FYI – La Platta Coking Refinery fire (happened at start flooding Argentina) and flooding/shutdowns involves Shell Buenos Aires Coking Refinery as well. Articles are reporting refinery output will be reduced 15% this year. Also noting that a CDU was damaged as well as the coker. ( http://www.opisantacruz.com.ar/home/2013/04/08/fotos-ineditas-del-incendio-en-la-refineria-de-ypf/16003 ).
My feedback – just like this article indicates the fire was on old Coker A unit, coker B hasnt been mentioned as damaged (though whole plant is down) nor the new Coker C under/ending construction (sometimes refered to as coker units D301, D303 & D304).
The calciner can be part of a coking operation like it is in several of the US refineries & Uk – one example is COP Lake Charles or XOM Chalmette. But in case of YPF La Platta its not – the calciner is outside the refinery gate and about 2miles away. The petcoke calciner looks a lot like the cement and lime calciners – if you have ever seen one them: basically a long hot (+2000F) rotating tube at an angle with burner in end to start burning off volatiles, moisture & some fines, calcined coke comes out the end, goes thru a cooler or exchanger and goes to covered storage.
So sounds like they may have gotten the name wrong – could have been the coker furnace instead of calciner. The slop oil is often recovered near water treatment on coke drum cutting water & drum cooling and slop oil can be re-injected into coker charge before it goes to furnace heating.
——————-
Here is the story Argus reporters did after their press conference today. He’s been trying to check into what happened to their stockpiles but hasn’t reported anything back to me yet. At the bottom it says that the fire was sparked by hydrocarbons making contact with the calcinator. Is there a calcinator part of a coker? It sounds like it’s for calcining, but it’s clear that the fire must have been at the coker since that’s why the refinery’s fuel production is decreasing.
YPF refinery outage to lift fuel imports by 50pc
09 Apr 2013 15:59 (-05:00 GMT)
Buenos Aires, 9 April (Argus) — Argentina’s state-controlled YPF will raise fuel imports by some 50pc to make up for lower products output from the storm-hit 189,000 La Plata refinery.
“We have been importing some 10pc of what we produce,” YPF chief executive Miguel Galuccio said today. “We will now have to import 15, 16pc.”
Galuccio played down the planned increase in imports. “We will have to import a bit more,” he said, “the number is not significant.”
It will take as long as two months for Argentina’s largest refinery that produces around 60pc of YPF’s fuel to resume full operations, Galuccio said.
The company’s total fuel production will decrease 7pc as a result of the damage caused by the fire. YPF also operates the 120,000 Lujan de Cuyo and the 25,000 b/d Plaza Huincul refinery, and has a 50pc stake in the 32,000 b/d Refinor refinery.
The La Plata refinery last year produced 62,000 b/d of gasoline, 55,000 b/d of diesel, 16,000 b/d of fuel oil and 12,000 b/d of jet fuel, according to the energy secretariat.
A fire hit the plant on 2 April in the midst of strong electrical storms that caused extensive flooding and killed more than 50 people in the area around the Buenos Aires provincial capital of La Plata.
YPF resumed crude processing at the refinery on Sunday, putting into operation the 25,000 b/d Topping IV crude distillation unit.
The Topping D CDU began operating this afternoon, increasing processing to around 100,000 b/d.
It will take some 30 to 45 days to restart Topping C, bringing the processing level to 151,000 b/d.
Topping C was damaged by the fire that broke out in the Ensenada complex’s petroleum coke unit A late on 2 April.
“The difference between 24,000 m³/d (151,000 b/d) and 28,500 m³/d (179,000 b/d) is the deficit we have because of the loss of Coke A,” Galuccio said, with the latter referring to the plant’s normal operational processing level.
YPF has now accelerated plans that had already been approved by its board to build a new $800mn coke unit. “Today we have the need to accelerate the activity and construction” of the unit, Galuccio said. “We’re seeing how aggressive we can be.”
The new coke unit will have a 70pc higher production capacity than the damaged unit, with the initial blueprints claiming production capacity at La Plata would increase to 33,500 m³/d or around 210,700 b/d.
It will take “years” for the new coke unit to be finished, Gallucio warned, but added that “we know there are a lot of other things we can do to optimize production to close the gap.”
Until then, “we will absolutely assure supply to all our service stations,” he added. YPF supplies around 55pc of the retail gasoline and diesel market in Argentina.
Due to YPF’s size, the company will not have trouble financing the costs of importing additional fuel or paying for the damage caused by the fire and flooding, much of which should be covered by insurance, he said.
Galuccio also emphasized the fire and flooding will not affect the company’s ambitious $37.2bn, five-year plan, adding that a new shale partnership will likely be announced within the next few months.
For the first time, Galuccio gave a detailed account of what took place at the La Plata refinery last week.
On the afternoon of 2 April, a blackout at the La Plata industrial complex that houses the refinery shut down all operational units.
The heavy storm that dropped some 315mm of rainwater within six hours overwhelmed the complex’s drainage systems, leading to the overflow of an API oil-water separation pond, known as pond number 9.
The hydrocarbon that spilled from the pond reached the coke unit, and sparked a fire when it made contact with the calcinator, which, although turned off, was still at around 200°C, down from its usual 500°C. Over the last five years, the previous daily rainfall record was 91mm.
YPF refinery outage to lift fuel imports by 50pc 09 Apr 2013 15:59 (-05:00 GMT)
Buenos Aires, 9 April (Argus) — Argentina’s state-controlled YPF will raise fuel imports by some 50pc to make up for lower products output from the storm-hit 189,000 La Plata refinery.
“We have been importing some 10pc of what we produce,” YPF chief executive Miguel Galuccio said today. “We will now have to import 15, 16pc.”
Galuccio played down the planned increase in imports. “We will have to import a bit more,” he said, “the number is not significant.”
It will take as long as two months for Argentina’s largest refinery that produces around 60pc of YPF’s fuel to resume full operations, Galuccio said.
The company’s total fuel production will decrease 7pc as a result of the damage caused by the fire. YPF also operates the 120,000 Lujan de Cuyo and the 25,000 b/d Plaza Huincul refinery, and has a 50pc stake in the 32,000 b/d Refinor refinery.
The La Plata refinery last year produced 62,000 b/d of gasoline, 55,000 b/d of diesel, 16,000 b/d of fuel oil and 12,000 b/d of jet fuel, according to the energy secretariat.
A fire hit the plant on 2 April in the midst of strong electrical storms that caused extensive flooding and killed more than 50 people in the area around the Buenos Aires provincial capital of La Plata.
YPF resumed crude processing at the refinery on Sunday, putting into operation the 25,000 b/d Topping IV crude distillation unit.
The Topping D CDU began operating this afternoon, increasing processing to around 100,000 b/d.
It will take some 30 to 45 days to restart Topping C, bringing the processing level to 151,000 b/d.
Topping C was damaged by the fire that broke out in the Ensenada complex’s petroleum coke unit A late on 2 April.
“The difference between 24,000 m³/d (151,000 b/d) and 28,500 m³/d (179,000 b/d) is the deficit we have because of the loss of Coke A,” Galuccio said, with the latter referring to the plant’s normal operational processing level.
YPF has now accelerated plans that had already been approved by its board to build a new $800mn coke unit. “Today we have the need to accelerate the activity and construction” of the unit, Galuccio said. “We’re seeing how aggressive we can be.”
The new coke unit will have a 70pc higher production capacity than the damaged unit, with the initial blueprints claiming production capacity at La Plata would increase to 33,500 m³/d or around 210,700 b/d.
It will take “years” for the new coke unit to be finished, Gallucio warned, but added that “we know there are a lot of other things we can do to optimize production to close the gap.”
Until then, “we will absolutely assure supply to all our service stations,” he added. YPF supplies around 55pc of the retail gasoline and diesel market in Argentina.
Due to YPF’s size, the company will not have trouble financing the costs of importing additional fuel or paying for the damage caused by the fire and flooding, much of which should be covered by insurance, he said.
Galuccio also emphasized the fire and flooding will not affect the company’s ambitious $37.2bn, five-year plan, adding that a new shale partnership will likely be announced within the next few months.
For the first time, Galuccio gave a detailed account of what took place at the La Plata refinery last week.
On the afternoon of 2 April, a blackout at the La Plata industrial complex that houses the refinery shut down all operational units.
The heavy storm that dropped some 315mm of rainwater within six hours overwhelmed the complex’s drainage systems, leading to the overflow of an API oil-water separation pond, known as pond number 9.
The hydrocarbon that spilled from the pond reached the coke unit, and sparked a fire when it made contact with the calcinator, which, although turned off, was still at around 200°C, down from its usual 500°C. Over the last five years, the previous daily rainfall record was 91mm.