor, Amoco, had at least twice considered replacing the particular blowdown drum that was a part of the ill-fated unit at the center of the deadly blasts. But as recently as three years ago, the company passed on the opportunity.

In 1992, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a citation to BP over the use of a blowdown drum on a separate unit. That citation was eventually dropped and records — which the board is hoping to research further — have since been destroyed, said OSHA officials. Received on Mon Oct 31 20:24:00 2005